Items

• Letter, Rebecca Johnson to Miss Anderson, May 19, 1945
  This letter was sent by Miss Rebecca Mary Johnson (July 10, 1905-October 4, 1991) to Miss Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897-April 8, 1993) on May 19, 1945. This letter was sent to share details about “a project for… intercultural advancement” that will feature famous Black Americans, like Marian Anderson (p. 1). Johnson asks Anderson questions about herself to be used in the exhibit for the benefit of the Springfield, Massachusetts community and youth.
• Woven peach basket, early-20th century.
  This woven peach basket was manufactured in the early 1900s by African American workers in the Sourland Mountain peach orchards, a large employer for the local Black community, according to the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum. Peach baskets were used to collect peaches during harvest, until the San Jose scale peach blight occurred in the late 1800s.