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Title
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Georgine Upshur Willis, William Willis, and Agnes Saunders Chew Upshur in formal attire during Christmas holiday
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Description
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A black and white photograph featuring Georgine Upshur Willis, her husband William Willis, and her mother Agnes Saunders Chew Upshur in formal attire during the Christmas holiday.
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Georgine “Gene” Elizabeth Upshur Willis was born to Agnes Sanders Chew and William A. Upshur in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 3, 1921 (U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 [database on-line] 2016).
She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls from which she graduated on June 16, 1939. During her time there, she was a distinguished student. One of her accomplishments included being voted to the Sophrosyne Honor Society at age 17 on October 13, 1938. She was also columnist for the Philadelphia edition of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper (Georgine E. Upshur Willis collection of the Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning collection, n.d.).
Her academic achievements would continue through her post secondary education. During her time at the University of Pennsylvania, she was 1 of 14 students elected to Pi Gamma Mu, a national social science honor society (14 at U. of P. Honored by Group 1943). She graduated in 1943 from the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to being one of Philadelphia’s most prominent civic and political leaders, her father William “Bill” Upshur was a well respected undertaker. When Georgine passed the state morticians exam around 1949, she partnered with her him and practiced undertaking at the William A. Upshur, Jr. Funeral Home in West Philadelphia (Georgine E. Upshur Willis collection of the Stevens-Cogdell-Sanders-Venning collection, n.d.).
In August 1949, she married William Willis. A census record from the following year shows the couple living in Queens, New York where Georgine worked as a social worker in charge of the Travelers Aid Society in Grand Central Station (1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line] 2022; Queen 1962).
She died on December 30, 1998 (Ancestry.com 2012).
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Anthropologist and ethnohistorian William Shedrick Willis, Jr. was born to Eloise Margaret and William Shedrick Willis on July 11, 1921, in Waco, Texas. His father served as grand chancellor of the Colored Knights of Pythias of Texas from 1917 to his death in 1929 (OPERATION IS FATAL TO WILLIS: GRAND CHANCELLOR COLORED PYTHIANS MOURNED BY NATION; EMINENT FRATERNALIST STRICKEN-- TEXAS AND THE NATION MOURN HIS DEMISE-- WAS SLATED FOR SUPREME CHANCELLOR OF ORDER WILL BE INTERRED AT WACO MONDAY AFTERNOON 1929).
Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Dallas where William Jr. graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. He continued his education at Howard University and Columbia University where he received his Ph.D. in anthropology in 1955 (“Collection: William Shedrick Willis Papers, [Ca. 1940-1983] | American Philosophical Society Manuscript Collections Search,” n.d.). He and Georgine Upshur, who also attended Columbia, married at her family’s home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August 1949 (Miss Gene Upshur Weds in Smart Home Ceremony 1949).
A census record a year after their marriage, shows the couple living in Queens, New York (1950 United States Federal Census [database on-line] 2022). In 1964, the Willis’ would move to William's hometown of Dallas where he became the first Black faculty member at Southern Methodist University (SMU) as part of a joint position at Bishop College. He faced racism from SMU’s white faculty, heavier workloads and lesser pay than his white counterparts, all of which led to his resignation in 1972 (Cashion 2013; “Collection: William Shedrick Willis Papers, [Ca. 1940-1983] | American Philosophical Society Manuscript Collections Search”, n.d.). Despite these injustices, Willis was instrumental in establishing the African American Studies Program at the University.
He was also a faculty member at Columbia University where he taught during summer sessions until 1975. In 1978, Willis and Georgine moved back to Philadelphia.
William Willis died of a heart attack on August 8, 1983. He is recognized as a significant contributor to the “understanding of dynamics of inter-cultural exchange in a multicultural context” covering topics such as Blacks in anthropology and Indian-Black relations in Southeastern North America (“Collection: William Shedrick Willis Papers, [Ca. 1940-1983] | American Philosophical Society Manuscript Collections Search”, n.d.). His papers are housed in the American Philosophical Society Manuscript Collections.
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Agnes Sanders Upshur was born in 1896 to Georgine “Davia” (née Saunders) and Charles Sanders Chew in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was one of two children and a descendant of a white, English son of enslavers Richard Walpole Cogdell (1787-1866) and a Black enslaved woman Sarah Martha Sanders (1850). After migrating from Charleston, South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1850, Sarah and Richard’s children and their children’s descendants went on to join the city’s middle class Black citizenry (University of Pennsylvania, n.d.). In 1880, members of Agnes Upshur’s paternal family (the Chews) sued to abolish racially segregated schools in Pennsylvania (University of Pennsylvania, n.d.).
Agnes Upshur was a teacher in the Philadelphia public school system teaching at Martha Washington and William Harrison elementary schools (Death Notices 1984; Deaths here 1984). She was also active in the civic and social life of the city participating as a board member of the Lincoln Day Nursery and a charter member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) (Deaths here 1984).
She graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls and then Philadelphia Normal School in 1917 (P. E. Divinity School Holds Commencement 1917).
In 1918, she and William A. Upshur Jr. (former state representative, Republican leader of the 30th Ward, secretary of the Republican City Committee and funeral home director) married (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., Marriage Index, 1885-1951 [database on-line] 2011). The couple had one child, Georgine Elizabeth Upshur in 1921. At William’s death in 1963, Agnes took over the operation of his funeral home at 21st and Christian Streets.
She died on Jun 28 1984, at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia.
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Contributor
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The Library Company of Philadelphia
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Date Created
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(c. 1950)
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Creator
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Willis, Georgine Upshur
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Rights
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This work is not in copyright, but commercial uses of this digital representation are limited. For more information, contact printroom@librarycompany.org and see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/
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Identifier
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P.2022.16.43
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Language
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eng
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Format
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Image
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Extent
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1 image
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Spatial Coverage
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Philadelphia, PA
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Publisher
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The Library Company of Philadelphia
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Is Part Of
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Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders Venning Collection - Upshur Willis Collection_Georgine E. Upshur Willis collection_P.2022.16.43
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Subject
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Christmas
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Holidays
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Middle class African Americans
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Photographs
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Willis, William Shedrick, 1921-1983
Georgine Upshur Willis, William Willis, and Agnes Saunders Chew in formal attire during Christmas holiday 