Items

• Photograph. Christine Moore Howell and her sister, Bessie, in front of "Christine" Vanity Parlor
  This photograph is of sisters Christine Moore Howell and Bessie Moore in front of “Christine” Vanity Parlors in Princeton, New Jersey around the 1920s when the vanity parlor opened. They would have been around the ages of 22 and 23 respectively at this time.
• Lancaster Productions International press release for Byard Lancaster
  This press release invites the public to gather in support of and celebrate the birthday of Mrs. Mattie Humphrey, also known as “Sister Majida,” at Morgan’s Jazz Club located at 17 East Price Street in Germantown, Philadelphia.
• Correspondence for James E. Adams
  This letter was sent to the Meet The Composter/New Residencies group at 2112 Broadway, Suite 505 in New York City, NY by Artistic Manager and President of The Philadelphia Clef Club of the Performing Arts, Inc. James E. Adams on October 15, 1992.
• Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School charter and certificate of incorporation
  This charter and certificate of incorporation legitimized the Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School in Philadelphia on April 10, 1896. The charter includes the hospital and school’s purpose, leadership, and articles and conditions. The Frederick Douglass Memorial Hospital and Training School was a Black owned and operated institution existing to serve the Black community (National Library of Medicine, n.d.).
• Dra Mu, Carmen (photograph)
  This is a photograph of the Dra-Mu Opera Company Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia taken in 1947.
• Letter, Addie MacLeod to the President, Officers, and members of the Friendship Club, January 3, 1951
  This letter was sent by Addie McLeod of 288 Spring Street Trenton, New Jersey to the President, Officers, and Members of the Friendship Club on January 3rd, 1959.
• Paul Robeson with Christine Moore Howell and a child.
  Paul Robeson with Christine Moore Howell and a child, in front of William Moore’s furniture store on Spring Street.
• Questionnaire for the Magazine Ebony
  This questionnaire entitled “QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE MAGAZINE EBONY----November 6, 1948” is five pages long with responses to 38 questions. The responses are by Christine Moore Howell (March 19, 1898-December 13, 1972) of Princeton, New Jersey.
• Council of the City of Philadelphia, Resolution Honoring the Rich Life and Loving Memory of Jaci Adams
  **Honoring Jaci Adams: A Legacy of Advocacy and Leadership** Jaci Adams (1956 - 2014) was a remarkable transwoman whose life embodied resilience and the "American Dream." Born in Beckley, WV., and raised in North Philadelphia, Adams overcame a history of abuse, addiction, and incarceration to become a fierce advocate for social justice, particularly for the trans community (Staff 2014).
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The House of Representatives, Condolence Resolution
  Condolence resolution in honor of Jaci Adams (1956 - 2014). Jaci DuBoise Adams (1958-February 15, 2014) was born in Beckley, West Virginia and moved to Philadelphia in her youth with her family (AIDS Law Project 2014). Unfortunately Adams experienced such abuse that she “fled the house in search of safety” at age nine (AIDS Law Project 2014). Adams was “soon consumed by a life of prostitution, drug abuse and crime while searching for an identity” (AIDS Law Project 2014). She landed in prison, and earned her GED (AIDS Law Project 2014). In 2002 after the unsolved murder of Nizah Morris, a 47 year old transgender entertainer that was found brutally beaten at 15th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, Adams shared that she had “an ‘a-ha’ moment and decided that instead of being angry, maybe a career criminal like [her] could use that familiarity with the cops to slither in and become part of the solution” (Morrison 2014). Known to be genuine, accomplished yet immensely humble, to speak and teach from her vast life experience, and incredibly kind, Adams was held in high regard by many– from city officials such as Michael Nutter, to long-time friends, to folks she just met and was lending support to (AIDS Law Project 2014).
• Gospel Songs and Spiritual Poetic Poem Book
  The book “Gospel Songs and Spiritual Poetic Poem Book” by Rev. J. F. Hamlette has four parts and is 56 pages. It has handwritten inscriptions of Ada and George Hightower's names on cover and inside, who were members of the First Colored Church in Hopewell, NJ and were among the first African Americans to live on Columbia Avenue in Hopewell.
• Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday School
  This photograph of the Bethel African Methodist Episopal Church Sunday School of Pennington, NJ features nineteen children, some siblings. All of the children in the photograph have been identified by Patricia (née True) Payne (see reverse).
• Handwritten Stoutsburg Cemetery Ledger
  This handwritten ledger was kept by Herbert Albert Hubbard (June 7, 1875-July 11, 1948), Beverly Mills's (co-founder of the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum) great-grandfather, at the Stoutsburg Cemetery. It includes minutes from Stoutsburg Cemetery Association meetings, including hymns sung and fundraising efforts, from 1912 through the 1920s.
• Gene's [Georgine E. Upshur [Willis]] Coming Out Party
  This photograph features Georgine “Gene” Elizabeth Upshur Willis and 15 other graduates of Philadelphia High School for Girls in June 1939. They are smiling and dressed up.