In Spring 2022, MIT students enrolled in course 11.s945 “(Un)Dead Geographies: The Afterlife of Urban Plans” investigated historical records of the Cedar Grove Cemetery and Home for Aged Colored Women in hopes of retrieving some biographical information on 133 women (former residents of HACW) interred at Cedar Grove.
This project was initiated in response to Joyce Linehan’s desire to bring greater recognition to these women whose names are noted on the current grave markers: “My house abuts Cedar Grove Cemetery, and the dog and I walk there. Every morning, we pass a marker for the Home For Aged Colored Women. It’s next to a marker for the Home For Aged Women, but that one has 20 or so small headstones with names. The former has no such markers. I’d like to figure out how to do the research and find the names and make a proper marker.”
Relying primarily on administrative records for the Home For Aged Colored Women at the Massachusetts Historical Society and U.S. census data, students created seven research profiles on the women and the institutions that provided care for them. This booklet presents each student’s research findings, reflections and suggests potential directions for future research. While our initial research focuses on only a handful of women interred at Cedar Grove, the richness of our findings suggests a broad range of stories of local, national and perhaps international significance waiting to be unearthed. It is our shared hope that this research might pave the way for a larger public research project dedicated to recovering the vital life histories of a group of women who have much to teach us all.
Karilyn Crockett, PhD
Okki Berendschot
Gina Hanhee Lee
Ina Wu
Nicholette Cameron
Samuel Dubois
Cesar Garcia Lopez
Danielle Moore
Chenab Navalkha
Rafael Olivera-Cintron
Christie Neptune
1-8
Content
#9-12
Name List
Cedar Grove Cemetery Grave Mapping
A Constellation: Mapping the Broader Ecosystem of Care Institutions Affiliated with the Home for Aged Colored Women
Criteria for Admission and Rules of the House and its Implications
#13-16
#17-24
#25-28
#29-34
#35-42
#43-46
Profile of Charlotte Cougle
Profile of Annie B. Merrick
Profile of Mary Jane Johnson
Profile of Elizabeth Johnson
Profile of Ida Willis
Profile of Eliza Gardner
Okki Berendschot
Nicholette Cameron
Gina Lee
Chenab Navalkha
Neptune Christie
Danielle Moore
César García López
Samuel Dubois #
[Figure 1] Adminstrative information on Boston City Hospital (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 2] Adminstrative information on Boston Dispensary (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 3] Adminstrative information on Cambridge Homes (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 4] Adminstrative information on Holy Ghost Hospital (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 5] Adminstrative information on Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 6] Adminstrative information on Massachusetts General Hospital (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 7] Adminstrative information on Pondville State Hospital (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 8] Adminstrative information on Roxbury Dispensary (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
[Figure 9] Adminstrative information on St. Monica’s Home (Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32)
A Constellation: Mapping the Broader Ecosystem of Care Institutions Affiliated with the Home for Aged Colored Women
Author: Okki Berendschot
Main Research Methodology: Question:
Archive dedicated to Home for Aged Colored Women, clippings of Bostonbased newspapers, Annual state reports on hospitals
What was the movement of elderly Black women who were affiliated with the Home for Aged Colored Women?
Black women have historically had a hard time reclaiming space. Even in old age, they continued to be moved between different homes for reasons that are often unclear. The only clear link between these moves is the individuals’ race and gender.
In recognition of this historic pattern, the Home for Aged Colored Women was formed as the first care institution for elderly Black Women in Boston in 1860. The organization first rented a house on 65 Southac Street (now Phillips Street) but outgrew the space shortly after. The Home later migrated to 27 Myrtle, where it would remain for over three decades. The Beacon Hill address moved down the street to 22 Hancock Street one last time before closing in 1949. This history of constant relocation highlights the fact that black households were not the only units constantly moved around in cities -Institutions serving Black women also had difficulty claiming permanence. The Home was intended to be a place of rest, but residents frequently bounced between hospitals, homes, dispensaries and havens throughout Boston to access health care services. The constellation mapped below begins to suggest the scale, frequency and justifications used to move Black women between the different care institutions.
St. Monica’s Hospital
125 Highland Street Roxbury, MA, 02119
This home was dedicated to provide care for sick colored women and children, the second care institution of its kind in Boston. St. Monica’s Hospital was incorporated in 1882, approximately two decades after the Home for Aged Colored Women.
This hospital was affiliated with the Sisters of St. Margaret who helped purchase the William Lloyd Garrison House in 1904 after moving to different locations in Roxbury
[Figure 10] Newspaper clipping chronicling the story of St. Monica’s Home (Boston Globe, November 18, 1894)
[Figure 11] Newspaper clipping advertising an annual fair for St. Monica’s Home (Boston Globe, November 18, 1901)
[Figure 12] Newspaper clipping discussing the purchase of new location for St. Monica’s Home (Boston Globe, April 15, 1905)
in years prior. The home was initially owned by a prominent abolitionist in Boston. This history highlights the connection to both religious institutions and abolition activists. The building today sits on the Notre Dame Campus of Emmanuel College.
* The history of St. Monica’s Hospital and the Home for Aged Colored Women are intertwined, because more than seven women such as Ms. Caroline Gray moved between these care institutions. She was initially committed to the hospital by her sister. She transferred to the Home on January 5, 1926, but the staff quickly deemed her “not suitable” and sent her back to St. Monica’s Hospital.
Boston City Hospital
818 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02118
The city incorporated a city-wide hospital system in 1880 to temporarily relieve the sick and injured residents of Boston. The medical campus is now affiliated with Boston University, which demonstrates the shift within the health care system to attach themselves to academic institutions.
* The Home of Aged Colored Women sent at least four residents to the hospital, including Mrs. Maria Brazen. She was transferred from Boston City Hospital to Long Island Hospital which illustrates that the ecosystem of care institutions stretched far beyond the city limits of Boston.
Boston State Hospital
460 Walk Hill St
Mattapan, MA 02126
The annual state reports from the early twentieth century did not include details about the state hospital, however the Rogers v Okin case was filed by mental health patients at the psychiatric facility. They argued that, if assumed competent, patients had the right to make treatment decisions in non-emergency conditions. Boston State Hospital closed in 1979 shortly after the closing of the case and was demolished. The site was redeveloped into the state public health campus with biotechnology companies on site.
* The women at the Home for Aged Colored Women were frequently sent to the Boston State Hospital, including Mrs. Maria E Deering. She left the home on February 2, 1928 and died in the psychiatric facility on July 2, 1932. Notably, the records for the Home did not specify the reason why these women were sent to the state hospital.
Pondville State Hospital
Address: N/A
The annual state reports from the early twentieth century did not include details about the hospital. However, the town is located more than an hour car ride away from the Home of Aged Colored Women.
* Ms. Mary Harvey was sent to this hospital on April 9, 1929 and was placed on a “special list”. The vocabulary used within the administrative records are oddly vague. For example, does the note “special list” refer to her financial status or mental state? If the latter, then perhaps state hospitals (similar to Boston State Hospital) are typically concerned with mental health? Does the naming conventions of these care institutions signal the type of care they provide?
Roxbury Dispensary Hospital
1224 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02120
Established in 1887, this hospital provided free medical treatment and diets to the needy poor. According to the annual state reports from 1911, patients were charged 10 cents for medicine if they were able to pay. The medical facility was converted to a parking lot across the street from the large Boston Police headquarters.
* The preliminary dive into the Massachusetts Historical Society archive surfaced only one patient who was transferred from the Home of Aged Colored Women to the hospital. Ms. Ester J Hall was diagnosed with cancer, which can potentially speak to the ability of the Home to care for terminally ill women.
Holy Ghost Hospital
1575 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02129
This hospital was specifically focused on caring for people afflicted with incurable diseases, without distinctions of race, color or creed. The health care facility still exists as Spaulding Hospital today.
* Lucy Howard was sent to the hospital and died there on May 4, 1925. Her sister subsequently asked the Board of Directors from the Home of Aged Colored Women to open an investigation into her death, which was granted and concluded no further steps were necessary. This seemingly innocuous note in the administrative records calls into question the quality of care for these women.
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital
2115 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02115
The annual state reports from the early twentieth century indicate that this hospital was incorporated in 1902 to treat the poor sick residents in Suffolk County.
* The initial search into the Massachusetts Historical Society archive uncovered that Mrs. Flora Parker was sent to the hospital for pneumonia and passed on May 20, 1928 at the hospital.
Cambridge City Home
360 Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
This home was catered to respectable, aged and indigent men, women and couples of at least 65 years of age. They required the residents to have lived in Cambridge for at least 10 years, however exceptions were made if directors unanimously voted to accept the patient. The admissions fee was $300 for single people and $450 for couples. Its legacy continues today as the home was converted into assisted living for elderly residents.
* Susan Richardson arrived at the assisted living facility on February 23, 1929 and passed two months afterwards. The reason for her transfer to the home was not specified in the records.
Boston Dispensary
800 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02111
This hospital is the oldest care institution affiliated with the Home of Aged Colored Women, because the health care facility was incorporated in 1802. They provide medical advice and relief to the sick poor of Boston. Similar to other care institutions on the list, the medical complex is affiliated with Tufts Medical.
* A preliminary dive into the into the Massachusetts Historical Society archive found that Miss Ella Smith left the dispensary on April 30, 1931 after having trouble with arthritis.
Massachusetts General Hospital
32 Blossom Street
Boston, MA 02114
This hospital opened shorted after the Boston Dispensary in 1811. They treated the sick and injured residents of Boston without a distinction for their class, but the care institution did not treat contagious and chronic cases.
* Mrs. Annie Merrick left the Home of Aged Colored Women on June 29, 1931 to have her leg amputated. She returned to the home after two weeks in the hospital.
Methodology Reflection
Several questions arise from tracing the journeys of elderly Black women to and from different care institutions in Boston. For instance, what conversations preceded the transfers? Were the elderly Black women included in the decision-making process surrounding the transfers? Or more explicitly, did these women have agency over their movements? Who made these decisions if not the Black women themselves?
Side Notes
Beyond the journeys that Home residents were constantly required to take, several questions arise regarding the places themselves. Considering that the locations found do not constitute a comprehensive list, what kinds of health care facilities were excluded from the findings? Furthermore, it appears that there is a level of intentionality behind the naming and categorization of facilities, which begs the question of when and how has naming of health care facilities evolved? What purpose has naming served, and how has it responded to public notions of race and gender? Finally, additional questions persist regarding the status of the facilities today. What hospitals still exist and which ones have been demolished? If removed, what has replaced the hospitals?
Bibliography
Home for Aged Colored Women records, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Annual Report of the State Board of Charity of Massachusetts, Volume 32. https:// www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/LuNDAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv= 1&dq=st+monicas+boston+annual+report&pg=RA1-PA346&printsec=frontcover
Criteria for Admission and Rules of the House and its Implications
Author: Nicholette Cameron
Subject:
Name: Adelaide “Daisy” Phillips
Birth: July 13, 18721 in Boston or 1878.2
Death: Unknown
Year of entry to the Home: October 13, 19323
Lot of burial: N/A
Main Research Methodology:
Archive
While looking through the Massachusetts Historical Society’s archives, I came across Daisy Phillip’s name in the description for the correspondence folder that includes documents related to Daisy donating a house she owned in Abington, MA to the Home. I was intrigued by this and wondered what circumstances would result in a resident donating a house to the Home. In a letter dated June 20, 1933, Daisy Phillips officially grants the land and building located at 237 Rockland St Abington, MA to the Home for Aged Colored Women, which was formerly owned by her father George Phillips who died in 1924 and was previously lived in by Daisy’s uncle, Henry Phillips.
In a letter written by Albert Hale, the Home’s treasurer, to a Judge Kirby, we learn that “as any inmate entering the Home for aged Colored Women is supposed to be virtually destitute, any property which she may have is assigned to the Home…” 4 I searched the archives to learn more about the criteria for entry into the home and found a list of rules included in the 73rd Annual Report of the Directors of the Home for Aged Colored Women for the year ending November 30, 1933.
“Each person admitted shall pay an admission fee of one hundred (100) dollars and secure to the Corporation all other property owned by her, as well as all property which she may inherit or receive otherwise. The admission fee of $100 may be omitted or modified by the Committee on Admissions.”
In addition to transferring property upon admission, the rules say that any clothes and furniture that the women have must be left to the house when the women die. These rules are not what I would associate with a nursing home and makes me wonder what the motivation was to include such these rules.
[Figure 1] Box 2, Folder 2, Loose Reports 1932, 1933, 1937, Image 11 – Rules for the Admission of Inmates
[Figure 3] Box 6, Folder 15, Image 8- Record of Adeline Phillips Birth from City of Boston Registry Department.
[Figure 4] Box 6, Folder 14, Image 8 – Letter from Daisy Phillips transferring ownership of 237 Rockland Street to the Home for Aged Colored Women
Looking through the archives, there are organizational documents such as annual reports and Board of Directors reports for each year the Home was in existence. However, we don’t have as complete archives for admissions committee notes, visitor records and the nurse’s log which would have been very helpful with learning more about the women. The limitations of the archives regarding the admission criteria and house rules is that I really wanted to understand the rationale behind the criteria and rules and that is not captured in the archives. Further, I also wanted to understand the decision-making process of the women and their families when deciding to live in the home. Interviews and personal correspondence would most likely be more helpful in answering these questions.
Side Notes
• I didn’t find any documentation of other women transferring property to the Home, so it made me wonder how many women ultimately gave property to the Home? Though only speculation, I wonder if other women transferred their property to their children or other family members rather than to the home.
• Why did the women decide to live in the house? Given the criteria for admission and the house rules, the women gave up a piece of their independence, and sometimes their assets, to live in the house. It would be helpful to understand what the decision-making process was.
• Additional research into Daisy Phillip’s life
• How many people did they waive or lower the $100 admission fee for? It is interesting that the admission fee was $100 but the women were expected to be “virtually destitute.” To me that seems a bit contradictory because if the home was created to serve lower income women, having $100 could be challenging to pay unless they have a community that could assist. That community could include family, friends or previous employers.
Endnotes
1 Box 6 Folder 15 Image 8. Note from City of Boston Registry Department.
*Note: Name written as ‘Adeline,’ no way of knowing for sure if this is just a typo.
records, Massachusetts Historical Society, Admissions Committee Records and Annual Reports; theyhadnames.net
Main Research Methodology: Question:
Home for Aged Colored Women
How did Charlotte Cougle end up alone, without a non-institutional familial or social support system, for the 18 years she spent in the Home?
Charlotte Cougle spent the last 18 years of her life at the Home for Aged Colored Women, where she was part of the inaugural group of women to be housed. She died on May 13, 1878 at age 90. A brief biography was recorded by the admissions committee upon her entry to the Home in September 1860.
Charlotte was born in Liberty County, Georgia in 1788. She was enslaved by a man called Major Jacob Woods, a state senator and planter. When she was about 53 years old, Woods sent her to Boston as a caretaker for his seven-year-old granddaughter, Sarah Frances P. Pierce, who was to attend boarding school there. (Woods dedicated a $50,000 trust to her education in his will.3) For the next 14 years, Charlotte lived with this child at the boarding school run by a woman called Mrs. Burrill, who would eventually recommend her entry to the Home.
In 1846, only a couple years after he sent Charlotte to Boston, Woods died, and in accordance with his will, the 150 people whom he had enslaved on his plantation were declared free and sent to Liberia by the American Colonization Society. Among them was Charlotte’s daughter (possibly named Frances4). Charlotte remained with Woods’ granddaughter in Boston, and she was financially supported according to the terms of Woods’ will.
When she turned 21, Woods’ granddaughter returned to Georgia to marry. Given the option to follow her back to Georgia, where she would be enslaved by the girl’s new husband (against the terms of Woods’ will), Charlotte refused and chose to stay in Boston. It is recorded that she had promised Woods that she would never return to the South; the nature of or reasoning behind this promise is unknown. In an annual report of the Home in the year of her death, it is written that she was “charged by him
Figure 2] Jacob Wood’s 1844 will directing that the people he enslaved be removed to Haiti, although they ended up being sent to Liberia.
[Figure 2]
[Figure 1]
[Figure 1] Biography recorded by the admissions committee of the Home for Colored Woman in 1860.
[Figure 3]
to never return”. Taken together with his final act of freeing those he had enslaved, this charge seems like one motivated from within the contradictions of his self-interest in preserving the institution of slavery and its palpable inhumanity.
Upon this severance between Charlotte and the Woods family, she continued to live under the financial care of Mrs. Burrill, in her home, “until the increasing infirmities of age made her feel that she could be of little service, and only a burden upon Mrs. Burrill’s kindness”. To relieve her of this burden, Charlotte decided to enter the Home.
Methodology reflection:
The website theyhadnames.net provides a digitized archive of deeds from Liberty County, Georgia, where Charlotte was born enslaved by Jacob Woods. However, this archive provides more insight into the Woods family lineage than it does into the lives of the hundreds they had enslaved. Outside of the Woods family and “the strange company whom charity has made into one family,” what were Charlotte’s familial and social relations like? The board members of the Home for Aged Colored Women paint Charlotte as a virtuous protagonist journeying toward redemption. What were the choices and the sacrifices she made to provoke and maintain this charitable image? How can we begin to construct who she was, outside of their gaze?
Side Notes
To her biographers, Charlotte’s agency became more constrained and burdensome when she lost the ability to work. She moved between the charity of her enslaver, to the charity of Mrs. Burrill, to the charity of the Home, having less and less value to give in exchange. As she navigated the demanding conditional gifts of charity and freedom, she navigated space from Georgia to Boston and saw possibilities of biological kinship closed off to her by the distance imposed between herself, sent to Boston, and her daughter, sent to Liberia. What constraints does the condition of “being sent” to a new place lift? What constraints does this condition impose? How did Charlotte navigate those constraints and maintain agency from within them?
Upon her death, Charlotte again appears in records from the Home. The annual report from the year of her death, 1878, leads with a retelling of her life story and a brief eulogy, lamenting the loss of “a winning woman, with sweet manners, responsive to every word of kindness, and with a sense of humor that never quite died out”.5 The report then includes a meditation on the “impressive and magnetic” character of funerals at the Home:
For a little while you can think of the strange company whom charity has made into one family, only as gathered in the vestibule of their King’s palace, with their sorrows and labors almost ended, waiting for the opening of the gates, and the new bodies with which they feel sure they shall be clothed.6
Endnotes
1 Home for Aged Colored Women records, Massachusetts Historical Society. Box 6, Folder 2, Vol. 10, Admissions committee records, 1860-1875, Image 9.
3 Woods’ will was executed in Suffolk County, MA. The family is likely to have had ties in Boston. Source: https://theyhadnames.net/2021/06/14/mcintosh-countywill-jacob-wood/
6 Home for Aged Colored Women records, Massachusetts Historica`l Society. Box 1, Folder 6, Loose reports, 1877, 1878, 1880, Image 12.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Annie B. Merrick Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960); Feb 14, 1941; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe pg. 34
[Figure 1] Map of Onslow County, NC
[Figure 5] Map of Boston Residences
[Figure 2] Annie B. Merrick Obituary in Daily Boston Glode Feb 14, 1941 p34
[Figure 4] Anna Redd and John Merrick Marriage Record
[Figure 7] 1900 census
Profile of Annie B. Merrick
Subject: Author: Chenab
Navalkha
Name: Annie B. Merrick
Birth/death: 1848 - 1941
Year of entry to the Home: 1923
Lot of burial: Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 32
Main Research Methodology:
Home for Aged Colored Women records, Massachusetts Historical
Question:
Society, Census records and administrative documents Ancestry. com and FamilySearch, Boston Globe I set out with the hope of finding information about Annie’s time in the home, with a particular curiosity about her family members.
Annie B. Merrick 1 was born into enslavement in 1848 in New Hanover County, North Carolina, near Wilmington, North Carolina. 2,3 Annie died in February 1941 at Boston State Hospital; at the time, she was a resident of the Home for Aged Colored Women where she had resided since 1923.3 Annie is buried in Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 32 of the Cedar Grove Cemetery.
I set out with the hope of finding information about Annie’s time in the home, with a particular curiosity about her family members.
My research started with information available in the Home for Aged Colored Women’s administrative records of the Massachusetts Historical Society archives, and subsequently focused on Census records and administrative documents collated through Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, a genealogical website that also collates Census records and other biographical legal documents into individual profiles. In addition, some biographical information was gained from Annie’s obituary published in the Boston Globe following her death. On a detour and based on information about Annie’s name and geographical origin, I also briefly followed a thread of trying to identify information about the family that had enslaved her prior to her departure from North Carolina. This detour took me, again, to census records accessed by FamilySearch.
Based on what can be gleaned from the census records, Annie was born in 1848 into enslavement in New Hanover County, North Carolina. In some records she is given a surname of “Redd,” which could possibly correspond to the surname of her enslavers. If this is the case, it may be that her enslaver was Sigler (also called Siglee) Redd, a farmer in Stump Sound in Onslow County, North Carolina, adjacent to New Hanover County, North Carolina. 4
Family
In 1871, Annie married John Merrick in New Hanover County, NC.5 Her first daughter, Emma Merrick Venable (1871-1902) was born in 1871 in Brooklyn, New York.6 Emma died in 1902 from tuberculosis, and at the time was living in the Dorchester neighborhood in Boston.5 Annie’s second daughter, Isabelle Merrick Anderson (18731930) was born in Wilmington, NC in 1873.7
Residences in Boston
By the time of the 1880 census, Annie (aged 31) was living in Boston at 401 Shaw Ave. #81.8 In the census her occupation is listed as “servant,” and she is listed as widowed. The household was headed by someone with the last name of Cameron, and other residents included the wife of Mr. Cameron, Millie, a boarder, and one other servant. At the time of the 1900 census, Annie (now aged 51) was living at 438 Massachusetts Ave., #1 in Boston.9 The other residents of this home were white male students according to the census records. This may have been a boardinghouse given the other residents listed. In the 1920 Census, Annie resided at 93 Westminster St. as a lodger in a residence headed by someone named Cora Bruce.10
Time in the Home for Aged Colored Women
Within the Home for Aged Colored Women records, there was relatively little information about Annie. These records, along with her obituary, indicate that Annie entered the Home in 1923 at age 75 and remained a resident of the Home until her death in 1941.3,11
Of Annie’s time as a resident, we know fairly little. In 1930, Annie wrote a letter to a staff member of the Home expressing her desire to leave due to conflicts with the Home matron, Mrs. Armistead. Though the letter itself is not in the archival record, the minutes of the Board of Directors’ meeting indicate that Annie subsequently chose to stay on in the Home, and that she was not the only resident who had had difficulties with Mrs. Armistead. 12 From the administrative records, we know that in 1931 Annie was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where her leg was amputated; she returned to the Home shortly thereafter.13
Methodological Reflection
I relied largely on U.S. Census Bureau records, which were fairly easily accessed through Ancestry and FamilySearch because Annie B. Merrick existed in pages that had already been generated. Aside from the speculative information about Sigler Redd, I was not able to glean much information about Annie’s time in North Carolina or about geographic movements between North Carolina and Boston (that her daughter Isabel was born in North Carolina after daughter Emma was born in New York suggests some potential travel from the north to the south).
Within the records of the Home for Aged Colored Women, there is very little information about Annie’s time or daily activities as a resident, nor any information that might suggest links to a social or familial network that Annie had in the region. Also missing from this archive is the actual letter that Annie wrote to the Home administrators expressing her dissatisfaction with Mrs. Armistead and her desire to leave the Home.
Side Notes
Through this research process, two sets of questions remain outstanding. The first set is very possibly unknowable: Outside of her roles as listed on the Census documents, what social and familial circles did Annie have over the course of her life in Boston? Was she a member of any community organizations or religious institutions? Did she remain in contact with her two daughters until their deaths (which appear to have preceded her own)? Did she have siblings or connections with her parents, and did these other family members also move to the north after Emancipation?
The second set of questions pertains more specifically to Annie’s family members who do appear in the historical record: what happened to her husband, John Merrick? In the Census documents beginning in 1880, Annie is listed as widowed but the death record for John Merrick indicates that he died in 1917 in North Carolina. Did they sever their relationship and if so, when and where? With regard to Annie’s two daughters, it is also possible that the younger daughter Isabel has descendants who are alive today. Would it be possible to identify who these might be?
Endnotes
1 Here I am listing the name as indicated in Annie B. Merrick’s Boston Globe obituary, though other sources (in particular Ancestry.com records) have listed her name as “Annie Redd Bostick Merrick.” Link to Ancestry.com entry: https://www. ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/59715778/person/242242684673/facts
2 According to Census data, which aligns with biographical information from the Board of Directors Notes of the the Home for Aged Colored Women
3 Daily Boston Globe (1928-1960); Feb 14, 1941; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe pg. 34.
4 “United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860”, database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WK55-833Z : 16 October 2019), Sigler Redd, 1860.
5 Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.
6 Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data:Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.
7 Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data:Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.
Original data:Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Original data:Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National
Archives, Washington, D.C.
10 “United States Census, 1920”, database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFM5-VJS : 1 February 2021), Annie B Merrick, 1920.
11 Home for Aged Colored Women Records, 1943-1949. Board of Directors’ records, 1860-1940: Board of Directors, Jul.-Dec. 1923, image 9. URL: https://www. masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b04-f09#9
12 Home for Aged Colored Women Records, 1943-1949. Board of Directors’ records, 1860-1940: Board of Directors, Feb.-Jun. 1930, image 13. URL: https://www. masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b04-f31#13
13 Home for Aged Colored Women Records, 1943-1949. Board of Directors’ records, 1860-1940: Board of Directors, Jan.-Apr. 1932, image 3. URL: https://www. masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b05-f03#3
Profile of Mary Jane Johnson
Author: Neptune Christie
Subject:
Name: Mary Jane Johnson
Birth/death: 1830 - March 10, 1941
Year of entry to the Home: April 11, 1865
Lot of burial: Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 3
This paper examines the social locations of Mary Jane Richardson Johnson, an African American resident of the Home for Aged Colored Women in Boston, Massachusetts. Utilizing the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Massachusetts Commonwealth, and text, this paper will consider the biography of Johnson during the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 1865 Johnson was admitted to the Home for Aged Colored Women at 35 years despite the center’s strict regulations on eligibility and selection. What made Johnson’s admission to the Home for Aged Colored Women unique?
Johnson was born to Sarah Ross in 1830 in Christiana, Delaware, a small town located 12 miles south of the village of Wilmington along the Christiana River. Although her father’s first name is unknown, his last name is recorded as Richardson on the Massachusetts Commonwealth Certificate of Death. Johnson was widowed to an unidentified partner with the last name “Johnson.” It is important to note that In 1830, Christiana, the New Castle county of Delaware, had a total population of 6,494 African Americans1.
On April 11, 1865, Johnson was confirmed as a Home for Aged Colored Women resident by the admissions committee at 35 years. According to the Home for Aged Colored Women bylaws on admission, applicants’ circumstances, position, and characteristics factored significantly in their acceptance. Applicants for admission were at least 60 years old2. However, special consideration was given to cases with unique illnesses. Johnson was granted admission to the center under the agreement that her “friends” paid an annual fee of one hundred dollars towards her support to the institution’s treasurer and conferred with the Society of Trinity Church.
During her residency at the Home for Aged Colored Women, Johnson lived at 27 Myrtle Street and 22 Hancock Street in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 80, Johnson was treated by the facility’s nurses for an unknown illness. Her treatment included house tonic, bed rest, licorice powder salts, and digitalis (medication used to treat heart failure). Johnson may have received treatment until her passing in 1911. Her last record in the Nurses log was on January 17, 1911
Johnson died from chronic Myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, at 81 years on March 10, 1911, at the Home for Aged Colored Women 52 Hancock Street location. Johnson’s passing is discussed briefly within one paragraph of the Home for Aged Colored Women visitor log of March 1911. On March 13, 1911, her funeral was held at the Cedar Grove Cemetery. Her ceremony was attended by six residents from the Home for Aged Colored Women. Residents ``seemed very much to have enjoyed the service”( Home For Aged Colored Women Records, Box 7, folder 3, image 11). An episcopal service eulogy of appropriate remarks was read by Father Todd of the Society of Trinity Church. Johnson was buried at Section 10 of the Cedar Grove Cemetery at Lot 8, Grave 3.
What brought Johnson a distance of 330 miles from Christiana, Delaware, to Boston, Massachusetts? Did Johnson migrate to Boston in search of work? Unfortunately, there is a limited record of Johnson’s social locations before her admittance to the Home for Aged Colored Women.
In the early 19th century, Christiana, Delaware, served as a departure point for “grain harvested in northeastern Maryland, southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as Western New Castle County, Delaware” (Cooch 16). However, the development of the New Castle Frenchtown Railroad in 1832 and the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore railroad in 1827 crippled the Christiana industry prompting migrations to northern industrial cities. However, Johnson’s migration for work is speculative as “New Castle County outside of Willmington contributed little to the northward shift of the African American population from 1840 to 1900” (8 Ames, Callahan, Chase and Siders).
It is unclear what prompted Johnson’s migration to Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid19th century. In Addition, is it uncertain if Johnson suffered from a particular sickness prior to her admission? The documents investigated do not specify the conditions for her application? However, it is noted that Johnson’s residency at the Home for Aged Colored Women throughout the 19th and 20th centuries was beyond exception.
Endnotes
1 African American Population of Delaware: 1800 to 1980. Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering, College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, February 1991.
2 In the fifty-first annual report of 1910, it states that “the number of inmates is limited to twenty, and applicants for admission must be at least sixty years old, except in cases of special illness or infirmity.” Box 1, folder 16, image 4.
Bibliography:
Ames David, Callahan Mary Helen, Chase Susan, and Siders Rebecca. African American Population of Delaware: 1800 to 1980. Center for Historic Architecture and Engineering, College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, February 1991.
Cooch, Richard Roney. A History of Christiana, Delaware. Christiana Bicentennial Commission, Inc, 1976.
Committee Admission Bylaws, Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 2, Folder 7, Image 45.
Committee Admission Notes, Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 2, folder 7, image 57 & 58.
Treasurer’s Report (27 Myrtle Street), Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 1, folder 10, image 16
Inmates of the Home (52 Hancock Street) Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 1, folder 16, image 4.
Nurses Log (January 17, 1911), Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 7, folder 5, image 23.
Visitors Log (March 1911), Home For Aged Colored Women Records. The Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, Box 7, folder 3, image 11.
Certificate of Death, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston File # 2370. March 14, 1911.
Return of Death, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston File #269. March 14, 1911.
Cedar Grove Burial plot. Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 3
Profile of Elizabeth Johnson
Subject: Author: Danielle Moore
Name: Elizabeth Johnson
Birth/death: 1858 - September 29, 1939
Year of entry to the Home: 1938
Lot of burial: Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 28
Main Research Methodology:
Archive: Massachusetts Historical Society
Question:
Who is Mrs. Johnson, and what was her time in the home like?
For this profile, I chose to focus on Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, who lived in the Home for Aged Colored Women between 1938 and 1939. Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson was first admitted to the home on June 15, 1938, after applying for one of the home’s vacant spots in May. Before the home, she lived on 45 Humboldt Avenue in Roxbury. It was recorded that she was 80 years old at the time, so she must have been born during 1858. Unfortunately, though, Mrs. Johnson had a fall when she was living at the home. She was then sent to the City Hospital to recover, and later she was moved to St. Monica’s to live there for a few months. Mrs. Johnson then returned to the home December 3, 1938. In the 1938 Annual Report, she is described as “a happy, acceptable inmate.” The treasurer’s report from December 1938 includes the “Board at St. Monica’s Home a/c Mrs. E. Johnson” for a payment of $10.00. The September treasurer’s report also included a payment to two doctors for an X-ray examination of Mrs. Johnson for $10.00. I presume that this examination occurred shortly after she had a fall and was then transferred to the hospital. November’s financial report also stated that $40.00 was paid to St. Monica’s Home for boarding for Mrs. Johnson. On September 29, 1939, Mrs. Johnson passed away in the Home. In the 1939 Annual Report of the Directors, the report writes: “In the Home, itself, there have been two deaths; Mrs. Lena Johnson and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, both passing serenely, as these old women always do, into their assured Heaven that shines for them so brightly that we cannot but feel for ourselves the reflection of their faith.” This passage made me think that Mrs. Johnson followed some religion, since it talked about both women’s faiths. Her funeral service was recorded in the October report for an expense of $100.00. She is buried at Lot 8, Grave 28 in Cedar Grove. After digging in earlier census records, I narrowed down a few potential Elizabeth Johnson candidates that fit her profile. Based on the 1900 census for a Black woman with that name and born in 1858, I found five matches. With these matches, Mrs. Johnson may be from Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia, or Louisiana. Ultimately, it is impossible for me to know which identity is hers, as I was
unable to match anyone fitting her census profile in Boston. But the likelihood is high that she was one of these women from the South and later moved to the North.
Methodology Reflection
The Massachusetts Historical Society was very useful with the Home’s collection and records. It was great to have all the collections in one spot digitally where I was able to search all the records to find out about her. It was quite convenient and had most of the meeting’s records for the years I looked at.
However, the information that I could not find was mostly biographical and familial information, like when and where she was born. In addition, I was not able to find out if she had any kin or family members. I was also not able to find out when she arrived in Boston.
Side Notes
Did Elizabeth Johnson have any children/spouse/family members in Boston? Where was she born and raised? Where did she live during her life? Was she ever married? How did she get to Boston?
Maybe she wanted to be hidden for a reason? Are there any pictures of her somewhere?
Bibliography
Massachusetts Historical Society Archive
U.S. Census
Ancestry.com (for searching census archives) Cedar Grove lot records
4]
[Appendix 1]
[Appendix 2]
[Appendix
[Appendix 5]
Profile of Ida Willis
Subject: Author: César García López
Name: Ida Willis
Birth/death: Estimate to be 1870
Year of entry to the Home: July 6, 1936
Lot of burial: Section 10, Lot 8, Grave 33
Main Research Methodology:
Conducted archival work, specifically exploring the Massachusetts Historical Society, the US Census(Ancestry.com), and the National Registry of Historic Places
Inventory
Question:
Mrs. Willis’ first mention in the administrative records of the Board of Directors of the Home for Aged Colored Women was a reference to her being admitted to from the St. Monica’s Home. Therefore, I sought out to ask the connection between these places were, and through the process, uncover a bit more about who Mrs. Willis was.
We first learn about Mrs. Ida Willis from the administrative records of the Board of Directors of the Home for Aged Colored Women.1 On October 13, 1936, Miss Melledge, on behalf of the Committee on Admissions and Outside Aid, reported to the Board that Mrs. Ida Willis was admitted to the Home on July 6, 1936 from St. Monica’s Home. She later signed an agreement to be in the home on September 21, 1936.2
St. Monica’s Home,3 located at 125 Highland Street, Roxbury, MA,4 was owned by Episcopal Sisters of the Society of St. Margaret. 5 The Sisters utilized the homepreviously owned and historically known as the home of William Lloyd Garrison from 1864 until his death in 1879 - as a hospital for chronically ill Black women and children and later as a nursing facility for elderly women before being used as a convent.6 It is unclear why Mrs. Willis was at St. Monica’s. St. Monica’s functioned as a nursing home run by the Society of St. Margaret until it closed in 1988.7 In 2012 the Sisters property, including the Garrison House, was purchased by Emmanuel College, which operates its Notre Dame campus.8
We later find out that Mrs. Willis was voted into the Home as “inmate”9 on Nov 10, 1936, three months after she was admitted.10 This was a process most women underwent, allowing them to live in the home but while being on probation of sorts until they were officially admitted.11 We have no further available documentation of Mrs. Willis’ life at the Home besides the meeting records of January 12, 1937 through which we learn that the Board voted to write to Mrs. Bonner,12 Mrs. Willis’ daughter, a letter detailing that the Home would no longer expect “more payments toward the entrance fee” of her mother.13 Mrs. Willis also appears in several iterations of the U.S., City Directories, 1822-199514 with her address listed as 22 Hancook, the site of the Home after 1900.15
It is only through the Cedar Grove Cemetery records16 that we learn that Mrs. Willis had passed and was buried there. The exact date of passing is unknown in the records, but she was interred at Cedar Grove on August 11, 1941 at the age of 71 years (meaning she was born in 1870). She was the singular person buried in gravesite #33 in Lot #8 (section #10). We can assume that she lived out her life at the Home. However, the 1940 Census17 lists Mrs. Willis as a patient of the Boston State Hospital at age 70, so just before she passed away.18 Through her Census entry, we also learn that she was in fact born in 1870, from South Carolina, was widowed, and had never attended school or college.19
Methodology Reflection
a. Reflection on the archival material used After finalizing the Cedar Grove Cemetery “Mapping” project, and hearing others present their work, I continue to be both excited and hesitant. This effort is attempting to fill in a gap in archival theorization. However, I think that there is more grounding and critique of our positionality that needs to be done. For one thing, a lot of us engaged with Census data, a tool often used to categorize and police people. We used it to uncover details that have been potentially unknown. And though I myself was excited to see these pieces come together, the uncovering of these details can have real live implications. What if these details were meant to remain unknown? How would someone who is related to these women react to these details? And how would I feel if someone was similarly trying to uncover details about me? That is not to say that there are some jaw dropping/controversial details that were revealed, but it seems like we should have been collectively thinking about this throughout the process.
I’m also thinking about positionality in the sense of “who am I to make meaning out of these documents”? There is an implicit degree of removal for the women’s lives that we get from these board meeting notes (or census data or other similar forms of data). We’ve taken these documents and placed further meaning on them in an attempt to recreate a semblance of who these women were, creating further degrees of removal. And though I tried to stick to only “factual” information, it does seem like there is an implicit meaning making happening as I weave these points together. This meaning making comes from a position within academia, as someone who’s experience could not be more different than that of Mrs. Willis, whose story I try to map out. As such, I hope to continue to ask these questions in my own work as I continue to rely on archival data.
b. Information that couldn’t be found
There is mention of Mrs. Willis’ daughter, Mrs. Bonner, in the administrative records of the Board of Directors of the Home for Aged Colored Women. However, I have been unable to find additional detail.
Side Notes
Question that was raised along the research/ questions unanswered.
i. What triggered a vote for admissions? Was it after a pre-established time? What would prompt a woman to not receive a vote of admission? How did this process play out for Mrs. Willis?
ii. What did the day to day look like for Mrs. Willis and the other women at the Home?
iii. Can we find out more about Mrs. Willis’ daughter? What was her role in supporting her mother at the House?
iv. Could we learn more about Mrs. Willis’ family through the Census?
v. Is there interest from descants of Mrs. Willis to be involved in this work?
Endnotes
1 All Board of Directors of the Home for Aged Colored Women meeting notes are found in the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Archive, specifically Box 5, Folder 15, Board of Directors, Oct.-Dec. 1936
The specific document here is: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b05-f15#1 (Appendix 1)
2 Massachusetts Historical Society documentation: https://www.masshist.org/ collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b05-f16#7 (Appendix 2)
3 Photo of St. Monica’s Home, 1892: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/ search/commonwealth-oai:x059g099r (Appendix 3)
4 Address of St. Monica’s Home found from this Massachusetts Historical Society document: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/ b05-f15#5
5 National Registry of Historic Places Inventory - Nomiation Form https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000653_text
6 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON HOUSE Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/William%20Lloyd%20Garrison%20House%20Study%20Report_tcm3-51526.pdf
7 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON HOUSE Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/William%20Lloyd%20Garrison%20House%20Study%20Report_tcm3-51526.pdf
9 It seemed like all women were referred to as inmates.
10 Massachusetts Historical Society documentation: https://www.masshist.org/ collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b05-f15#6 (Appendix 4)
11 Future questions: What triggered a vote for admissions? Was it after a pre-established time? What would prompt a woman to not receive a vote of admission?
12 Future questions: Can we find out more about Mrs. Willis’ daughter?
13 It is unclear why payments stopped. Massachusetts Historical Society documentation: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/digitized/fa0430/b05-f16#1 (Appendix 5)
14 U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995: https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/28125300?h=f92916 (Appendix 6)
15 Short history of the Home for Aged Colored Women presented by the Massachusetts Historical Society: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/ fa0430?smid
Miss Eliza Gardner was born in New York City in 1831. She moved to Boston with her family when she was 14 years old. For many years she lived in a small house that her family owned on Irving Street, in Beacon Hill. Having keen interests in missionary work, Miss Gardner is remembered as a religious leader and community activist, well known in the antislavery movement. She was a prominent member of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a historically African-American Christian denomination based in the United States. Miss Gardner got involved in the Club of Colored Girls, connected to that Church. This involvement led her to become interested in the Home for Aged Colored Women even before becoming a member/inmate. She eventually died in the Home on January 4, 1922. She was 90 years old. Because of her activism, her death was mentioned in an article in the Boston Guardian Newspaper. Amongst her last wishes, Miss Gardner wanted to have Mr. Jacob W. Powell to be in charge of her belongings, including her books. Respecting her last wishes, her belongings were turned over to Mr. Jacob W. Powell after she passed away. (All information was retrieved from Box 4, Folder 4 & 7).
Source: Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
Collection: The Denver Star, Volume 27, Number 167, December 23, 1916
In the “Church News” section of The Denver Star from 1916, there is a newspaper clip related to the fifteenth anniversary on the Boston Guardian, which was held at the Zion
Church in Boston. The article mentions many notable speakers who applauded the work of Boston Guardian Editor W.M. Trotter, stating that “the occasion was a veritable love feast for the interested friends who have fought the race battles for equality of rights and against the wrongs of segregation and discrimination, jimcrow cars and all other race discriminations wherever found, without compromise and without fear.” Miss Eliza Gardner is mentioned among the speakers invited to this event.
Source: National Park Service
Collection: Boston National Historical Park, Boston African American National Historic Site
This webpage offers a detailed and rigorous biographical description of Miss Eliza Gardner, accompanied by a bibliography of various archival sources. The website also features a photograph of Miss Eliza Gardner, included below.
Methodology reflection
It is still unclear where Miss Eliza Gardner was buried after passing away.
Side Notes
It seems that Miss Eliza Gardner had a special status in the home, especially considering that she had belongings (books) until her death in the home. Other residents / inmates had to “donate” their belongings upon entering the house.
More research could be undertaken to find out Miss Eliza Gardner’s family history, who Mr. Jacob W. Powell is in relation to her, whether or not she had special responsibilities within the home, and finally whether or not she was buried in the Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Bilbiography
Source 01: Massachusetts Historical Society
Collection: Home for Aged Colored Women Records, B. Board of Directors’ records, 1860-1940
