A chance to fight is what brought him to Minnesota Willie Carter was born October 24, 1943, in Shawnee, OK, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City. His father, Thomas Lee Carter, and his mother, Willie Mae (nee Burrell), were both born and buried in Oklahoma. His mother died when he was about a year old. “She hemorrhaged to death. Couldn’t go to a hospital back in those days.” He … [Read more...]
Author turns traumatic childhood experience into a book
Minnesota senior credits Alex Haley for encouraging her to write Dr. Thelma Battle-Buckner for most of her four-score-plus life has forged a “blessed path” from the South to Minnesota. “I just did what became natural for me to do,” she admits. Born in Mississippi to Nathan and Bessie Battle, Battle-Buckner is one of 13 children. She graduated from high school in 1949, got … [Read more...]
Leroy King, Sr. remembers his namesake — King Supermarket — in N. Mpls
On June 24, 1975, almost 40 years ago, Leroy King, Sr. was the founder/owner/operator of King Supermarket. This African American family-owned grocery store was located at 2005 Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis. Currently that space is occupied by the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), and its new address is now 2001 Plymouth … [Read more...]
The Hickman-Parks family: generations of patriotism, activism, service
As the Emancipation Proclamation was declared and the American Civil War came to an end, there was still a lot of work to do and trails to travel for the freed African slaves here in America. It was the late 1890s when a group of approximately 40 Black families in Kentucky decided to head north, migrating to Minnesota and eventually landing in Fergus Falls. Many decided to … [Read more...]
The Davis family: contributors to Minnesota’s Black history
The year was 1867, and the Civil War raged on. A young man of Native and African American descent was sent to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to be stationed there in the fight for freedom. He remained there for the duration of the war. His name: John Wesley Harper, the great grandfather of Harry Davis. In 1868 when the war came to an end, Harper decided to make Minnesota his home. … [Read more...]