Martha Rice

Although Charlie Chaplin (Charles Spencer Chaplin) was born in England and spent his early childhood in the UK, he came to the U.S. early on in his life. On his second stage tour of the U.S. at the age of 23, he roomed with Arthur Stanley Jefferson, who later was known as Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame. Laurel returned to England for a while but Chaplin stayed, being hired by Max Sennett for the Keystone Film Company.

The rest, as they say, was history - history leading to a long and incredibly talented career.

Jennie Pettway, an unknown girl,and quilter Jorena Pettway making a quilt in Gees Bend, Alabama. Notice the old treadle sewing machine. Actually, my mother had a treadle sewing machine in the early 1950's!

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Rothstein, Arthur, 1915-1985, photographer

Pomp Hall cleaning the stove - and I thought cleaning the stove was hard now! Today, you just wipe it - with a wood stove, it's cleaning out the ashes.

This is in the home of Pomp Hall, a black tenant farmer in Creek County, Oklahoma. She had to clean out the ashes before starting the morning fire.

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, photographer

Photo of oil painting of Nancy A. Ragsdale who was married to John W. Ragsdale dated about 1892
People in photo include: Nancy Ragsdale