History Made Relevant
Derek Mosely and Local Connections
Sands of Time
I know two people who can make history relevant for me. One is our own Al McCauley - especially on the Saints; the other is former Judge Derek Mosley - especially on US history. I attended his presentation “What Your History Teacher Didn’t Tell You” here at St. Anthony’s in September.
Derek reminded us how close we are to history. Harriet Tubman, who was enslaved and escaped, was alive when Thomas Jefferson died, and also alive when Ronald Reagan was born! Slavery was part of our history for many more years (246) than not (160).
I was enthralled as he shared stories from US history, often emphasizing a Wisconsin connection, exclaiming “isn’t it crazy that we’ve never heard of this?” Here are three stories he told:
The Six Triple Eight
The all Black Female Battalion managed to sort and deliver a huge backlog of mail to the troops during WWII. Derek posted about it on his Facebook page and soon received a message from a woman who showed it to her mom, and was surprised to hear, “That was me.” Anna Mae Robertson, a Milwaukee resident, pictured here with Mosely at age 98, was one of those 855 women in the 6888th who processed 65,000 pieces of mail per day, and were finally recognized for their efforts in 2018.
Billie Holiday Connection
Billie Holiday performed the song Strange Fruit at the end of every performance, to call out and protest lynchings. The only known survivor of a lynching, Dr. James Cameron (1914 - 2006) settled in Milwaukee, where he founded the Black Holocaust Museum and wrote A Time of Terror; A Survivor’s Story.
Visit the museum to hear more!
Paramount Records
This sign, found near Grafton, marks Wisconsin’s part in the history of Blues. It started with the Wisconsin Chair Company and ended up with a huge fire and millions of records dumped into the Milwaukee River when the company lost its recording deals due to Grafton’s “sundown town” policy.
For the rest of this story, and many, many more, go to Judge Mosley’s Facebook page. We hope to host Derek again for more great stories and inspiration, and we hope you will join us!
Judge Mosley’s presentation was hosted by St. Anthony’s Our Faith in Action team; one of many activities designed to build a more just and equitable society through encounter, education, and action. Our Faith in Action also hosts monthly Connecting Conversations. For more information or to become a part of the Our Faith in Action Team, please contact Deacon Dennis Petrie at petriedj@gmail.com.
Parish Connections
