Migrant Experience Paper by William Arthur Bigham III
Sanford (Fla.)
Upstate New York (N.Y.)
Migrant workers
Agricultural laborers--New York (State)
Farm laborers
Segregation--United States
Integration
Desegregation
Wages--New York (State)
An academic paper written by William Arthur Bigham III (1982-) for a course at the State University of New York at Brockport on food and culture on December 19, 2011. Topics discussed in the paper include Bigham's interview with his mother, Patricia Ann Black (1956- ), about her experiences as the child of migrant workers; how migrant workers lived; the difference between education and race relations in the North and in the South; the logistics of working in the fields; and how the Federal government changed migrant work. <br /><br />William Bigham III was born in Rochester and raised in Wayne County, New York. He began teaching microbiology and anatomy at the SUNY Brockport in 2013. He is the son of Patricia Black, the grandson of Pilgrim Black (1905-2002) and Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007), and the great grandson of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca. 1870-ca. 1934), who migrated to Sanford, Florida, from South Carolina in the 1800s. Bigham's grandparents, Pilgrim and Lula, were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year.
Bigham, William, III
Black, Patricia Ann
application/pdf
eng
Text
Huron, New York
Sanford, Florida
Migrant Worker "Big House" in Wayne County, New York
Huron (N.Y. : Town)
Migrant workers
Agricultural laborers--New York (State)
Farm laborers
The "big house" of the migrant worker camp, located in Wayne County, New York, that Pilgrim Black (1905-2002) and his wife, Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007), lived in. The house originally had a front porch and was painted a different color. Lula operated her restaurant out of the kitchen in the big house, despite the lack of running water. <br /><br />Pilgrim was born in 1905, although some records list 1907 as his birth year. Pilgrim and Lula Mae Haynes (1917-2007) Black were migrant crew leaders, and thus migrated to Wayne County in Upstate New York in the summers and back to their home in Sanford for the rest of the year. Pilgrim was the son of Harry Black (d. 1911) and Maggie Benjamin Black (ca.1870-ca.1934), who migrated to Sanford from South Carolina in the 1800s. Harry and Maggie had several children: Leckward Black, Mustar Black, Malachi Black, Leatha Black Walker (1889-1976), Pilgrim Black, Margaret Black Jones (1889-1976), and Harriett Black Lawson. In 1911, Harry owned a grocery store at 206 South Sanford Avenue. One day, he came home from work with pneumonia and passed away shortly thereafter. Pilgrim was nine years old when his father passed away. Maggie was the daughter of former slaves, Isaac and Roseanna Benjamin, and the sister of Nathan Benjamin, Pledge Benjamin, Sam Benjamin, Loui Benjamin, Chainey Benjamin, Lara Benjamin, Melvina Benjamin, and Katie Benjamin. <br /><br /> Pilgrim had to quit school at age 11 in order to provide for his mother, originally working in a mill house until he was 18 years old. After declining a management position, he traveled to Wayne County to pick cherries, apples, pears, and other crops. He broke a bone after falling from an apple tree his first year and decided to try farm labor on a potato farm in Red Creek, New York, instead. Don Holdridge, the farmer who owned the land, noted Pilgrim's high rate of productivity and offered him a management position supervising up to thirty workers at once, which he accepted. <br /><br /> While in Sanford, Pilgrim also worked as a foreman in Sanford for Chase & Company for over 30 years. He married Lula in 1937 and they had several children together, including Vivian Louise Black (1940-); Lula Yvonne Black (1942-); Charles Samuel Black (1945-); Pilgrim Black, Jr. (ca. 1947-), and Patricia Ann Black (1956-).
Black, Patricia Ann
Original color photograph by Patricia Ann Black: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Black, Patricia Ann
image/jpg
Still Image
Big House, Huron, New York