Lula Mae Haynes Black and Pilgrim Black

PB001.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Lula Mae Haynes Black and Pilgrim Black

Alternative Title

Lula and Pilgrim Black

Subject

Sanford (Fla.)
Migrant workers
Agricultural laborers--Florida

Description

Lula Mae Haynes Black (1917-2007) and Pilgrim Black (1905-2002), the parents of Patricia Ann Black (1956- ). This photograph was taken when Patricia drove down from New York to Sanford, Florida, to visit her parents around 1997, when her father was 89. Pilgrim and Lula were married for 67 years at the time the photograph was taken.

Pilgrim Black was born in 1905, although some records list 1907 as his birth year. Pilgrim and Lula Mae Haynes 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.

Pilgrim had to quit school at age eleven in order to provide for his mother, originally working in a mill house until he was 18n 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.

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- ).

Creator

Black, Patricia Ann

Source

Original 8 x 10 inch color photograph: Private Collection of Patricia Black.

Date Created

ca. 1997

Contributor

Black, Patricia Ann

Is Format Of

Digital reproduction of original 8 x 10 inch color photograph.

Is Part Of

Patricia Black Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Format

image/jpg

Extent

138 KB

Medium

8 x 10 inch color photograph

Language

eng

Type

Still Image

Coverage

Sanford, Florida

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher

Provenance

Originally created and owned by Patricia Ann Black.

Rights Holder

Copyright to this resource is held by Patricia Ann Black and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.

Contributing Project

Curator

Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

Source Repository

Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black

External Reference

Coles, Robert. Uprooted Children: The Early Life of Migrant Farm Workers. [Pittsburgh]: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970.
Piore, Michael J. Birds of Passage: Migrant Labor and Industrial Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979.

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

1 color photograph

Physical Dimensions

8 x 10 inch

Citation

Black, Patricia Ann, “Lula Mae Haynes Black and Pilgrim Black,” RICHES, accessed December 22, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2658.

Locations

Categories