Pilgrim Black
Dublin Core
Title
Pilgrim Black
Alternative Title
Pilgrim Black
Subject
Sanford (Fla.)
Teenagers--United States
Pants
Agricultural laborers--Florida
Description
Pilgrim Black (1905-2002), the father of Patricia Ann Black (1956- ), standing in front of his house at the corner of East Twenty-Fifth Street and South Sanford Avenue in Sanford, and wearing his first pair of long pants sometime between age 12 and age 16.
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- ).
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- ).
Source
Original black and white photograph: Private Collection of Patricia Ann Black.
Date Created
ca. 1917-1921
Contributor
Black, Patricia Ann
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original black and white photograph.
Is Part Of
Patricia Black Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Is Referenced By
The Magazine of Wayne County History, Vol. II, Iss. I, front cover.
Format
image/jpg
Extent
123 KB
Medium
1 black and white photograph
Type
Still Image
Coverage
Sanford, Florida
Accrual Method
Donation
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Originally owned by Pilgrim Black.
Inherited by Patricia Ann Black in 2002.
Rights Holder
Copyright to the 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 black and white photograph
Collection
Citation
“Pilgrim Black,” RICHES, accessed April 26, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2676.