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Burly “BB” Bascum Norris was born in Andalusia, Alabama, on October 11, 1922, and passed away on May 26, 2001. BB held many roles in his life of 79 years. He was a fireman, fire chief, WWII veteran, father, brother, and my great-grandfather. He spent many years of his life at the Andalusia Fire Department in Andalusia, Alabama, where he retired from his duties as Fire Chief in 1982.
Every truck drove at the mercy of the road. The bumps lifted passengers and packages into the air like kids sitting at the back of a modern school bus. The need for a high-quality suspension in a mail truck did not exist.
“John Hurston, in his late twenties, had left Macon County, Alabama, because the ordeal of share-cropping on a southern Alabama cotton plantation was crushing to his ambition. There was no rise to the thing.”
(Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road)
Zora Neale Hurston is most known for being an influential author of African American literature, with her most iconic work being Their Eyes Were Watching God. However, she was also an anthropologist and ventured
Joan Gillespie was born on September 10, 1931 to Frances Jane Gillespie and Leo Gillespie in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She had one younger brother, Richard, born in 1936. On May 28, 1955, she married Angelo Edward Bove, a first generation Italian. They met on a company ski trip at the bank they both worked at. Together they had 7 children: Donna, John, Lisa, Joann, Angela, Christopher, and Angelo Edward. Joan remained in the Philadelphia area until her death in 1994. A devout Irish Catholic, Joan was known for her sewing. She made her own wedding dress and sewed clothes for all 7 of her children.
Growing up, the most tangible part of my mom’s family was a collection of crochet blankets acquired from funerals and my mom’s childhood home. My grandmother Joan Frances died before I was born, and my great grandmother Frances Jane lived in Pennsylvania in a nursing home before she died in 2008, so the blankets were how I connected with the two women who were my namesakes. My mom kept the blankets in her closet, some wrapped carefully in plastic comforter bags. In the winter they would come down from their perch and be distributed throughout the house. Continue reading “Crochet Comforts”
Katie Elizabeth woke early on August 21, 1934, before even the chickens had time to yell them all out of their dreams. The only one to beat her outside of the cabin and onto the porch was her husband who had left a small pile of cigarette ash on the porch before he went to tend to their pigs. One had just died, Continue reading “Big Things in the Small”
Every child knows the thrill of seeing a great red firetruck flying to its next urgent destination. The flashing lights, the glistening red exterior, and the piercing sound that comes in waves is enough to draw attention. Burly “BB” Bascum Norris was one of the many children in the world who were fascinated by fire trucks and the life of a fireman. Continue reading “A History of Hometown Heroes”
Imagine the year is 1935, and your father has come home with something odd he found at the store. It’s a board game you’ve never seen before, something new from a company called Parker Brothers called Monopoly. The game is interesting, albeit a bit complicated, but you and your family find it fun and it
Continue reading “Monopoly: From the Landlord’s game to the Great Depression to the Modern Age”
Allen Noonan was born in 1916 in Britt, Iowa, where his parents owned a coffee shop and an electronics store. Allen attended Britt high school and won awards in both athletics and the arts. As an adult Allen would move to California and establish multiple businesses as well as the One World Family Commune.
When I found out I was going to be spending an entire semester working towards a project involving Ancestry.com, initially, I was elated. I always wanted to know more about my ancestors, what they were like, where they lived, what they did for fun, and what kind of clothes they wore. I told my