I have long believed that Spirit is a wonderful matchmaker who taps people on the shoulder and says, “You should meet this person for a powerful purpose.” Such was the case when a mutual friend named Natalie Kaye contacted me and asked me to write a press release to help promote a community event that someone she knew was organizing. When I spoke with Shirley, I felt as if I was chatting with a kindred spirit.
Her bio highlights the Renaissance Woman that she is as a computer technology professional, a seamstress, and crafter – who develops historical and educational items for adults and children. She is a self-described “historian from the heart” and a native from Yardley, Bucks County. Shirley’s mission includes sharing her knowledge and discovery of hidden figures, places, and facts not well known by the general public and/or buried in the historical archives of Bucks County. Shirley is married and the mother of two sons. She is glad her love of history and her hobbies have arrived full circle this time in her life and so honored to be able to share it.
History Comes to Life in Bucks County for Black History Month
America’s History Live offers the community a dazzling and engaging opportunity to learn about the people behind the events that shaped our country as the organization will be presenting an exhibition at the Bucks County Visitor Center, Bensalem, PA., during the months of February and March 2021. It will focus on the Anti-Slavery and Women’s Suffrage movements, featuring the historic “Newtown Hall” of Newtown, PA. Life-sized replicas of many of our nation’s abolitionists and early women’s suffrage pioneers will beautifully be on display, spanning America’s time period from the early 1800s through the early 1900s. It also honors several key women from Pennsylvania that were instrumental in the Women’s Right to Vote. Also included will be a “children’s corner of artwork and crafts” – in celebration of Black History Month!
AMERICA’S HISTORY LIVE EXHIBIT: WELCOME TO HISTORIC NEWTOWN HALL – FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ( February 2021 through March 2021) – “mask-up” and visit at your leisure: The Bucks County Visitor Center on 3207 Street Road, Bensalem, PA 19020 – open Mondays through Sundays, from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Take a preview journey into the impact of the courageous actions taken by such notables as abolitionist Frederick Douglas and women’s rights activist Lucretia Mott.
Organizer Shirley Lee Corsey’s statements are a compelling invitation:
“I strongly believe Black History and Women’s History Months celebrations and information is important for children and adults to learn that this is most certainly American History. This information and how it is commemorated is not just for the people represented, it’s important for all Americans to be aware of. And not just during the months of February and March, although I do think it’s terrific that these months are set aside for this purpose. I understand why these “silos” had to be originally labeled “Black History, Women’s History, Hispanic/Latino, LGBT, Native American”, etc., due to so much of this information and these history-makers being ignored for so long and/or not being fully represented in the so-called mainstream. Therefore, WE had to commemorate these isolated realms of history ourselves!
Now is the time for people like me, an African American woman, raised in the suburbs of Yardley, PA – Bucks County, to be able to tell and share American History from our perspective. And this is what I have been doing by utilizing various creative and artistic expressions to do so, both visually and textually. Reaching out to children is vital in this current state we are living in. We want children to see, learn and then express their views in a creative, fun, and informative way –let’s see and hear what they want to express about Black History and Women’s History Month. America’s History Live’s current exhibit at the Bucks County Visitor Center is a wonderful place for this diverse expression!
“ If you see it, you can be it” – This is the philosophy of America’s History Live’s projects! So many children of diverse backgrounds; black, brown, female, gay and/or straight, etc., may not feel they are worthy since not seeing themselves fully represented in a positive way. Either in current social events and most certainly, not seeing themselves represented in our school’s standard history books and curriculum. But the GOOD NEWS IS so many people who look like me and the others I have mentioned above – have always been there in our American History, and have made America wonderful, functional, and rich, but have been mostly ignored and/or marginalized by mainstream society. America’s History Live tagline “We bring history to life.” and our goal is to show and share (in our fun yet educational manner), so many American history makers left out and/or marginalized. We do this by historical reenactment, exhibits, and now (due to Covid-19 restrictions) via live and recorded Zoom sessions. We create and assemble and dress-up in period costumes and deliver wonderful visual displays of information about America’s truly diverse history!
I will continue to share what I have learned and what I’m continuing to do in my personal life and professional initiatives as detailed above. “Each one Teach one” – Dr. Frank Laubach
America’s History Live’s goal is for Bucks County Children Artwork Activity is to showcase the views of children from all grade levels – elementary, middle, and high school, to participate. The theme is, “What Black History and Women’s History Month Represents to Me” presented in a creative, fun, and informative way – let’s see and hear what they want to express about Black History and Women’s History Month. A wonderful place for this diversity of artistic expression from our youth! February artwork deadline entry date is Wednesday 2/24/21. Winners will be announced at 1 pm on 2/27/21 during America’s History Live’s Virtual Zoom session #2
March artwork deadline entry date is Wednesday 3/17/21. Winners will be announced at 1 pm on 3/20/21 during America’s History Live’s Virtual Zoom session #3
The participants can utilize any type of 8.5” x 11” sized paper, hand-drawn by either crayons, pens, pencil, or paint. We are seeking to showcase the children’s creativity; thus, we support various forms of artistic expressions they may wish to create – drawings, paintings, writings, and/or poetry. To make things a bit more exciting, America’s History Live plans to award top prizes to youth from each of the grade-level categories: elementary, middle, and high school. With the world we are currently living in, this is a great way to help enhance the camaraderie of our diverse community by creating an educational, yet fun, atmosphere to channel some of the best work from the youth of Bucks County.
America’s History Live’s Exhibit – “Bucks County Children’s Artwork” area, is located at the Bucks County Visitor Center lobby. These youth artwork entries should be dropped off directly in bins that are specifically labeled and available for collection in this area of the exhibit.
Students must write their name, grade level, school, and/or community organization affiliation on the front or back of their artwork entry. (Students can submit one artwork entry for February and/or March).
Please share your origin story:
My family has been rooted in Yardley, PA (Bucks County) since the early 1900s – and maybe even before! I’m a third-generation family member from here and can attest that Yardley Borough has always included a small but thriving African American community including families living on Main Street, Canal Street, Letchworth, Pennsylvania, and Bell Avenues.
My late maternal grandmother was Sarah (Johns) Coney. Sometime during the early 1900s, she came from Yeadon, PA to Yardley through her marriage to Jerimiah Coney. The two settled in a home at 192 South Canal Street. “Grand Mom Coney” had a family of eight children, including my mother, Jean. Around 1954, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Horace and Jean Lee moved in with my maternal grandmother, Mrs. Sarah (Johns) Coney, on 192 South Canal Street in Yardley. At that time, we were a family of five and I was the baby (the Lee family eventually grew to a total of 11 children!). Two years later, my parents purchased our family home directly across the street. My father was a U.S. Army veteran and was hired at the Philadelphia Naval base, where he diligently worked for more than 35 years until his retirement. He always worked the 2nd shift, so most of our family time during the week was directed by Mom.
My mother was a typical housewife, a sweet, smart, but tough lady. She ran a strict but very loving household and raised all of us kids with a strong philosophy that we were one family unit. Everyone had chores, like nightly dishwashing and hanging clothes n the backyard “old-school” style on a clothesline with those little wooden pins. By the time we each turned twelve, we earned money by working outside the house at little part-time jobs; girls – babysitting, boys – raking leaves, shoveling snow, golf course caddies, paper routes, etc. I remember Mom saying, “a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk.” We were expected to buy either of these for the good of the household, and with our earnings, we did just that! Of course, we still had time for lots of creative indoors and outdoors fun all year round. Remember, there were no computers, cell phones, video games, and only one television located in the living room.
We all attended Yardley Elementary and graduated from Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills. I remember the Memorial Day parade down Yardley’s Main Street. This was always memorable. We kids would join in at the end and follow the parade all the way to its final stop at the American Legion Post 317 on South Main Street, where we would receive cookies and orange drinks in those little square plastic-coated cartons.
In the summertime we played jump rope, hopscotch, jacks, tag, softball, “stoplight,” “theatre” of our made-up plays, and would catch lightning bugs along the Delaware Canal at night, placing them in our washed-out mayonnaise jars, running around with our “blinking night lights.”
Fall meant back to school, walking up Main Street and then up the hill on West College Avenue to Yardley Elementary. I remember when I began sewing and making original costumes for myself and my siblings for Halloween (no such thing as “store-bought costumes” back then). We used to hold all of the candy in doubled-up brown paper grocery bags, trekking all over Yardley Borough for our treats!
Wintertime was for ice skating down on the Delaware Canal and as we got older, Mom allowed us to venture “uptown” to Lake Afton for ice skating as well. We went sledding and tobogganing down the hills of the Yardley Country Club. Christmas was so special. For the Lee family, it was all about baking cookies, pies, and cakes from scratch. We also had so much fun making our own homemade decorations I remember us making these beautiful Christmas window stencils for our house windows. With the help of the Yardley Jaycees and those Christmas gift shopping trips they sponsored, we experienced being just as excited about giving and/or making gifts to each other, as well as what Santa would bring us. We would sing Christmas Carols, and participate on trips to the Yardley Florist for visits with Santa Claus as we sat on his lap and told him what we desired.
Mom’s driving force to get a job outside of the home was buying a clothes dryer. She proudly worked for the Pennsbury School district as a housekeeper until her retirement. And when her youngest went off to college, Mom began a new chapter of volunteering a couple of days per week at St. Mary’s Hospital in Langhorne for ten years.
One by one we moved on with our adult lives, but we always traveled back to good ol’ Yardley where our hearts were (and always will be) for ongoing family gatherings of Sunday dinners, holidays, birthdays, backyard BBQs… or for just sitting on the front porch!
What were you taught about American history?
For the past ten to twenty years my own discovery and investigation about American History is self-taught, in-depth, and diverse. In direct contrast to what I was taught throughout my standard public schooling as a child and younger adult. In other words, I have come to know that American History IS actually all-inclusive as it relates to African Americans, Women, Native Americans, Hispanic/Latinx Americans, immigrants, etc. But unfortunately, American History in the standard school curriculum was not taught as such, nor is it still to this day (but, hopefully, what is taught has improved since my time in school during the 1960s – 1980s). Therefore, what I was taught (and who was teaching it, by who wrote the curriculum), was by a White male-dominated perspective. This type of perspective of course would present itself to be very limited. At that time, I was not so aware of this, but since the moment (as a young woman in my early twenties), I read the book ‘Before the Mayflower” by Lerone Bennett, Jr. – my eyes became wide open and my thrust for more of the truth and/or a diversity of perspectives about American History developed and continues daily!
In this moment in history, why is the exhibit crucial?
“I strongly believe Black History and Women’s History Months celebrations and information is important for children and adults to learn that this is most certainly American History. This information and how it is commemorated is not just for the people represented, it’s important for all Americans to be aware of. And not just during the months of February and March, although I do think it’s terrific that these months are set aside for this purpose. I understand why these “silos” had to be originally labeled “Black History, Women’s History, Hispanic/Latino, LGBT, Native American”, etc., due to so much of this information and these history-makers being ignored for so long and/or not being fully represented in the so-called mainstream. Therefore, WE had to commemorate these isolated realms of history ourselves!
Now is the time for people like me, an African American woman, raised in the suburbs of Yardley, PA – Bucks County, to be able to tell and share American History from our perspective. And this is what I have been doing by utilizing various creative and artistic expressions to do so, both visually and textually. Reaching out to children is vital in this current state we are living in. We want children to see, learn and then express their views in a creative, fun, and informative way –let’s see and hear what they want to express about Black History and Women’s History Month. America’s History Live’s current exhibit at the Bucks County Visitor Center is a wonderful place for this diverse expression!
America’s History Live’s goal is for Bucks County Children Artwork Activity is to showcase the views of children from all grade levels – elementary, middle, and high school, to participate. The theme is, “What Black History and Women’s History Month Represents to Me” presented in a creative, fun, and informative way – let’s see and hear what they want to express about Black History and Women’s History Month. A wonderful place for this diversity of artistic expression from our youth!
How can others do their part to be truth-tellers about what really happened?
“If you see it, you can be it” – This is the philosophy of America’s History Live’s projects! So many children of diverse backgrounds; black, brown, female, gay and/or straight, etc., may not feel they are worthy since not seeing themselves fully represented in a positive way. Either in current social events and most certainly, not seeing themselves represented in our school’s standard history books and curriculum. But the GOOD NEWS IS so many people who look like me and the others I have mentioned above – have always been there in our American History, and have made America wonderful, functional, and rich, but have been mostly ignored and/or marginalized by mainstream society. America’s History Live tagline “We bring history to life.” and our goal is to show and share (in our fun yet educational manner), so many American history makers left out and/or marginalized. We do this by historical reenactment, exhibits, and now (due to Covid-19 restrictions) via live and recorded Zoom sessions. We create and assemble and dress-up in period costumes and deliver wonderful visual displays of information about America’s truly diverse history!
I will continue to share what I have learned and what I’m continuing to do in my personal life and professional initiatives as detailed above and I feel we all can do the same. “Each one Teach one” – Dr. Frank Laubach
What is your take on school districts that don’t want to include Black history?
As I have stated above, my stance on this is clear due to American History in the standard school curriculum that was not taught to tell a more inclusive perspective of Black History. Therefore, what I was taught (and who was teaching it, by who wrote the curriculum), was by a White male-dominated perspective. Looking back at the year 2020 and the whole “Black Lives Matter” campaign being taken seriously by the mainstream, really showed that even though our nation has made great progress for social justice, our school curriculum for Black History is still lacking. I believe that in order for the curriculum to be more all-inclusive, we need to know what the teachers know and if they require education about Black History in order for them to teach it to our children.
Together may we write a new story that is inclusive and honoring of the origins of each person.
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Feature image: Michael Lee
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