Browse Exhibits (2 total)
Louise Smith
Born and raised in North Carolina, Louise Smith (189?-n.d.), moved to Philadelphia after a railroad accident left her father unable to work when she was just fifteen. There, she labored as a domestic worker and joined East Calvary United Methodist Church, founded by Reverend Charles Albert Tindley, the city's most prominent and influential African American clergyman. Marriage took Smith to Baltimore during the First World War, but in the early 1920s she returned to Philadelphia, where she lived at 1522 Catharine Street for most of her life. When interviewed in 1984, Smith was one of the oldest living members of Tindley Temple.
Ralph Jones
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ralph Jones (1906-1991) witnessed the arrival of Black southerners during the Great Migration and experienced the tensions between them and the established African-American community. After graduating from Howard University in 1931, Jones returned to Philadelphia, where he enjoyed a long and successful career in journalism, serving as editor for The Philadelphia Independent and the Afro-American, and as executive editor of the Philadelphia Tribune. Jones also worked as a public relations specialist for the City of Philadelphia and was the first African-American to become sergeant of the County detectives. Jones was also an accomplished author, of a novel, The Pepperpot Man, and a biography, entitled Charles Albert Tindley, Prince of Preachers, published in 1982.