African Americans in Mercer County (Images of America)
Title: Every picture tells a storyAuthor: Tom DavidsonPublisher: The HeraldDate: 6/20/09The line of locals marking Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's 1968 assassination by marching down Roemer Boulevard extends the length of Farrell High School in the photograph from Farrell educator Russell C. Phillips. White and black, with the men in coats and ties and the women in dresses, the people in the picture taught students in Vernon Scott's fourth-grade class an important history lesson."The students realized that we were a part of American history," Roland Barksdale-Hall said.They also taught Barksdale-Hall a lesson about the power of photographs. It inspired him to compile "African Americans in Mercer County" a new book in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series.The 127-page book is like a community scrapbook of the last 150 years of local lore.Included are hundreds of pictures of local families, people at ethnic clubs in Farrell, and at community events. The cover is a picture of the jubilant 1952 Farrell High basketball team that Barksdale-Hall said is representative of the way Farrell is a motley mix of different cultures.Although he's African American, Barksdale-Hall said his mom spoke Slovak fluently because of the neighbors."The reason I selected (the picture) is to me, this is Farrell," he said. That's what (Farrell coach) Ed McCluskey had to pull together. A variety of ethnic groups coming together to succeed."Barksdale-Hall -- known to some as "professor" for his scholarly affectations -- has been a local history buff since he was in college and wrote a research paper about the Farrell Twin City Elks Lodge. To do the paper, he completed more than 20 oral histories -- interviews with local sages and elders who remembered times past.He forged relationships with the elders then and they've grown over time."It's sort of interesting, different people who have passed, they saw my interest and they gave me different papers," Barksdale-Hall said. "They were interested in family histories."Local African American icon James Elmer Mendez Matthews was the first elected president of the Shenango Valley branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, as well as an inventor, steelworker and talented baseball player.When Barksdale-Hall was living in Washington D.C., he and Matthews became pen pals and Matthews gave Barksdale-Hall historic papers.He dedicated the book to Matthews, who would have played professional baseball in the Negro Leagues but for the fact that he could make more money as a Shenango Valley steelworker.Times have changed."And there were others, we would sit down and sometimes have waffles and they would share the stories of the community," Barksdale-Hall said.They're folks like Sara Dillard Austin, Ethel McClain, and others who helped him go through the photos and identify the people in them."I had the photos and didn't have the story," he said.Getting those stories added a local angle to American and African American history."I was able to take the story of families in our community and place them in the context of history," Barksdale-Hall said.What's unique about the book is the speed in which it was published.He sent a proposal to Arcadia, along with a letter from Shenango Valley Urban League Executive Director Michael Wright, in October 2008, telling them he'd like to publish the book in 2009.They were hesitant, because some books like this are years in the making."I said, 'Yes, I'm sure,' " he said.He wanted the book to coincide with the NAACP's 100th anniversary and Barack Obama's inauguration as president."It was like taking a dive into the ocean," he said about starting the book last fall.Work continued a lot of nights into the wee hours in the morning when he could be productive, Barksdale-Hall said."It was done by the first week in January, which is sort of amazing," he said.The book is the latest manifestation of Barksdale-Hall's craft. He considers himself an artist, and works as a college professor, historian and genealogy expert. His writings have appeared in scholarly journals and encyclopedias."My goal is to make history come alive so the children would be able to grasp it," he said.Seeing the reactions of local youth like those in Scott's class at Farrell Elementary make his work rewarding, he said.