Linda Grace Morris: Baltimore Boomer Tales from the Hood
Baltimore was the place to be in the 1950s and 1960s, bustling with all the industry and social change about to come. For African Americans, it was a jobs magnet with all the major manufacturers. Those living in Turner Station and Sparrows Point, the company town built to host the Bethlehem Steel Company, had the highest per capita income for African Americans in the nation. Cherry Hill, the only planned community built for African Americans by the Federal Government, lifted many Baltimore Boomers into the middle class. This podcast walks down memory lane through the neighborhoods and good times--despite segregation--that those growing up there can never forget.
Episodes
94 episodes
The Balsa Super Sonics: Cherry Hill's Award-Winning Model Airplane Club circa 1958
What do you get when you come together with a retired fireman, a retired bank examiner, a retired FBI agent, a retired Baltimore City Public School administrator, and a retired MTA bus driver who is currently operating a 102-acre turkey farm in...
O'Neal Johnson, Jr.: Retired Sergeant Major, USMC, President National Montford Point Marine Association, Inc., Baltimore, MD Chapter#17
When the United States Marine Corps promoted the recruiting slogan, "The Few. The Proud. The Marines." in 1977, they had no idea it would attract a young, indecisive, African American male in 1981 who would commit his post-retirement life to th...
Dario Marshall, the Dr. Henry Gates of Barbados: Finding My Roots!
As you should know by now, I am trying to find my family in Barbados. I went to Barbados for the first time in September 2023 and made an appointment to go to their Archives. There, I met a young man who unlocked the next generation of my ances...
Jim Capuano: Taking on Traditional Retirement Planning
This episode is near and dear to my heart because I never planned for retirement. I just thought I would work forever. Also, I had a "good government retirement" and Social Security. What more did I need? Silly me!Jim Capuano, auth...
Brenda Moody Bivins: From Cherry Hill to Charlotte, NC as CEO of BB's Krab Kakes!
Brenda is 80 years old and planning the next chapter of her life. She is a breast cancer survivor who fought through a major bout with depression when she was subsequently confined to a wheelchair due to degenerative arthritis. She uprooted her...
Presiding Elder Emeritus, Reverend Chester Morris: Born to Preach the Word of God!
I first met Reverend Chester Morris, his lovely wife, Deborah, and his young daughter, Theresa, in about 1977 when I drove my Mother back home to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for the first time after she left as a child in 1931 as part of the ...
Mrs. Lelia Elaine Moody Harrison: On Being 99!
Mrs. Lelia Elaine Moody Harrison lives in Cherry Hill and has lived in the same house, the house her father purchased back in 1948, while living there. She has seen a lot in her 99 years and shares with us what she has done over time. Miss Leli...
Warren Howze: In and Out of Segregated Times from Sumter, SC to Washington, DC
I first heard of Warren Howze when he was the Big Man on Campus at Morgan State College in the mid-1960s. Although I did not attend Morgan, I heard my girlfriends talking about him being President of the Student Government Association. I recent...
Semper Fi: Retired Sergeant Major Eugene (Dobie) Gillis
It was my honor and pleasure to interview my high school classmate and friend, Dobie Gillis. I did not know him in high school, but I am glad to have gotten to know him now. His story is the story of so many young men in the Boomer generation--...
The Luck Family Saga Continues: Life with Ted and Alyce Luck
Dr. William Wade, the subject of Season 2, Episode 2, invited me to attend the Luck Family Reunion that was held in Baltimore this year. Of course, being the #1 fan of Cherry Hill's Dr. Jerry Luck, I jumped at the opportunity. That is where I m...
Ambassador Theodore Roosevelt Britton, Jr., L.L.D.: An Original Montford Point Marine
I was introduced to the Montford Point Marines three years ago around Veteran's Day when I attended one of their awards ceremonies at the War Memorial in Baltimore. I didn't know their story before going. Fast forward to February of this year w...
Presiding Elder Emeritus, Reverend Cordell Hunter's Journey from the Hills of Cherry AKA Cherry Hill
Reverend Hunter's calling is to saving souls. His life of activism reminds us that we are our brother's keeper. Even in retirement from his Presiding Elder capacity, he continues to work to bring the next generation to God and to remind them of...
Diane Dennis-Mills: Seed from the Rich Soil of Cherry Hill!
Nobody believes me when I tell them how wonderful life was in Cherry Hill except others of my generation who grew up in this brand new, state of the art, first planned community built for African Americans by the Federal Government. We were mor...
Linda Padgurskis: Meet the L.I.N.D.A. Club President
Yes! There really is a club of Lindas, and you are getting ready to meet the club President. This Linda was born and raised in Chicago--a few blocks from the slaughter yards. She is a very positive person, and of course as a Linda, she has to b...
Dr. Jaky Banks: Everything! Everywhere! All at Once!
If that doesn't describe Dr. JakyB, I don't know what else will. A child of Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, she has always been a force of nature. At a young age, she made it her mission to meet her parents' expectations of her, and she took of...
Jamaal Moses and His Life of Service in Social Work
Jamaal Moses was born in what was then, Baltimore City Hospitals--now Johns Hopkins Bayview Campus, and lived a few blocks from what is now called the Inner Harbor until he was about 10 years old. Then he and his family moved to Cherry Hill and...
Aaron Condon: Unearthing the Unsung Contributions of Minorities and Women at the National Institutes of Health
Growing up, Aaron Condon wanted to be an archeologist just like Indian Jones. However, instead of finding buried treasure, he is mining the nuggets of history made at the National Institutes of Health for evidence of the contributions of minori...
Selena Robinson: Creating Lasting Memories
Selena and I became acquainted through a direct sales opportunity doing jewelry parties. It was a fun way to test our entrepreneurial spirit and meet like-minded women and men. That was 20 years ago, and we have remained friends. Selena is 20 y...
Mattie Butler: Paradise Found in Cherry Hill
Mattie Butler gives us a glimpse of what life was like in early Cherry Hill. She was 14 when she and her mother, Ms. Frances Jones, moved from Vine Street near Fremont Avenue to Cherry Hill. Cherry Hill was a dream come true for her and the oth...
Mark Aubert: Ancestry.com Suggested Caribbean Family Ties
Those of you with subscriptions to Ancestry.com know that from time to time you might receive a message suggesting family members who share portions of your DNA. So far, I have found four cousins this way. The other three are related on my moth...
Michael Burnside with Unfinished Business
You will remember Michael burnside as the subject of Season 1, Episodes 31 and 32. He grew up in East Baltimore and Cherry Hill and later went into the service. However, his is an unconventional journey that ultimately led him to his purpose.&n...
Adrienne Warren Appreciates the Investment the Cherry Hill Community Made in Her
Growing up in Cherry Hill in mid-20th century America was a privilege. The message you received from your neighbors, your educators, and your church congregation was that you mattered. That's the message that Adrienne Warren received that carri...
Levon Parker: From a Farm in Craddockville, VA to the Renowned Halls of the National Institutes of Health
Just like Ava Gabor on the sitcom, "Green Acres," farm life was not for Levon Parker. Levon could not wait to leave the farm, and he ran straight from the arms of his doting grandmother to those of a drill sergeant in the early 1950s--not long ...
Joy Thomas Moore: First Mother of Maryland
Joy Thomas Moore is a very unassuming woman with a powerful story to share. As I sat across from her, I could not help but smile because she flashes the same smile that Marylanders have become accustomed to seeing on the Governor. Her story is ...
Alice Faye Brailey Torriente: Like Father Like Daughter
If you didn't catch my hint, Alice is the daughter of the late Maryland Senator, Troy Brailey who served in Maryland's General Assembly from the mid 1960s until the mid 1990s. While Alice stood in her father's shadow growing up, she has managed...
