I Know Me: Just Proud to Be an African American Woman

By Marian Olivia Heath Griffin

It seems like yesterday that things that were happening in my life over seventy years ago, demands that I trust in the loving purpose of a Sovereign God. I have learned to trust that He is in control – especially when life seems out of control.

I am prospering and am always hopeful because as a blessed African American woman, I accept my responsibility to give back to the people in this country as much as it has given to me. I will always acknowledge my roots, as they are more important than ever.

I am an empty vessel but am versed with a spiritual being to complete a mission for God. And I have an angel or angels who have guided me all my days. They are sent from my Sovereign Creator.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664139817

Marian Olivia Heath Griffin

Marian Olivia Heath Griffin lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her husband of fifty-eight years. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and College Administrator (retired) for thirty-six years, the last seven years as Director of International Student Affairs. After she retired from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she decided to utilize her degree in Mass Communication and Photography to tell her people’s stories and history. Griffin graduated from Delaware State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Psychology, a Master’s Degree program in Atlanta University School of Social Work, a Master’s Degree program at Gammon Theological Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. She received her Master’s Degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Psychological Counseling and Social Work. She received a Master’s Degree in Educational Supervision and Mass Communication and Photography from Southern University. She did further study at Louisiana State University and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She studied Genealogy at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library in Baton Rouge. She has traveled over the fifty states of the U.S. and six of the seven continents. She has written eighteen books in two years, published them with XLIBRIS and compiled and published two photo books with MYCANVAS BY ALEXANDER. She is proud of her three children: Rev. Bertrand, II (Rev. Kotosha Seals Griffin), Karen G. Phenix, (Keith Phenix) and Dr. Michael (Tracie Haydel Griffin). She adores her eight grandchildren: Nia, Kiara, Christian-Paris, Michael, II. Amelia-Grai, Victoria, Olivia and Sophia – all Griffins and one god-child, Whitney White, one great grandchild – Keomi Phenix, one great- godchild, Amelia Pleasant and her brother, Warren, six great- nieces, Whitney Foucheaux, Amoree Sanders, and Danee Heath, Tikia and Lentia Brown, and great nephews: Bobbie, Jr., Enrique and Alberto Garcia, Tyler Heath, Lauren and Kee Kee Dennis, Arshawon Brown (recently deceased), Willie, Jermaine. Brown, Michael Martin and sons, and Devonte Walker.

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Copyright © 2020 by Marian Griffin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/29/2020

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Contents

Dedicated To

Author’s Notes

My Childhood Aspirations

Abraham Lincoln’s Failures And Successes

My Work In Social Work

A Horrible Pandemic With President

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

We Serve

My Sources

Visited Grave Sites And Cemetaries For Markings

Know Yourself

Lucy, Mother Of The Earth

Lucy’s Sources

My Life

Continuing Life As It Were

Chapter 1 Our African Origins: In The Beginning

African Heritage

Slavery Developed In Africa

The Value Of Slaves

Portuguese And Dutch Slave Traders

The British And The French Takeover

My Nomadic People

Chapter 2 Grandmom Hattie Drucilla Wise Heath’s Oral History

A Family Named Khoban

Ancient African Inventions Used Today

Joseph Khoban

Sunu

Wars And Pending Wars

Ana And Torro

My Grandchildren Spoke

Our Beginnings In America

Accomack And Nothhampton Counties

The Wise Family

The Wise Family Down Through The Ages

Anna Lisa Coleman And Steven Wise

Peter Wise And Elizabeth Drummond

Margaret Anna Maggie Custis And John Steven Wise

William Heath, Sr.

Dinah Ann Bell And Ashby Heath

Hattie Drucilla Wise Heath And William Will Heath

Mary Etta Wise Heath & John Ashby Heath

Annie Elizabeth Wise Jones & George Jones

Chapter 3 The Oral History Of Grandmother Sadie Mae Fountain Harper

Captain William Fountain

Nicholas De La Fountaine

Last Will And Testament Of Nicholas De La Fountaine

The Fountain Freed Slaves

Chapter 4 Mary Elizabeth Fountain And Charles Smith

John Henry Fountain And Amanda Collins Fountain

Researching Our Roots

The Church Museum

Mother’s Oral History

John Henry Fountain And Amanda Collins Fountain’s Children

Chapter 5 Underground Railroad Movement

Chapter 6 Mother Lettie And Uncle Clarence

Mother’s Education

Uncle Clarence’s Education And Adventure

Uncle Clarence’s Enlistment

Enchantment In A Small Town

Chapter 7 Lettie Sidney Harper And George Heath

Lettie Met George

The Courtship

The Letter

The Wedding

Chapter 8 My Early Years

Chapter 9 My Birth Witnessed

Inherited Land

Daddy’s Independence

A Glimpse Of Heaven

On The Verge Of World War II

Retelling The Story Of My Birth

An Outer-Body Experience

Two Grandmothers - Mid-Wives

The Houses We Built

My Angel And Me

A Gift Or A Curse?

Other Person’s Experiences (Nde)

My Heavenly Mission

Saving Children

Chapter 10 Education Begins At Home

Equal Under God

Chapter 11 Education - School Days

Two School Systems In Town

Bullying In First Grade

Left Handed

Testing

Chapter 12 4-H Club Achievements, Scholarships And Awards

Raising Chickens

Short Courses

National 4-H Club Conference In Washington, D.C.

Chapter 13 Our Younger Brothers

The Store

Chapter 14 Baby-Sitting Jobs

The Eventful Baby-Sitting Night

Chapter 15 On To High School

Driver’s Education Class

My Favorite Teachers

Only Two Dates In High School

Chapter 16 Kingfish, My Prom Date

Someday He’ll Come Along

Senior Class Trip To New York

Graduation Expectations

Chapter 17 My College Days

The Ivy Club

The President’s Children

Chapter 18 My Choice Was Good

My Music Scholarship Announced

Changed Career Choice

Chapter 19 We Lost Mother

The After Period Of Death

The Funeral Ended

Chapter 20 No Good

How Must I Stand?

Another Great Lost

Lessons Taught, Lessons Learned

After Graduation

Chapter 21 At Atlanta University School Of Social Work

The Day Of Departure

Chapter 22 Group Work Field Placement In Cincinnati

A Lack Of Supervision

Chapter 23 Met My Seminary Student

Chapter 24 My Marriage

Chapter 25 A New Way Of Life Together

My Mother-In-Law

Chapter 26 Attending Gammon Theological Seminary

Two Seminary Professors

Love Amongst Adversity

Studying Habits

Chapter 27 Family Summer Jobs

Going Home

Chapter 28 Seminary Days Again

Chapter 29 Bertrand’s Graduation Nearing

The General Conference Of The Methodist Church

Chapter 30 Graduation And Ordination

The Graduation

Order Of Worship -Invitation

The Bishop

Proud, Yet Sad

But I Haven’t Finished Yet

Chapter 31 Between Two Seminaries

Chapter 32 First Wings

Registration Day At New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS)

Enrollment

Chapter 33 A Friend’s Story Of Aloneness

The Unveiling Of The Julian T. White Atrium Mural

Loretta Invested In Him

Chapter 34 Motherhood Came Late

The Old Mule And The Farmer

God Made It Happen

Chapter 35 Miss Dixon In My Life –Again

Conclusion

Bibliography

Reference Books

DEDICATED TO

All the persons who helped me become who I am:

DESCENDANTS -HEATH AND GRIFFIN

NEICES AND NEPHEWS

MY PATERNAL AND MATERNAL GRNDPARENTS

MY PATERNAL AUNTS AND UNCLES

MY MATERNAL AUNT AND UNCLE

My PATERNAL GREAT AUNTS AND UNCLES

MY MATERNAL GREAT AUNTS AND UNCLES

(Source: 1910 United States Census Report.)

MY COUSINS (as many names as I could find)

(Source: Ancestry.com – descendants of Hattie Drucilla Wise Heath and William Will Heath.)

(Source: Database: 1940 United States Federal Census Place: Pungoteague, Accamack, Virginia).

(Source: Ancestry.com- Descendants of Annie Elizabeth Wise Jones & George Jones).

(Source: Ancesry.com – descendants of Mary Etta Wise and Ashby Heath.)

(Source: !940 United States Census Report)

ANCESTORS & DESCENDANTS OF GILLESPIE -BERTRAND’S FAMILY

GILLESPIE AUNTS AND UNCLES & COUSINS

JOHN BIRK DIZZY GILLESPIE

Dizzy Gillespie. Ancestry.com.

Monique L. Brown and Hutchison (Chn.), Kelton Hutchison, Carlyn Hutchison, Sandra Gillespie (chn.) Nicole Gillespie.

DESCENDANTS OF GRIFFINS

(Source: 1920 United States Federal Census Report)

(Ancestry.com)

LIFE HAS TO BE LIVED IN FORWARD MOTION

BUT CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY LOOKING BACK.

AUTHOR’S NOTES

T ODAY, AUGUST 29, 2020, I am 81 years old. I feel like Miss Jane Pittman must have felt when they wrote her autobiography. Only I don’t have help except for the diary that I have kept in my head all these years.

Kamala Harris’ mother told her as described in her book, THE TRUTHS WE HOLD, Don’t let anybody tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. (p. 25).

These are my mother’s exact words to me. You know who you are, don’t let anyone tell you who you are.

So, let me give you an autobiographical peek into my life’s story. I had a great childhood and teen years. Well almost! I survived my childhood and my teen years.

My story is one of a black female child raised up in a small town in the first state of the union- Delaware. My home is in Lower Delaware - Sussex County.

I was reared by two loving parents living in the same home with three full- blooded brothers and three full- blood sisters. I am very proud of my heritage because it dates all the way back to several generations of ancestors, all the way back to the 1600 century and beyond.

I stayed in the house that my Grandmother Sadie Fountain Harper and her siblings were born in. It was in Middleford, Delaware. The property was given them by their grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Fountain and Charles Smith.

I have been on the farm where my Grandmother Hattie Drucilla Wise Heath grew up, along with the rest of her family. I have stayed in the home that my Grandmother Hattie and Grandpop Will built. I call that stability. Just so you know, both my grandmothers, Hattie Drucilla Wise Heath and Sadie Mae Fountain Harper, had their homes and property given to their families by the white counterparts of our families.

Our family members still live at these homesteads – in Virginia and in Delaware.

I am writing more than a memoir. I am writing about the foundation of a family which materializes into a nation. From One Many. E PLURIBUS UNUM.

William Zinsser said, One of the pleasures of writing a memoir is to repay the debts of childhood. It’s not enough to merely recall a teacher or a coach or an uncle or a neighbor who made a difference in your life. That’s no small accomplishment. But take a few more sentences to tell what the difference was. (p. 27).

Turn up the heat!

Mine is a story of hard work, some bad and rough times, but mostly great opportunities and prayerful blessings from God with a little faith added.

It’s a story of love and faith: first, love of God and then, my family.

My constant thoughts are, In order to believe, you have to believe.

There’s a catch-22 that most people have trouble with. I was thinking out loud as I sat there with my grandchildren.

We were celebrating my birthday and I was thinking of the many blessings I have received over the years.

God is in control of all our blessings and opportunities, I told my grandchildren.

I believe that, Grandma. But who is in control when we have problems or do something wrong? ask Kiara.

God is always in control of everything, but He allows us to think for ourselves and do things on our own. He gives us choices. He gives us the right to choose what we want to do. But He’s up there still watching over us, I told the children.

I was taught this when I was little and I was a sheltered daughter, even though I was born in America just as the Nazis were invading Poland. The news about this event, the start of World War II, did not phase my parents or me when they heard the news on the radio.

This summer’s end was terra incognita and did not have much reality for us. It was someone else’s war. (p. 33).

My parents were involved in have me, giving me birth.

You know, I have sat through an infinite variety of religious experiences and felt the spirit at work. Some of these experiences changed how I thought about the world. Some of the small things in my life helped to shape the person that I turned out to be.

It’s all over the Bible that in order to please God you have to believe he exist. it’s pretty basic. What I mean is, we believe in each other, in people, don’t we? We give each other the basic respect that is due. We acknowledge each other’s existence.

It seems reasonable that God would expect the same fundamental courtesy and belief from us before extending himself in any way toward us.

What I’m saying is, we should not ignore God because He is the Master of the Universe and controls everything. Unless we allow ourselves to know him, he won’t reveal himself to us. It’s that simple.

We all believe in technology today which seems to demand our attention quite a bit. This is a modern miracle, the internet, the television and the cellphone which gives us an amazing capacity to access humanity’s collective learning in the palm of our hand. We are constantly paying attention to our cell phones to make sure we are not missing something. If that sounds like chronic anxiety, it is.

Why not do as Paul suggested to his new believers in Thessalonica, Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances. (Thessalonians 5: 16-18, NIV).

Instead of checking our phones constantly, what if we let that urge be a prompt talk to God? More importantly, what if we learned to exchange a need to always be in the know for continual prayerful rest in God’s presence? Through relying on Christ’s Spirit, we can learn to give our heavenly Father our continual full attention as we make our way through each day.

Grandma, you are so philosophical, said Kiara, our second grandchild.

That’s one way of looking at it, Kiara. But it pays to keep it real.

God is mysterious and a miracle-worker, I said.

As Colin Powell said in his book, MY AMERICAN JOURNEY, attempting to give an overview of his life, This is a story of my benefiting from opportunities created by the sacrifices of those who went before me and maybe my benefiting those who will follow. It is a story of faith- faith in myself and faith in America. (viii).

I must add, foremost- God. I do have faith in God.

MY CHILDHOOD ASPIRATIONS

When I was small, people were always asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My aspirations were to be a nurse because I went into a hospital as a small child one day and saw white women in starched white uniforms with white hats. It was a beautiful sight to me and I realized that my older family members were pleased to hear me say that I wanted to be a nurse.

I carried this dream in my mind for many years up to high school days and even had my daddy telling community folk that I was going to be a nurse when I grew up. He also told people that I was going to take care of him when he got old.

My last year in high school at William C. Jason High School, my best friend, Clara and I applied to the University of Pennsylvania Nursing School. This was a two-year nursing program.

We both received a hand- written postcard inviting us to attend a seminar being held by this Nursing school in February, 1957 just before our graduation from high school.

The seminar was being held on Friday, so we had to notify and get permission from our high school counselor and principal, stating that we wished to attend this event in Philadelphia. We received approval from the principal to be absent with cause that day.

My father and uncle could not take off from work, so Clara’s Uncle Charlie and my brother Daniel drove us to Philly from Delaware to this huge campus. All I remember about the campus was that it was very large and it was snowing hard.

We rode around on the campus and found the nursing building just in time to attend the seminar. The first thing we learned as we were ushered into a large room was that the nursing program was a rigorous two -year program. Then we were given a three- page test.

The lady giving the test was a beautiful white lady dressed in a black suit and black heels, white neckless and pearl earrings.

The other thing that I noticed was that she came to my desk and put a red- penciled mark on my test paper. The whole episode was scary as I gave answers about my health, my family, my school background and other pertinent questions. I remember putting in writing my height, my weight, my race, my religion, my allergies, illnesses and a few facts about my family, how many family members, and how many lived in the house with me?

This demographic background test was turned in by all the young ladies in the large room.

We didn’t have time to catch our breath before another test paper was handed to us. This was more like an ACT or SAT test. I had just taken an SAT test a month earlier and a written drivers education test, so I was not too nervous about this test.

When we completed this second test, we were ushered into a smaller room with cubicles for a one- on -one interview. Before I sat down good, the lady welcomed me to the preliminary nursing program. Then she informed me that I had flunked the physical test, because I was too short, too underweight and I had monthly health issues.

Then she walked me to the reception in another large room. I did not see my classmate, Clara. All I saw were about seventy-five to one hundred white girls coming into the reception hall.

By the time I received a cup of hot chocolate and a donut, the room was full of young white girls, chatting and laughing together and getting acquainted. I felt completely out of place and began looking for Clara. I finally left the reception hall and went to the outer door of the nursing building.

Clara was standing at the door with her Uncle Charlie and my brother, Daniel. Clara asked me, Why did you stay in there? When they told me that I had flunked the written test, I left and came out here to find my uncle.

I answered, I felt it incumbent upon me to stay and socialize a bit and I was looking for you.

Clara said, I knew they were not going to accept me when they red marked my test paper.

They red marked mine too, but I thought nothing of it, I said.

We left the building on the University of Pennsylvania campus and muddled our way back home to Delaware.

Realization of my sheltered life at the age of seventeen set in and I got a glimpse of what the real world was like and who was in control and had all the power. I had