Dedication

A personality trait that supports productivity and success during the Progressive Era is persistence. If the people of this time was not persistent they would be able to overcome the many adversities they were facing. The Progressive Era established a more transparent and accountable government that would work to improve U.S. society back then and now. 

Early Life 

I was born in 1897, November 16, in Virginia. My parents were slaves but were free after the Civil War. I'm the youngest of four siblings. Living in the South during this time was very difficult. My father had a hard time finding work in the South, so when I was five my parents decided we should move to New York from Virginia to find job opportunities and escape discrimination in the South.    

Life in New York 

Me and my family took the railroad from Virginia to Harlem, New York. We lived in overcrowded and segregated neighborhoods in Harlem. All three of my siblings had to share a bed. The living conditions were very poor and inadequate. New York was different from Virginia. There were so many buildings and people compared to Virginia.  New York was so crowded and overwhelming. 

Working Life 

By the age of ten, I work in a glass factory with my older brother to help provide for my family. It was long hours and hard work that felt endless. While my sisters and mother work as maids for white families. My father had many jobs including factory worker, waiter, and porter so he could provide for his family. I rarely got to see my father since he worked so much, and when I did get to see him he was so exhausted.  

Social Life 

Me and my brother didn't have enough money to go to the cinema, so we would sneak into the cinema to watch new motion pictures. Also, my other sibling would play baseball with the other place black kids in the separated neighborhood.  People was racist to us, but that didn't stop me and my sibling from having fun and exploring the city.