Kicha's photos with the keyword: Philadelphia

Friends Intelligencer of Philadelphia Vol. 69, July 27, 1912 issue: "Chesta Dillard Dean was born on a little farm in Virginia in 1885, being the tenth child of Horace and Barbara Dillard. When she was 7 months old her father died, and soon afterward she went to live with an older sister in Jersey City, New Jersey. At the age of 14 she made her home with a married sister, Mrs. Walker C Thomas in Providence, Rhode Island. Here she later entered Brown University, but at the end of two years her sister's husband died and she was thrown upon her own resources." Five years ago she came to Philadelphia, where as soon as she was able, she entered Temple College, from which she graduated in pharmacy in June, 1911. While studying at the Temple, whenever she found time which she was not required to work for her support, she practiced pharmacy in the Garretson Hospital dispensary, but could not get a sufficient number of hours to satisfy the State examining board in order to become a registered pharmacist. After graduation she tried unsuccessfully to secure a position in a drugstore as clerk, so as to get the required experience. Finally with the assistance of her sister, who had married again, she purchased a drugstore of twenty-five years standing, at the corner of 16th and Christian streets, facing Cherry Memorial Church. She now enjoys the distinction of being, out of three colored druggist owning a store in the city. She employs a registered pharmacist and a student pharmacist and will be ready for her State board examination in June 1912. Dean's photo appeared in the 1912 "Who's Who in Philadelphia: A Collection of Thirty Biographical Sketches of Philadelphia Colored People," By Charles Frederick White

The ladies above belonged to a middle-class African American family that was active in the Philadelphia African American political, social, educational, and cultural community from the 1850s to the 20th century. The family was involved in several prominent local African American institutions, including the St. Thomas P.E. Church, Church of the Crucifixion, Central Presbyterian Church, the Colored Institute of Youth, and the Citizens Republican Club. The collection includes primarily studio portraits and snapshots of members of the Venning line of the middle-class Philadelphia African American family descended from the 19th-century white South Carolinian Richard Walpole Cogdell (1787-1866), and Sarah Martha Sanders (1815-1850), a black enslaved woman. Includes professionally photographed group portraits depicting the family's participation in the Philadelphia African American music community of the early 20th century, including: the Mendelssohn Singing Society; Sid Stratton's Orchestra; the Treble Clef Mandolin and Guitar Club; and the Soap Box Social, a minstrel club associated with the African American political club, Citizen's Republican Club. Other formal portraiture includes the graduation portrait for the South Philadelphia High School for Girls class of 1921 including renowned African American contralto, Marian Anderson, and a group portrait of the Citizens Republican Club (ca. 1910). Collection also contains studio portraits and snaphots photographed during family summer excursions to Pleasantville and Atlantic City, New Jersey; portraits of family friends and family members through marriage. Sitters include members from the Cogdell family, the Venning family, and the Capps family. Cogdell family members include: Cecilia Cogdell, wife of Richard Walpole Cogdell, and three of their sons - James Gordon Cogdell, George Burgess Cogdell, and John Walpole Cogdell. Venning family members include: Richard Cogdell and Sarah Sanders' daughter, Julia Sanders Venning, her husband Edward Y. Venning (a contractor), and his brother, Richard DeReef Venning (a government clerk). Julia Sanders Venning and Edward Y. Venning's children - Louise Sanders Venning, Miranda Cogdell Venning (a school principal), Oliver Casey Venning (family historian), Martha Sanders Venning, George Edward Venning (a postal worker), Sarah (Sallie) Venning Holden, and her husband William B. Holden. George Edward Venning and Julia Capps Venning's children - Mary Vandewort Venning, Martha Baron Nixon Venning Bowie, and her husband Charles Bowie. Capps family members include: Julia Capps Venning's father Augustus Capps, and her siblings, Lillie Capps Adams (a musician), Oscar Capps, Adolphus Capps (an undertaker), Berkley Capps, and Meta Capps. Other sitters include family members George Sanders; Georgia Rex Sanders; Richard Sanders Chew; Georgine S. Chew; Agnes Sanders; and Charles Sanders Chew; and acquaintances African American bibliophile and Tribune columnist William Bolivar, African American undertaker Joseph Seth, Mrs. and Dr. Perry, Mary S. Patterson, and Susan S. Williams. The Library Company of Philadelphia; Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning Family Portrait Collection

Bernice Thompson, who trained her voice by reading the fine print on cereal boxes and can labels became Philadelphia's first African American female disc jockey and TV personality almost a half century ago. "She used to sit at the kitchen table and read the labels and fantasize about being a broadcast star," said her daughter, Juanita Thompson. When the opportunity came, she was prepared for a one-hour Sunday show on WDAS radio station, playing spirituals. Eventually, she became host of a two-hour daily "Bernice Thompson Show" during which she gave beauty tips and household hints between the music. She also held the position of Director of Women's Programs. In the early 1960s, she took her show to a TV station in Wilmington, Delaware, before leaving the industry to become a public information officer for the Philadelphia Antipoverty Action Commission. Ms. Thompson died April of 1996, of breast cancer at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. She was 75. Source: WDAS History