Review of A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government, Plus A Rant

     Forgot to mention in the update: that is a photo of his Hotel, in the new Featured Image.  This might become more of a rant, but I doubt it.  This book needs more circulation, and Black History needs more attention.  See the book review first (for which I just found my reading notes in my old Research notebook, and have updated the post, May, 2023…):

A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government by Carol Gelderman 

     Here is yet another important book on Black History in DC that I read in 2010, but neglected to review, in the rush to leave DC, and then finish editing Stayed on Freedom’s Call (linked to below, in the .sig…). Gelderman’s book (of which I seem to recall confusing at first with another book carrying a title like ‘The Wormley Hotel’ or such, which likely explains the long title without Wormley’s name for this book…) details the success of a man who rose to importance and wealth in DC, or The Federal City, as it was called before the Civil War, and is generally not spoken about on the DC Tour circuit. That was part of what I tried to include in my walking tours of different parts of the city, and what I really hope has been remembered in the new free walking tours of the various neighborhoods of DC.  After Snow’s Epicurean Eating House closed (remember The Snow Riots, anyone?), and William Wormley’s school was ruined, both left town.  William’s brother James Wormley had been 17 years old at the time of the Snow Riots, and went from hackney carriage, to gold prospecting, to a catering business (1850) next to his wife Anna Elizabeth Thompson Wormley’s confection store on I. St (NW?).  Soon, he had six sets of ‘dining rooms’ and a “pretty octoroon” (a person with lighter skin and straighter hair than a quadroon, like Lucy:  () 

for marriage (no note on the old wife…).  In 1871 he opened his five-story 74-room (57 bedrooms) hotel with dining rooms serving a T. specialty (sorry, cannot read my notes!), and even had an overflow house: “the Branch Hotel” and a carriage to take special guests to his house in Tenleytown!  The Panic of 1873 apparently had little to no affect on his business, as he catered to foreign and rich patrons.  Sent broth to Pres. Garfield after shot, hosted annual Spanish delegation’s Flower Ball, etc.  Died of gallstone surgery in 1884. 

     Ok, now, the mini rant:

I’m shocked by how little I can find of Black History, or of Black Historical Fiction,   in comparison to Regency, WWI, or other types of history on the blogosphere.  Am I just looking in the wrong places, or is the lack of attention to issues concerning BiPoC also here in blog land, too, and if so, how do we address this lack?  This seems to be part of the need ‘to bear witness’ of which Toni Morrison spoke, even if Wormley was not an abused Black woman.  It shows that even our rich men are ignored. 

 

Action Prompt:

      Consider some ideas you may have on how our society can solve the lack of attention to Black issues, not to mention homelessness, and child abuse, starting right now.  Share them with us in the comments, here, please, and write a story, or article, that uses those sources and your thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness, & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at LEAST for a little while:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport

Read, Write a book, like Stayed on Freedom’s Call, that you want to read that does not yet exist…

         by Teaching and Learning (free holistic GED Lesson Plans) in the present, to

                      We can  Do Better: a Vision of a Better World to create a kinder future

 

   and  Babylon 5 review posts, from a Minbari Ranger’s perspective: story inspires learning, and historical fiction can also inspire courage, right Willow?

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

originally written in the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE and updated in 12023 HE…

Stayed on Freedom’s Call  includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, here!  

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Shira