Eliza Bryant

Eliza Bryant  : 

Eliza Bryant

Background Information : 

Background Information BIRTHDATE: 1827 BIRTHPLACE: North Carolina EDUCATION: Unknown FAMILY BACKGROUND: Parents, Polly Simmons, a slave, and her master. In 1848 Polly Simmons was freed and moved north with her family, purchasing a home in Cleveland, Ohio with funds from her master. DATE OF DEATH: May 13, 1907 PLACE OF DEATH: Cleveland, Ohio. She is buried in Woodland Cemetary. http://lkwdpl.org/wihohio/brya-eli.htm

DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:: 

DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Eliza Bryant was active in the movement to welcome and assist African Americans to the Cleveland area, particularly those moving from the southern states. Through this work she learned of the special needs of elderly blacks left alone due to slavery. Existing facilities denied access to African Americans and so, Bryant, with the aid of Sarah Green and Lethia Flemming, began the work of establishing a home for aged blacks around 1893. In January, 1895 a board of trustees was named and the Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People opened on August 11, 1897. Bryant married and had several children. http://lkwdpl.org/wihohio/brya-eli.htm

Early days : 

Early days Eliza Bryant was born in North Carolina to Polly Simmons, a slave, and her master. She was raised on a plantation in Wayne County . In 1848, Polly Simmons was freed, and moved with her family to Cleveland, Ohio , where she purchased a home, with funds from her master. [1] The Bryant family engaged in humanitarian work and provided shelter, food and water to black families. This occurred both prior to the Civil War as well as after the Civil War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Bryant

Humanitarian work : 

Humanitarian work When she grew up, Eliza Bryant became a pioneer in the movement to assist African Americans in the Cleveland area, especially those who had moved from the southern states during the Great Migration after Emancipation Proclamation .She became particularly concerned for elderly African-Americans, who were tremendously suffering from the poor living conditions in Cleveland. The majority of these were freed slaves, with nothing given to them except their freedom. Because of racial segregation , the homeless shelters did not admit them, and as a result, it left these elderly black families with nowhere to turn. In 1893, Eliza Bryant began the work of establishing a home for the aged blacks, with help from Sarah Green and Lethia Flemming. She sought help for her cause through churches, community groups, business community, friends and family. She recruited volunteers who went door to door to raise money, food and clothing. Because of her dedication, John D. Rockefeller made a financial contribution, which helped to enable the purchase of the first home. In January, 1895 a board of trustees was named for the proposed home. By 1896, enough funds were raised and a house was purchased for $2,000 with barely any necessities. The Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People was incorporated on September 1, 1896, and opened on August 11, 1897. Eliza Bryant died in 1907, and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland. Over the years, the Cleveland Home received more funding and was able to supply the necessities to these people. In 1960, its name was changed to Eliza Bryant Home for the Aged, in honor of its founder. Later, in 1999, the name was changed to Eliza Bryant Village (EBV). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_Bryant

About Eliza Bryant Village : 

About Eliza Bryant Village At present there are 0 available employment opportunities at Eliza Bryant Village while those who are currently employed earn about $61139. This Other firm has its headquarters in Cleveland, OH. They have greater than 250 employee. If you wish to get in touch with Eliza Bryant Village, you can look into their Lead411 profile, where you can find helpful contact information, cfo employees, linkedin usernames, as well as Eliza Bryant Village email addresses with the domain @elizabryant.org.... more Eliza Bryant Village info http://www.lead411.com/Lillian_Greene_7321243.html

AS REMEMBERED BY GRANDDAUGHTER (Joyce Fowlks-Fort) : 

AS REMEMBERED BY GRANDDAUGHTER (Joyce Fowlks-Fort) Eliza Isabella Townsell Bryant, Mama Liza, our grandmother, is a legend, for she lives in the lives of her grandchildren.  She touched our lives in a positive way. She held high Christian principles which directed her lifestyle.  Much of her life was spent in meditation and prayer.  Bible study was a daily routine.  She knew the Word.  If she heard any of her grandchildren say, “I can’t”, she would immediately correct them.  Mama Liza believed that all things are possible through Christ, if these things are His will for our lives.  Often she would affirm something and then say “if the Lord is willing”.  She new that the Lord has a will for each of our lives and she wanted us to seek His will. Grandmother was also an industrious woman.  Like Dorcas, she was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.  She took care of many children. Her yard was the gathering place for grandchildren and others after the school day was over.  Her caring personality seemed to attract them. Gardening was one of her hobbies.  I can still envision her beautiful, fragrant flower garden.  There were roses, flowering quince, irises, bachelor buttons, zinnias, verbena, and many others.  These flowering plants shedded their sweetness far and wide because she planted and cared for them.  Mama Liza also planted and harvested many productive vegetable gardens and even grew an orchard. Mama Liza enjoyed her role as mother and grandmother.  She busied herself providing for her family.  Canning fruits and vegetables, raising chicken, and making lye soap were tasks she performed.  She also quilted, sewed, crocheted, embroidered, tatted and patched. http://www.txgenweb4.org/txpanola/bio_townsell_bryant_eliza.htm

AS REMEMBERED BY GRANDSON (Edison R. Fowlks) : 

AS REMEMBERED BY GRANDSON (Edison R. Fowlks ) Our first knowledge of America’s most brutal institution of slavery was calmly and thoroughly passed on to us as we sat around the wood heater in Mama Liza’s room.  Images of her words replete with expressions are still fresh in my memory:  Her account of the stealing of her grandmother from the District of Columbia and eventually working on a slave plantation in Mississippi, as her mother, Mary had told, is still vivid in my mind.  She recalled how mothers would stand on the porch and cry as their children were sold” into slavery.  And I can still hear Mama Liza recounting another slavery incident in which her grandmother was hit on the head with a poker iron by the “Ole Massa’s” wife because she burned the bread.  Her grandmother suffered from this “blow” to the head the rest of her life. Not only did she pass on to her grandchildren the nature of the brutality of slavery, she also talked about the post-slavery activities such as the Ku Klux Klan, lynching, and stories of our family’s resistance to these inhumane activities.  Other post-slavery activities consisted of share-cropping where the newly freed men were cheated out of their proper share.  This led to the old slogan.  “Naught is naught and figure is figure.....All for the white man and none for the nigger”. Often I think about the keen insight Mama Liza had into racial relationship during the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.  While most of us were strongly for integration, she told me once:  “What we want is not really to be with them, but we want some of the things they have”.  Even back there then our grandmother had gained tremendous wisdom and was aware that our struggle should be about equality rather than just integration. Mama Liza probably never received any formal education, however, she was quite intelligent and an avid reader and fluent in her speech.  She read newspapers, magazines, and the Bible. Her philosophy of life has had a great impact on the lives of her children and grandchildren.  Her strength was her compassion, her love, her serenity, her honestly, her kindness, her calmness, and her inner peace.  And it was this type of environment that she helped to create as my mother and her six children lived in her home from the late 1930’s to the mid 1950s. Mama Liza’s life was an inspiration.  It is my hope that some of her grandchildren or great-grandchildren will write for future generations the story of her life, and erect a small museum on the site where her home once stood in Terrell. http://www.txgenweb4.org/txpanola/bio_townsell_bryant_eliza.htm

Picture of Eliza Bryant: 

Picture of Eliza Bryant

The End: 

The End