*The premiere gallery for the Eubie Blake Collection, Eubie Blake National Jazz Institution & Cultural Center (847 N. Howard Street, 21201), located in Baltimore will host Dr. Moseley-Hobbs’ “More Than a Fraction: African American Heritage & Culture” Presentation Saturday, August 17, 2019 from 1 – 3 p.m.
The Center honors Jazz pianist/composer Eubie Blake, whose musical imprint spear-headed the presence of people of color on Broadway and in films with his style of music called “Rag-Time.”
During research into her ancestry Dr. Moseley-Hobbs discovered the Fractions who were enslaved and freed at the Smithfield and Solitude plantations in Blacksburg, Virginia. By the third generation of Fractions the Civil War began giving two Fraction brothers, Thomas and Othello, the opportunity to gain their freedom. The amount of inquiries into such a rich history on an African-American family was over-whelming and resulted in Dr. Moseley-Hobbs publishing a creative non-fiction account of the documentations on the Fractions titled “More Than a Fraction.” Upon being published she was asked to present her book and research findings as a lecture for the Civil War Studies Department of Virginia Tech University, which is now housed on the grounds of the Smithfield and Solitude plantations. The lecture had standing room only. She went on to present the research on the book at three libraries in her hometown of Baltimore (Enoch Pratt Central, Edmondson and Waverly Free Libraries). On Sunday May 26th she speaks at the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, DC on her ancestry research.
Dr. Moseley-Hobbs’ “lecture” is now called the “More Than a Fraction: African American Heritage & Cultural” Presentation. It talks about what documentation was discovered, some of which is included in her book and some are not, such as their struggles to be free after the Civil War was won, how they became land owners, how one brother became a respected train worker and how their names came to be engraved on the Wall of the War Memorial Plaza in Washington, DC.
Today Dr. Moseley-Hobbs is a member of the Smithfield-Preston Foundation’s Board of Trustees that oversees the historic estate where the Smithfield plantation was located, and she continues to work with Virginia Tech University that now holds the Solitude plantation and the overall majority of land of the Preston family plantations. Both the Smithfield and Solitude plantations are now museums. The Preston family, former owners, was considered the wealthiest family in Virginia at the time. The last heir to the Smithfield estate was William Ballard Preston, a former Virginia State Senator and U.S. Secretary of the Navy and the last heir to the Solitude estate was Williams’ brother Robert Preston.
Dr. Hobbs is a direct descendant of Thomas Fraction, the oldest brother of Othello, on her mothers’ side. Thomas was noted by a local newspaper as being a “well known colored man” when he passed away. “More Than a Fraction: African American Heritage & Culture” includes a very powerful Power-Point presentation where Dr. Moseley-Hobbs connects the African cultures of her ancestors’ to the cultural norms of African-Americans in the U.S. today.
Eubie Blake lived to be 100 (96 according to U. S. Census) and was performing and composing up to his death. He started playing the organ at age 4. The owner of the organ told his mother he was a genius. By age 20 he was playing in the first colored club in Baltimore owned by boxing champ Joe Grans. From there he went into filmmaking with three projects to show for it – all now among the Maurice Zouary Film Collection at the Library of Congress.
As an actor Eubie appeared in two films – Warner Bros. Pie Pie Blackbird (1932) and Scott Joplin (1977). He was married twice. First marriage was to his childhood sweetheart when he was in his late 20s, which lasted 28 years until her death at 58 from tuberculosis. His last marriage was in 1945 to a widower, Marion Tyler, a business woman whose late husband was a violinist. She managed Eubie Blake’s career and they were married for 37 years until her death in 1982. A year after marrying her Blake retired in order to enroll at New York University. He received a degree in Music Composition and spent the next 20 years putting on paper all the songs he had in his head. Subsequently because of his achievements Blake was given eight honorary Doctorate Degrees – Rutgers (1979), University of Maryland (1978), Morgan State University (1979), Dartmouth (1974), Howard University (1982), the North England Conservatory (1974) and Pratt Institute – when he was well over 90 years old. In 1995, 12 years after his death, Eubie Blake received a United States Postal Service Stamp. While alive however, President Reagan gave him the Presidential Metal of Freedom at 98 (94). In the late 70s and early 80s he received a Grammy Award nomination for the album release “The 86 Years of Eubie Blake,” which rekindled his music and resulted in appearances on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” “The Merv Griffin Show” and “Saturday Night Live” (when he was 92).
The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute & Cultural Center brings artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds together to support, develop, promote and advocate for cultural and educational programming in the visual and performing arts. Eubie and Marion Blake donated part of his collection to the Maryland Historical Society and Gallery 409 (owned by Urban Services Agency, an after school program). Gallery 409 was the premiere gallery for his collection and was eventually renamed the Eubie Blake Cultural Arts Center in 1983 after a fire destroyed the Gallery 409. Baltimore city donated 34 Market Place to the Eubie Blake Collection, at the time named the Brokerage Building and now known as Power Plant Live. With some of the Eubie Blake collection at the Maryland Historical Society and a change in name to the Eubie Blake National Jazz & Cultural Center, it was reopened. Today the Center is still trying to reclaim the rest of the Eubie Blake Collection.
The “More Than a Fraction: African American Heritage & Culture” Presentation Saturday August 17, 2019 is sponsored by the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institution & Cultural Center, The Baltimore Times’ foundation Times Community Services, Imagination Lunchbox, LLC and ThePulseofEntertainment.com. To learn more about Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs visit www.ImaginationLunchbox.com or email [email protected]. To learn more about the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute & Cultural Center log onto www.EubieBlake.org. “More Than a Fraction” can be purchased at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon websites.
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Freelance Associates
Contact: Eunice Moseley
Long Beach, CA 90807
Off: (562) 424-3836
E-mail: [email protected]
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