BLACK HISTORY #1...Famous SHOE MACHINE

JUST  BOUGHT  A  3  DVD  SET  CALLED  "BLACK  HISTORY" - 40  DOCUMENTARY  COLLECTION,  BY  MILL  CREEK  ENTERTAINMENT  -  14  HOURS  AND  14  MINUTES.

WILL  GIVE  YOU  MANY  THINGS  YOU  DID  NOT  KNOW  ABOUT  BLACK  HISTORY.

IT  FEATURES  IN-DEPTH  COLLECTION  OF  DOCUMENTARIES  AND  PROGRAMS  CHRONICLING  THE  CONTRIBUTIONS  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENTS  OF  THE  MOST  PROMINENT  AND  INFLUENTIAL  AFRICAN-AMERICANS  THROUGHTOUT  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED STATES.

GROWING  UP  IN  ENGLAND  I  LOVED  HISTORY  CLASS,  BUT  WE  WERE  NEVER  TAUGHT  ANYTHING  ABOUT  BLACK  HISTORY.

SO  THIS  IS  A  FASCINATING  SET  OF  EVDs.

I  WILL  BRING  AN  OUTLINE  AS  I  GO.

THE  PLANTATION  BEFORE  1861

MAINLY  IN  THE  SOUTH  EAST  FROM  VIRGINIA  TO  EAST  TEXAS.  LARGE  TRACKS  OF  LAND,  AND  BECAUSE  TRANSPORTATION  WAS  POOR,  THEY  WERE  BASICALLY  AN  ISLAND  UNTO  THEMSELVES.

COTTON  WAS  THEN  THE  MAIN  PRODUCE.

THE  PLANTATION  WAS  OWNED  BY  WHITES....VERY  UPPER  CLASS,  HUGE  MANSION  TYPE  HOMES,  WITH  EXPENSIVE  WHATEVERS,  A  LUXARY  LIFE.  ALL  THE  WORK  DONE  BY  SLAVES,  WHO  HAD  ONLY  A BASIC  COTTAGE.  EVERYTHING  THEN  WAS  DONE  BY  HAND.

SO  A  HUGE  VAST  DIFFERENCE  IN  LIFE  FOR  THE  BLACKS  COMPARED  TO  THE  WHITE  PLANTATION  OWNERS.

PLANTATIONS  TODAY

MUCH  SMALLER;  MANY  THINGS  GROWN  OTHER  THAN  COTTEN;  OWNERS  LIVE  IN  MUCH  MORE  MODEST  HOMES;  THE  BLACK  WORKERS  AND  FAMILIES  HAVE  NICE  MODERN  HOMES.  THE  RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN  BLACKS  AND  WHITES  ON  THE  MODERN  PLANTATION  OR  FARM,  IS  RESPECTFUL,  FRIENDLY,  WORK  AS  A  TEAM  RELATIONSHIP.

THE  CIVIL  WAR

FOUGHT  IN  PART  TO  DO  WITH  BLACK  SLAVERY  AND  FINALLY  ABOL;ISHED  IN  1863  VIA  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.

FARMER  HENRY  BROWNE

LIKE  MANY  FARMERS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL  WAR,  HENRY  BROWNE  AND  FAMILY,  BLACK  FOLKS,  FARMED  40  ACRFES,  HORSE  AND  MULE  DAYS;  LONG  OURS,  THE  WHOLE  FAMILY  HELPED.  HAD  TO  KNOW  HOW  THE  LAND  LAY,  AND  HOW  TO  POSITION  THE  CROP  SO  THE  WEATHER  DID  NOT  TAKE  IT  AWAY.

JAN  MATZELIGER

SHOEMAKING HAS BEEN AN HONORED TRADE - HANDWORK - TIME-CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE  -  ONLY  THE  RICH  COULD  AFFORD.

WE  ALL  WEAR  SHOES  TODAY  BECAUSE  OF  FAST  MACHINES;  ONE  A  "LASTING"  MACHINE  -  PULLS  THE  UPPER  OVER  THE  LAST  AND  ATTACHES  IT  TO  THE  INSOLE.
IT  IS  BECAUSE  OF  JAN  MATZELIGER  WE  HAVE  SUCH  A  MACHINE.

JAN  WAS  A  GENIUS  WITH  MACHINES.

AT  AGE  10  HE  WAS  AN  APPRENTICE  IN  A  MACHINE  SHOP  IN  DUTCH  GUIANA [TODAY CALLED SURINAM - SOUTH  AMERICA].

BORN  IN  1852  -  FATHER  WAS  CIVIL  SERVANT  FROM  THE  NETHERLANDS.  MOTHER  NATIVE  OF  SURINAM,  FROM  AFRICANS  BROUGHT TO  THE  COUNTRY.

HE  LEFT  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN  AND  ENDED  UP  IN  PHILADELPHIA  WHERE   HE  FOUND  WORK  REPAIRING  SHOES.
HE  MOVED  TO  LYNN,  MASSACHUSETTS  TO  WORK  IN  A  SHOE  FACTORY.
IN  1878  JUST  NORTH  OF  BOSTON  WAS  THE  CENTER  OF  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY.
JAN  SPOKE  LITTLE  ENGLISH,  HAD  NO  MONEY,  AND  FEW  FRIENDS.
HE  WAS  TURNED  AWAY  FROM  ONE  CHURCH  BECAUSE  HE  WAS  BLACK.
BUT  HE  FOUND  FRIENDS  IN  LYNN'S  NORTH  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.
FRIENDS  DISCOVERED  HIS  TALENT  AT  FIXING  MACHINES  AND  FOUND HE  WAS  WORKING  ON  A  MACHINE  TO  "LAST"  SHOES.  ALL  IN  A  FEW MOVEMENTS  TO  PULL  THE  SHOE  UPPER  OVER  THE  LAST  AND  ATTACH  TO  THE  INSOLE.
IN  1883,  ON  MARCH  20TH  HE  GOT  A  PATENT  FROM  THE  GOVERNMENT  FOR  THE  MACHINE.
FROM  1880  TO  1892  THE  GOVERNMENT  GAVE  OUT  OVER  100  PATENTS  FOR  SUCH  MACHINES.  JAN MATZELIGER'S  MACHINE  WAS  THE  ONLY  ONE  TO  STAND  THE  TEST  OF  TIME.

READY  FOR  THE  FACTORY  TEST,  THE  MACHINE  BROKE  THE  RECORD  FOR  "LASTING."
THE  MACHINE  BECAME  WIDELY  USED.  A  SCHOOL  WAS  SET  UP  TO  TEACH  PEOPLE  HOW  TO  USE  IT.  STUDENTS  CAME  FROM  ALL  PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD.

JAN  DIED  AT  AGE  37  FROM  TUBERCULOSIS.  HE  NEVER  SAW  HIS  MACHINE  BECOME  A  COMMERCIAL  SUCCESS.

JAN  MATZELIGER  LEFT  US  ALL  AN  INVENTION  THAT  CHANGED  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY.
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THAT  LAST  STORY  IS  ESPECIALLY  CLOSE  TO  MY  HEART;  BECAUSE  AS  A  YOUNG  MAN  I  WAS  APPRENTICE  TRAINED  AS  AN  ORTHOPEDIC  SHOEMAKER.  MAKING  SHOES  FOR  CHILDREN  AND  ADULTS  WITH  CRIPPLE  FEET  IN  VARIOUS  WAYS,  SOME  KNOWN  AS  "CLUB  FOOT"  AS IT  WAS  HARDLY  RECOGNIZABLE  AS  A  FOOT.

YOU  CAN  SEE  PHOTOS  OF  SOME  OF  MY  WORK  ON  MY  "FACEBOOK"  WHICH  YOU  CAN  FIND  A  LINK  TO  FROM  MY  WEBSITE [keithhunt.com].

I  HAD  NO  IDEA  WHO  THE  INVENTOR  OF  THE  FAMOUS  "LASTING  MACHINE"  WAS  UNTIL  SEEING  THIS  DVD  TODAY.
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