March 1, 2017 Women s History Month: The Voice of Polly...
Transcript of March 1, 2017 Women s History Month: The Voice of Polly...
Volume 2 Issue 3 March 1, 2017 Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Eastern Shore
Women’s History Month: The Voice of Polly Stewart
Polly Stewart, who died in February of
2013, continues to have an impact on
Salisbury, the Eastern Shore, and beyond.
Few may realize her lasting significance.
Every time a student of history taps into the
Polly Stewart Collection at the Edward H.
Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History
and Culture, someone new is impacted by one
of Stewart’s many contributions to Salisbury
University.
The Nabb Center’s description of the Polly
Stewart Papers summarizes the breadth of her
interests as a person and as a folklorist:
“The papers of Polly Stewart document her
educational work as well as her research and
dedication to folk lore and folk life on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore and other cultural
groups from 1964-2013, with the bulk of the
material dating from her professorship at
Salisbury University, 1974-2000. The material
contains teaching notes from courses at
Salisbury University including literature,
mythology, as well as LBGTQ and Feminism
studies, research materials on lynchings,
folklore, folk life, cultural exploration, and her
records of participation in a variety of
societies such as the Maryland Folklore
Festival.”
The oral histories conducted by her
students are a treasure trove of glimpses into
Eastern Shore history. And few know that she
contributed to the early development of the
Nabb Center, as she eagerly embraced the
mission of professors Sylvia Bradley and Dr.
Ray Thompson in developing that archive by
contributing her materials to the effort.
When Stewart retired after 30 years at
Salisbury University, she returned to her home
state of Utah and hit the ground running to
further her folklorist interests. As noted in her
obituary, she spearheaded the Urban Pioneers
1960s Folk Music Revival Concert. She was
inspired by reminiscences with folk singer
Utah Phillips, and the resulting concert, a
Utah Humanities Council granted-funded
project, included interviews with local folk
musicians including Rosalie Sorrels, Utah
Phillips, Hal Cannon and others.
That concert must have been a riveting
experience. And Stewart participated in just
about every way, including singing. As
described in the Deseret News website of
January 26, 2007, “Polly (Stewart) and the
Valley Boys (Utah Phillips and Dave
Roylance) sang with what Phillips called
‘crude vigor rather than polished banality,’ but
they were great fun.”
By Linda Duyer
As described in the Desert News of
January 21, 2007, that concert reflected a
larger slice of Utah musical history. As
Stewart then explained, Utah’s musical
folklore had been a “brief, incandescent and
almost completely undocumented slice of
Utah history,” noting that she intended to
change that.
Upon arrival home after retirement and
while looking further into Utah’s musical
history, she was shocked to realize a lack of
documentary evidence of the rich folk music.
The result of her work benefited the local
music scene and Utah’s history. This is what
folklorists do.
Also noted in her obituary, “Polly
supported the activities of Utah Pride Center,
American Folklore Society, Salisbury
University Nabb Research Center, Salisbury
University Wildfowl Museum, University of
Utah School of Humanities, University of
Oregon Folklore Program, Southern Poverty
Law Center, ACLU of Utah, Human Right
Campaign, and Unitarian Universalists.”
And of particular note, Stewart excelled
“as a member of the Salt Lake Choral Society
with a stellar soprano voice.”
Stewart’s early research into the history
of lynching on the Maryland’s Eastern Shore
provided not only information but also
insights into the resistance she encountered in
sharing this history early on. These insights
are included in a 2007 NPR radio interview
“Confronting a Legacy of Lynching” created
at the time of the debut of Sherrilyn Ifill’s
book, On the Courthouse Lawn.
Polly Stewart was born July 27, 1943, and
in high school and at the University of Utah,
took part in plays and musical productions,
(Continued at Polly Stewart on page 2)
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 2 March 1, 2017
Polly Stewart
with an interest in folksinging. She earned her
Ph.D. at the University of Oregon, the first
graduate of Barre Tolkien. She specialized in
Medieval studies and folklore, landing a 30-
year position at Salisbury University where
she had a strong interest in oral history,
resulting in the collection available today.
She is also remembered for working with
undergraduates to form the first LGBT student
group on campus, and for her personal efforts
to help students navigate the fearful and
dangerous world which sought to not accept
them. Stewart discusses her personal
experience and her helping of students in a
December 2011 interview on Contemporary
Western Women, a project of the USU Center
for Women and Gender and Utah Public
Radio, shared again following Polly Stewart’s
passing in 2013.
Upon her passing, one person posted
reflections of her impact: “I was one of those
undergrads whom Dr. Stewart worked with to
form the first student LGBT group on the
(Continued from page 1) Salisbury University Campus. She was one of
the most highly respected professors on
campus before she came out, and when she
did, the shift it created in LGBT perceptions
on the campus was nothing short of tectonic.
In my life she was a transformative figure.”
One cannot quite convey the impact of
the late Polly Stewart. She seems to have
touched everyone she met, wherever she met
them.
Personally, sadly I can count few times
I’ve actually met and talked with Polly
Stewart. Though each time was brief, they
were memorable. The first was at the Charles
H. Chipman Cultural Center when the former
Salisbury African American church celebrated
becoming the Charles H. Chipman Cultural
Center. She was taking a tour of the place, and
the awe on her face and in the words she
expressed about the place registered with me
forever.
I remember briefly attending some
meeting she was leading, wishing I had half of
the energy and enthusiasm she showed. My
last memory of her was even more fleeting, as
on her last return visit to Salisbury she took
the time to peek in at a program I was
presenting at the Nabb Center. She couldn’t
stay, but she made a point of stopping by to
say hello, and to leave, with a wave.
Now, reflecting on her past as a folklorist,
her passion with documenting local history
particularly through oral history interviews,
her love of music, her counseling of LGBT
students, her part as Polly and the Valley
Boys, I see now what Polly Stewart was most
of all — a voice.
Gloria Richardson
From the National Women’s History Museum website:
“Gloria Richardson was a leader in the Civil Rights Move-
ment. She was born in 1922 and grew up in Cambridge, MD.
Richardson attended Howard University and earned a degree
in sociology. She then worked as a civil servant during World
War II. After the war, she tried to get a job as a social worker but the Maryland Department of So-
cial Services would not hire her or any other African American social workers. Richardson helped
create the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee in 1962. The organization fought to desegre-
gate public institutions. Despite the name, the group refused to commit to non-violence. One protest
resulted in Maryland Governor J. Millard Tawes sending in the Maryland National Guard, which
remained in the city for about a year. Richardson’s work influenced a rising generation of Black
power leaders, including H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, and Cleveland Sellers. She was also
on the program to speak at the March on Washington, but was only given the chance to say hello
before the microphone was taken away.”
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 3 March 1, 2017
Check out the latest at the Crisfield Story Project Facebook page, click on above image.
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 4 March 1, 2017
Mary Louise “Tip” Quinton of San
Domingo, Wicomico County, Maryland,
passed away, August 4, 2013, some 92 years
since being born into a sharecropping
life. She was a Stanley, quite a prominent
family name in the area. San Domingo,
located between Mardela and Sharptown, is
known as established as a free African
American community.
I knew “Tip,” as knick-named during
childhood for her penchant for running around
on her “tippy toes,” as she put it, during the
1990s when learning more about the
community. There was something about this
quiet, thoughtful person that kept me coming
back, usually showing up at her back door
unannounced. And there was something about
her property, acreage on Quinton Road
stretching back to woods and including
boisterous animals, that attracted myself and
others. She held all sorts of animals,
Wicomico County’s “Tip” Quinton
practically a zoo where she would invite
groups of eager children to enjoy her
menagerie
Her back yard was a source of comfort to
her. She would sit there for hours listening to
the sounds of the animals, the domesticated
ones and the wild ones.
She had an intriguing pride and an awe-
inspiring sense of self. Shortly before the first
election of President Obama, I asked her who
she was voting for. Of course I knew, but I
wanted to hear her say it. She refused to tell
me. When pressed, she told me she never tells
who she votes for; and although she didn’t
exactly explain why, I somehow knew she
regarded the vote as a special gift that she
believed to be as private as a prayer.
Tip was born in a Rider tenant house, torn
down since photographed in the 1990s. She
took me to see it and as I photographed the
property, she gazed at about in deep
By Linda Duyer
thought. Although the family was treated well
on the Rider farm during her time there, said
Quinton, living in a tenant house was horrid to
her and she vowed to never EVER again live
on a white man’s property. Not only was it a
practical thing (always being beholden to
work and never having enough money), but it
was also a pride thing. She accomplished her
goal by marrying a Quinton, landholders from
way back.
She didn’t go to high school because her
family didn’t have the small amount of money
needed to pay the gas for the bus ride into
Salisbury. At that time, schools were
segregated and there was no public
transportation for black children. Several
enterprising community members throughout
the county acquired buses and operated
independent bus routes to the segregated high
school in Salisbury. Parents were charged a
small amount in order to keep the buses
operating, but even the low fee was too much
for the family. So as she navigated adulthood
and raised a family, it was a source of pride
that all her children went to college, a major
family accomplishment.
Asked what would she have studied had
she gone to college. She thought about it a
few seconds and said astronomy. All her life
she spent countless hours looking at the sky, a
source of wonderment for her. She also loved
watching the wildlife around her, particularly
the birds. She told me it was clear to her, from
listening to those in her backyard for hours,
that the birds had conversations.
Throughout her life she took on all sorts
of jobs to make ends meet. Her home lacked
conveniences because her children’s education
was her priority. She did not expect her
children to contribute to the family expenses
when they worked during the summer months,
as was the custom of many similar families.
Her children were allowed to keep what they
made. But, they were required to pay with
their own money for certain amenities, such as
special clothing. Her children would later
describe this with a certain pride, a feeling
that they knew was instilled in them by their
mother.
Sitting around the kitchen table one day
in the 1990s, watching some of the visiting
adult children chattering on and passing the
food, “Tip” remained mostly quiet, smiling,
watching her family of which she was
immensely proud.
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 5 March 1, 2017
Below left, Mary Louise “Tip”
Quinton, in the 1990s. Below
right, Tip and her husband
George Bernard Quinton (photo
courtesy the Quinton family).
Right, the Rider farm sharecrop-
per house where Tip was born.
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 6 March 1, 2017
Check out the fascinating array of images on shipbuilding
in Seaford, at the Seaford Delaware, a look back in time
Facebook page. Click on the above image for a link to the
internet page.
Check out the latest at the Seaford Delaware, a look back in time Facebook page, click on image.
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 7 March 1, 2017
Images from the Seaford Delaware, a look back in time Facebook page. Check out the website.
The Delmarva Chronicle Page 8 March 1, 2017
Click on the above image to view the PBS Newshour online article.
March salutes Harriet Tubman Expect to notice Harriet Tubman taking a bow historically-speaking,
during the month of March as she is honored with the new Harriet Tub-
man Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Dorchester County, begin-
ning March 11-12. But the stars are aligning for Harriet Tubman in other
ways, as her New York home in Auburn is gaining new attention as well.
And all of this is happening amid the backdrop of a newly-found photo-
graph of Tubman has hit the news.
Harriet is a celebrity!
Check out the internet article by PBS Newshour, as well as the web-
site honoring the Dorchester County premier opening of the new museum,
and the link to the upcoming annual Harriet Tubman Conference held in
Cambridge, Maryland.
The Delmarva Chronicle
Linda Duyer, Publisher and Editor
Email [email protected]