by Court | May 31, 2021
“People who say bad things about her in the park have had objects dropped on their head, or fallen suddenly as if pushed. The sudden appearance of a crow seems to herald Mary’s presence, and she has even taken her human form and walked among the trees and...
by Court | May 27, 2021
My dearest planchette pushers: As you know, I traffic in the macabre. I write about mayhem and death and how those things haunt us. This week’s story is one that I’ve been turning over in my head for a month, trying to make sense of and wanting to tell in the right...
by Court | May 21, 2021
“From Mam’zelle LaVeaux Mary learned to mentor her people and to use the secrets of the rich to gain aid for the poor – a ‘model’ that would serve her well in San Francisco.” Sushell Bibbs, Heritage of Power Mary Ellen Pleasant had a...
by Court | May 17, 2021
“I don’t like to be called mammy by everybody. Put. That. Down. I am not mammy to everybody in California. I received a letter from a pastor in Sacramento. It was addressed to Mammy Pleasant. I wrote back to him on his own paper that my name was Mrs. Mary...
by Court | May 14, 2021
“I’d rather be a corpse than a coward.” Mary Ellen Pleasant’s Story Mary Ellen Pleasant was a prominent abolitionist in the lead up to the Civil War, in California and beyond. Some of the details about her work are up for debate, but there is no doubt that...
