Mary Sinclair 

5 sources:

Tryde, J. (2023, July 12). 6 Things You Didn’t Know about Stevie Wonder- Ovolo Hotels. Retrieved From ovolohotels.com/ovolo/blog/6-things-didnt-know-stevie-wonder/#:~:text=He%20wasn’t%20born%20blind&text=The%20oxygen%20pumped%20in%20his,causing%20him%20to%20go%20blind 

This article about Stevie Wonder was called, “6 Things You Didn’t Know about Stevie Wonder.”  I chose Stevie Wonder to showcase in the Blindness in America portion of our website because he is a blind musical talent just like Louis Mitchell was.  I knew for this specific project I wanted to present how Stevie Wonder became blind and how it compared to Louis.  I chose this source because even though it did give some fun facts, it gave a lot of information as to who Stevie Wonder is as a person, and after looking through several different sources, this one seemed to best fit what I was writing about. 

Quotes:

 “The oxygen pumped in his incubator worsened the blood vessels in the back of his eyes, causing him to go blind.”  “He wasn’t born blind.”

Sinclair, M. Personal Interview of Kathie Kemmerer. Wilkes Barre, November 4, 2023 

I found Kathie Kemmerer online from a website called, “issuu.com.” She worked very closely with Louis before he died and wrote some of her information in an article.  I wanted to know more to get as much information as possible when it came to Louis so I googled her.  I found her on LinkedIn and sent her a message.  After 2 days of no response I decided to dive deeper and I found her Facebook.  We have been in touch ever since and we went out for lunch to have a conversation about Louis.  There were things that I could not have learned because they were not in the archive or online.  These were personal firsthand accounts and it helped my team figure out what was false information online and what was the truth. 

Quotes:

 “He was ridiculously amazing.” 

“I first started working with him in 1986.”

Kemmerer, K. (2021 April 14).  Information Update, Spring 2021. Weinberg Memorial Library Newsletter. https://issuu.com/theuniversityofscranton/docs/information_update_spring_2021. 

I came across this article when looking for ways to incorporate Louis’ personal life into this project.  I realized that Louis was also a person just like everyone else and I wanted to make sure that his relationships and kindness towards others’ was seen in this project.  I found this article when I was searching for key words such as, “Louis Mitchell, family, personal, life, etc.” I was at a crossroads before I saw this, and I was ecstatic to find out that Kathie lived nearby.  We talked about her article and other topics. 

Quotes:

“He laughed easily and contagiously.”  

“He was generous with his time and his resources, as I can attest.” 

EXQUISITE: THE POETRY AND LIFE OF GWENDOLYN BROOKS. (2020). Kirkus Reviews, Lxxxviii(4) https://ezp.scranton.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/exquisite/docview/2353421993/se-2 

I found this website on ProquestCentral when doing research about Gwendolyn Brooks.  Mitchell and Brooks were friends and I wanted to see her goals and what she was able to accomplish, especially since it was a time where these goals seemed impossible for an African American woman in the writing community.  It was very easy to find information about her because she does have such a following and is well known.  This article was a piece taken from her book to show what her early years of writing looked like.  It took a long time to be such a prominent figure in society and she worked every second to be able to succeed.  

Quotes:

“She writes by candlelight when the electricity is out and submits poems to publishers all over the country.” 

“She is the first black writer to win the Pulitzer Prize!”

Setti W, Cuturi LF, Cocchi E and Gori M (24 May 2022) Spatial Memory and Blindness: The Role of Visual Loss on the Exploration and Memorization of Spatialized Sounds. Front. Psychol. 13:784188. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.784188 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.784188/full 

In this article, there is information about a VERT board. Louis Mitchell obtained a VERT board in the later years of his life to try and navigate a computer. Mitchell seemed to have trouble because the controls were off, but VERT boards were very prominent when laptops started becoming more popular in the blind community.  This article shows you how to use this technology and how it helps navigate using a computer while being blind.  

Quotes:

“Spatial memory relies on encoding, storing, and retrieval of knowledge about objects’ positions in their surrounding environment.” 

 “Studies with congenitally blind individuals can provide fundamental insights into the role of vision in spatial memory abilities within the imagery debate.” 

Reinventions:

Mitchell, L. (Retrieved 2023). The Corncob Pipe. The University of Scranton Archives. https://digitalprojects.scranton.edu/s/rememberingblackness/item/2753 

I used this article for my Re-Inventions project with Patricia Leavy. I wanted to use something written by Louis since I learned so much about him and his writings.  I also find it interesting that the writings in his book are also reinventions since they are not personal accounts.  The stories were told to him as a kid and he picked which ones he wanted to put in his book. He crafted these stories and some of them might have been talked up to make it more interesting, but I think that is the beauty in it, the mystery. 

Quotes:

“Rev. Zachariah George Hoore stood erect in front of the congregation.” 

 “Uncle Currie was annoyed with her now, too, which was not unusual.”

Class Reading: 

Abdalla, A. (5 July 2020). There’s so much beauty in being Black from Scranton’: Meet the historian who’s now an advocate for her community. Pennsylvania Capital Star. https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/theres-so-much-beauty-in-being-black-from-scranton-meet-the-historian-whos-now-an-advocate-for-her-community/ 

This article is based on a talk done by Glynis Johns.  She talked about how she was embarrassed to grow up in Scranton and how there was no representation.  She went to college and put Scranton on the backburner, but after she graduated, she realized she could be the change this community needs. This article gives a summary, location, and background of her and her talk.  

Quotes:

“I was so invested in sharing the stories and rebuilding a community,” she said.”

“Waverly (a small town a few miles north of Scranton) had a small, free Black population, called Colored Hill on Carbondale Road,” she explains.” 

Henrietta Lacks:

Skloot R. (2017). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks.

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks helped us to understand that racism went as far as taking away the basic human right to health care.  They stole her cells without her consent after they turned her away after she ended up having cancer that killed her.  The family got no peace and no payment after Henrietta Lacks changed the world.  I feel like this is prevalent for this class because African Americans usually did not receive credit for work they have done, the credit usually goes to the white person who stole their work.

Quotes 

"You know other countries be buying her for twenty-five dollars, sometimes fifty? Her family didn't get no money out of it" (81).

"Everybody always saying Henrietta Lacks donated those cells. She didn't donate nothing. They took them and didn't ask (89).

Scranton Oral History: 

Scranton Stories Oral History: Norma Jeffries. (26 October 2023). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFt90rxOdb0&list=PLbsV7qLR2tZL78bScN3YbLnMRazF083yw&index=8 

In this interview, we get to see what Norma Jeffries life was like growing up in Scranton.  We get to view her perspective of her way of life, jobs, discrimination and more.  She talks about how when she was growing up her living conditions were not good, but she does have fond memories growing up in her neighborhood because of the community that surrounded her. Norma faced discrimination, especially in the workplace.  She would be laughed at and scrutinized all because of the color of her skin.  She eventually left Scranton to raise her family, but ended up coming back to her roots. 

Quotes:

“It was it was only like 750 black people in  Scranton at the time when I was growing up”

“I was a laughing spectacle because at that time they didn't have anybody black working there”  

Scranton Stories Oral History: Sister Donna Korba, IHM. (26 October 2023). 

Donna Korba is a sister at Marywood University.  She grew up in Scranton and loved going to the museums and art exhibits Scranton had to offer.  After 12 years of service in Guatemala, she moved back to Scranton and became the head of the IHM Sisters’ Office of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation.  She is a hard worker and advocates what she believes in. 

Quotes:

“One of the things that uh we as IHM sisters are  are are doing is attempting to restore our own land to be a little bit more like it was originally with Native species.” 

“We have responsibilities I think to look at  not only our neighbors that we know but to look at those new immigrants and the people we don't know to look at them not with walls between us but to look at them to look in their eyes.”

Scranton Stories Oral History: Cathy Ann Hardaway. (26 October 2023).

Cathay is a mixed woman whose father was black and whose mother was white. Back then, interracial marriage was frowned upon, yet that did not stop her parents from getting married and starting a family.  Everything came falling down for her and her family in 1960 when her father died and her house was demolished. This was a difficult time for her and her family since the neighborhood that was torn down, was a black community.  There were times that she questioned her integrity, but she has hopes for the new generations to break the cycle. 

Quotes:

“I don't think some of the  black community appreciated this blond blue-eyed white woman coming and taking my uh father away  from them.”

“I do ask myself the  question why that neighborhood, like why those blocks between Vine Street and Pine and North Washington.”

John Christiansen

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, October 31). Prevalence estimates vision loss and blindness. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth/vehss/estimates/vision-loss-prevalence.html

Annotation: This source shows data and analysis of vision loss and blindness from the year 2017. The information provided an extensive database for individuals with both vision loss and blindness, broken down by race, age, sex, and geographic location within the United States.

         This source was useful in understanding the prevalence of vision loss and blindness. This information was used to get a modern understanding of vision impairment and to estimate the population of people that experience blindness similar to Dr. Mitchell.

         Quote:

·       The current estimate for Americans experiencing blindness can be seen in this quote, “In 2017, over 7 million Americans had vision loss or blindness based on best corrected visual acuity in their better-seeing eye” (CDC, 2022).

·       The estimate for Americans with blindness and vision loss are show here, “Approximately 6 million Americans have vision loss and 1 million have blindness.” (CDC, 2022).

• Genello B. and Brown P.. (1989). Mitchell Obituary. University of Scranton News. From Re-Membering Blackness. Death of Dr. Louis D. Mitchell · Re-membering Blackness at the University of Scranton · WM L Omeka S

Annotation: This source provides a great synopsis of Dr. Mitchell’s life. It goes in to very brief detail of topics including his career, musical and writing accomplishments, and accolades in professorship. The document also provides information pertaining to Dr. Mitchell’s funeral and burial arrangements. The document continued to discuss the impact Dr. Mitchell had on the life of others around him.

         This source was useful to my research because it gives a great time frame of Dr. Mitchell’s life. This provided dates of important achievements, which served as great starting point for my additional research. Mitchell’s obituary also provided a quick overview of how Dr. Mitchell was liked by the community which he served.

Quote:

·       The positive effect Dr. Mitchell had at the university of Scranton can be seen in this quote, “Prof. Mitchell was a very special person at the University.” (Genello, B and Brown, P., 1989).

·       Dr. Mitchell’s achievements as a musician can be seen in this quote, “Mitchell’s other musical accomplishments include a libretto for an opera based on Jean Toomer’s novel “Cane,” and the lyrics and music for two plays: “Ballad of the Winter Soldiers” and “Star of the Morning,” an off-Broadway play that earned him an award from the American Socierty of Composers and Publishers in 1985.” (Genello, B and Brown, P., 1989).

• Leavy, P. (2022). Re/Invention: Methods of Social Fiction. ISBN 9781462550296

Annotation: Patricia Leavy’s book speaks on how to craft historical research into something easier to digest for the uninformed audience. Leavy also speaks on different researching methods and different “reinvention” methods. Her reinventions were mainly in poetic style; however, it was nonetheless useful to see the creative works that come from historic research.

         This book was useful to my research because it provided inspiration to continue researching Dr. Mitchell. After a certain point into my research, I began to get bored with it, however I would remember back to Leavy’s book and rethink the different possibilities to present my findings that were not in the form of report.

         Quote:

·   My inspiration to write effectively can be seen here: “Researcher use language or “the word” as a communicative device employed in the service of social scientific knowledge building.”

·   My inspiration to continue researching Dr. Mitchell came from this quote, “Social Research is a process aimed at knowledge building and meaning-making; at accessing, expressing, and negotiating contextual truths; and then at effectively communicating those “truths” to relevant audiences.”

• Scranton Stories Oral History. The University of Scranton (October 26, 2023). Scranton Stories Oral History: Keith Williams. [Video]. YouTube. Scranton Stories Oral History: Keith Williams - YouTube

Annotation: This video speaks about the life of Keith Williams and his time in Scranton. It speaks on behalf of Keith’s disability that has left him in a wheelchair for his entire life. The video reviews topics of Keith’s segregation based on disability and his position as the vice president of the ACLU chapter.

         This video was useful to my research because it provided a first-hand account of segregation based on disability in Scranton, which is very similar to Dr. Mitchell’s blindness. This video also provides insight into how some people may have treated Dr. Mitchell differently based on the appearance of his blindness.

         Quote:

·       This quote shows the segregation that Keith Williams faced based on his disability, “I didn’t go to public school or be with my peers without disabilities until I was 15—So I was in a totally segregated school system.”

·       A quote that helps better understand how Dr. Mitchell may have been treated different can be seen here: “…somebody can have a learning or emotional disability, someone can have severe diabetes, a cognitive disability that may not show up and you not see it.”

• Scranton Stories Oral History. The University of Scranton (October 26, 2023). Scranton Stories Oral History: Norma Jeffries. [Video] YouTube. Scranton Stories Oral History: Norma Jeffries - YouTube

Annotation: This video speaks about the life of Norma Jefferies. It follows her upbringing in Scranton and continues to speak on the adolescence and career after school. The video then moves on to discuss how Scranton’s center city housing development affected Norma’s family. The video also speaks on racism in Scranton and how it affected Norma.

         This video was useful to my research as it showed the importance of educators to the population they teach. The video also briefly spoke on the racisms Norma Jefferies faced when trying to find a job, and set the scene to understand the mood of Dr. Mitchell’s hire to the University of Scranton.

         Quote:

·       The importance of Dr. Mitchell’s professorship as well as importance of educators can be seen here: “I do credit those teachers that were there were giving us a great education as we moved into Tech High School.”

·       This quote shows the racisms that black people faced during their time in Scranton, “I knew that I was more than prepared for that job, but I never did get it so that was a learning experience for me.”

• Scranton Stories Oral History. The University of Scranton. (October 26, 2023). Scranton Stories Oral History: Ushu & Prisca Mukelo. [Video]. YouTube. Scranton Stories Oral History: Ushu & Prisca Mukelo - YouTube

Annotation: This video provides a story of immigrants, Ushu and Prisca Mukelo, and their journey from Dominican Republic to Scranton, PA. The Mukelo’s spoke about their time as refugees and the challenges they faced when they came to the United States. To conclude their interview, they discuss how the topic of racism is not prevalent enough on the national scale and they wish to change that

         This video was important to my research as it shows how Dr. Mitchell was able to succeed in Scranton, because it is so welcoming. Though, the Mukelo’s face racism in the country, they still feel welcome in Scranton, which really says a lot about Mitchell’s success. This also aided my research in understanding the challenges Dr. Mitchell faced based on race, not in Scranton, but in the atmosphere of the United States.

         Quote:

·       This shows why Dr. Mitchell was able to succeed in Scranton despite his blindness and blackness, “Scranton has been very welcoming.”

·       This shows that racism, although being slowly faded out by social norms, is still prevalent today, “…the issue of racism and I do think that people do not put value to that conversation.”

• Skloot R. (2017). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks.

Annotation: This source follows Rebecca Skloot in her research of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whom was exploited after her death to cervical cancer. Skloot discusses the exploitation of Mrs. Lacks in the form of HeLa, STEM cells that are immortal. Although the book goes speaks on behalf of Henrietta, it was used by our group as a basis for understanding research methods.

         This text was useful in my research because it laid out different methods to research in a captivating way. With knowledge from Skloot’s book, my research team was able to effectively interview a woman that had a deep connection to Dr. Mitchell as well as guide our research process.

         Quote:

·   Our inspiration to interview the before stated person came from this quote, “For me, it's writing a book and telling people about this story.”

·       This shows quote summarized the demeaner of our research group when discussing Dr. Mitchell, “If you gonna go into history, you can’t do it with a hate attitude. You got to remember, times was different.”

• United States Census Bureau, (2021, October 28). The black alone population in the United States: 2017. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/race/ppl-ba17.html

Annotation: This source provides the most accurate, up-to-date, information on population in the United States. The information shows population by sex and age, for black alone and white alone, and not Hispanic in 2017. All of the information is placed into an Excel sheet that has all of data organized.

         This information was very useful to my research as it provided a population statistic that could be paired with information from the CDC to get a percentage of population experiencing blindness, similar to Dr. Mitchell. The percentage gives an easy understanding of the population of people experiencing blindness.

         Quote:

·       The data table title gives an accurate description of the use of the data in my research, “Table 1. Population by Sex and Age, for Black Alone and White Alone, Not Hispanic: 2017” (United States Census Bureau, 2021).

• University of Scranton Archives; University of Scranton Newspaper Clippings. (1985). Blind U of S Professor Composes N.Y. Musical. University of Scranton News. From Re-Membering Blackness. Blind U of S Professor Composes N.Y. Musical · Re-membering Blackness at the University of Scranton · WML Omeka S\

Annotation: This source provides context to Dr. Mitchell’s career as a musician. It dives into his collaboration with his brother Loften to create the musical “Star of the Morning”. The source gives acknowledgement to Loften Mitchell, but mainly focuses on Dr. Mitchell’s achievement of creating all the songs in the musical that is making it way to Broadway. The source continues to give a brief interview with Dr. Mitchell that gives more insight into his success.

         This source was useful to my research because it gave a clear example of Dr. Mitchell’s success as a musician. It also provides a brief description of Dr. Mitchell’s upbringing and vision disability.

         Quote:

·       This quote shows the success of Mitchell’s work on the musical, “When the musical “Star of the Morning” opens Wednesday in New York City, a University of Scranton faculty member will hear 16 of his songs performed.” (University of Scranton Archieves, 1985)

·       The summary of Mitchell’s background can be seen in this quote, “As a boy, Dr. Mitchell’s eyesight was extremely poor.” (University of Scranton Archieves, 1985)

• Zach, L. (2012). Beyond The Gilded Age. Beyond the Gilded Age: The Hotel Casey 

Annotation: This source provides historic context to Scranton, PA’s Hotel Casey. This provided brief information such as the designer of the building, as well as its current state. In addition to this, the source gives images of the building’s exterior and interior. The source also provides information about Scranton during the Gilded Age, though it was not noted in my research.

         This source was useful to my research as it provided images of the Hotel Casey that were used on my website. The images provided gave an elegant look into the hotel, which Dr. Mitchell played in. This source also provided information on the destruction of the Hotel Casey, so that I could not go to the building to visit the site of my research.

  Quote:

·       The designer of the building can be seen in this quote, “The Hotel Casey designed by Charles E. Weatherhogg c. 1909 in Scranton, PA.” (Zach L., 2012).

·       The current state of the building is noted in this quote, “The hotel was demolished in 2001 and replaced with a parking garage. (Zach L., 2012)