The Quiet Force of Emma Lawrence The story of Erie s first Black female business owner by Erin Phillips
Erin Phillips
In the preface to Sarah Thompson s
Journey from Jerusalem one of the few books to be written about Black history in Erie she begins: The history of the City of Erie begins in 1795. The history of African Americans in Erie begins at the same time, but, in the unfortunate tradition of US history, standard accounts of the past two hundred years present a one-sided picture which does not adequately represent their presence or contributions.
As I began researching the life of Emma Gertrude Lawrence Erie s first Black female business owner, founder and operator of Lawrence Dyeing and Cleaning for 50 years, and matriarch of a legendary Erie family I felt these words before I read them. Soon after beginning the pursuit of Emma s ancestry, I was struck by the white privilege that is
Thursday will be a strange night. New Year s Eve 2020 will see few sparkly dresses, no public parties spilling into the streets, no crowded bars.
DJs will sit at home twiddling their thumbs like most everyone else with plenty to reflect on, learn from, consider and hope for. Times Square in New York City will be eerily quiet, except for occasional musical performances for TV.
There will be no dehydrated, frozen revelers protecting their cubic foot of personal space for the 12th hour in a row.
And as New York City goes, so will go the Erie region.
A historian, an Episcopal reverend, small business owners and plain old Erie residents of all ages will be sheltering in place.