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| Walter Porter in the front and Center abt 1939 |
I have inherited a large collection of photo’s and will use the Wordless Wednesday prompt to continue posting photo’s of family and their friends.
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| Vashon H.S. Dance, St. Louis, Missouri, 1946 My Dad, Walter Porter, on far left Other names on back of picture: L. Wright, Edward Tripp, Delores, Trank Mays (Not sure who is who) Porter Family collection |
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| Henry Hodge (Far Back Left at desk) Federally funded program through the Settlement House St. Louis, Missouri Henry Hodge Photo Collection 1940 |
Henry Hodge is my Dad’s best friend, and they were friends since their High School Days in St. Louis, Missouri. My Father was a few years older, but through the years they still maintained their friendship. I am currently Henry’s caretaker as he is 81. I have always known him as my Uncle, and since he has no family of which to claim or they claim him, we are his surrogate family.
Here are some miscellaneous photos of Henry growing up in the Inter-City of St. Louis.
The YMCA (Y-Services) were very important in the lives of inter-city youth in St. Louis, Missouri. I heard stories from my Uncle and my father Walter about their positive experiences at the Pine Street YMCA. This is where they spent lots of their time from Elementary through High School.
[unidentified publication in St. Louis]
Page Sixteen
Winners in 3rd Inter-City Swim Meet
Smiling victors in the third Intra-center, city-wide, swimming meet series between the city community centers and Pine Street Y, are shown above. Buder won the meet held at its center last Friday night with 39 points. The final meet will be held at the Pine Street Y, this Thursday, Aug 7, at 8 p.m. Left to right, they are: Front-Theodore Butler, Rily Sutherlin, James Alexander, Second Row-Albert Lewis, William Massingale, Benny Westbrooks, Henry Hodge. Third row-John Robinson, James Bryant, Vernon Whitney. Fourth row-Festus Robinson, E. McWood, Levy Rose.
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| Henry Hodge Hurdles at Vashon H.S. |
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| Henry Hodge before a football game Vashon H.S. 1947 |
More Posts:
Sports Center Saturday Post #1 (Henry & Walter) Vashon H.S.
Vashon High School is a public school founded in 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri. The School was named in honor of two African American educators: John B. Vashon & his son George B. Vashon.
My father Walter J. Porter, who they referred as “Cisco The Kid,” and his best friend Henry Hodge (Uncle to me) played the same year on 1946. My father was 2 years ahead of Henry in High School. My father was #31, and in 1946 was the Vashon High Football captain.
My father did not play football after H.S. as he said he had a bad knee and really wasn’t that big; but my Uncle Henry played for the U.S Marines in the 1950’s while he was stationed in San Diego.
[After I posted my Uncle Henry said he rode the bench the 1st 2 years he played football, and frankly doesn’t know how he even got picked to play with the military].
(The collection of photo’s are from Henry Hodge’s scrapbook)
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| Vashon H.S., St. Louis, MO Football Team Walter J. Porter #31-Football Captain Henry Hodge #26 |
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| Letters Certificate for Vashon H.S. 1947 Presented to Henry Hodge |
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| Henry Hodge on the field of Vashon HS for Practice (on the visible far right) 1947 |
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| Vashon H.S Football Team 1947 Henry Hodge #41 (sitting directly in front of #51) |
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| The Hill Family (L to R) Ezell, Blanch & Linda in middle |
When my Grandparents Helen Bunn & Willie Frank Thompson died in 1989 & 1990 ( a few months apart, my dad took me to their home, and I was told I had 10 minutes to pick out whatever items I wanted. The house was ransacked by family and non-family members that had been through the house weeks ago.
My grandmother’s jewelry was gone, and anything I would have thought of as precious. The only thing I could find to take was two photo albums and my grandmother’s bible. I didn’t know the value of it at the time. I was nineteen years old, and was very sad that I was not able to recover my grandmother’s wedding ring. I was her only grand daughter and my dad was her only child. Willie Thompson was my father’s step-father, and honestly I did not care for him as he was mean to me.
The photo (above) is of the The Hill Family of which I am related to. Blanch’s maiden name was Bunn. I didn’t know who they were, but in 2008, I went to celebrate my Grandmother’s youngest brother’s 90th Birthday, Robert W. Bunn, Jr. He is still living to this day. I brought pictures to the gathering to have relatives help me to identify. Robert’s daughter Rochelle sat down with me and some of the Elder’s and helped me to identify the photo’s. This family was from Chicago, and then moved to Los Angeles.
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| My Dad, Walter J. Porter @ 12 years old Working at Wester Lingo’s Ice Cream in St. Louis, MO in 1940 |
© Yvette Porter Moore-All Rights Reserved
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| Henry Hodge, abt 2yrs old |
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| Henry Hodge at 8 years old |
Photos found in Henry’s Garage. Henry is 81 years old and still going strong!
Digging Roots: My Family History 