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SPEAKER_08: Hi everyone, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Anamalika Tubbs, the author of The Three Mothers, How the Mothers of MLK Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaved a Nation. My work focuses on motherhood through the lens of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity. And I'll be your guest host for this month of Womanica. This month, we're talking about mothers, women who ushered forth new generations and new futures through their care, work, and imagination. Today, we're talking about a woman whose influence can be felt throughout American culture, but whose name you've probably never heard. As the mother of one of our country's most singular voices, she helped guide and grow a creative genius. Let's talk about Bertus Baldwin.
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SPEAKER_08: Emma Bertus Jones was born on Christmas Day, 1903, on Deal Island off the coast of Maryland. She was the fifth living child of Leah Esther and Alfred Jones. Her arrival into the world was also marked by tragedy. Her mother, who had been sick for months, died during labor. But Emma, who was known as Bertus, was embraced and protected by her remaining family. Their home, Deal Island, was once called Devil's Island. Some people claim it's because the island used to be a meeting ground for pirates in the 1600s. It was tiny and marshy, and Bertus found inspiration in the striking Gothic church and school building, which stood out against surroundings. Bertus, too, stood out. She was brilliant and loved writing and poetry. Sometimes she even performed her work for her family. But as Bertus grew up, her dreams began to get bigger than her tiny hometown. So in the early 1920s, she left Deal Island and set out for the North as part of the Great Migration. The Great Migration began in the 1910s, as thousands of black Americans fled the racial violence of the South. By the end of this period in the 1970s, more than six million people had crossed the Mason-Dixon line in search of a better future. Bertus' first stop was in Philadelphia, where she stayed with a cousin. Then she made her way to the Black Cultural Mecca of New York City.
SPEAKER_08: We don't know much about the father of her first child, but Bertus gave birth to a little boy in 1924. From the start, she was a single mother. She worked nights cleaning an office building so she could care for her son during the day. But life was hard, and Bertus struggled to make ends meet. In 1927, when her son, James, was two years old, Bertus married an older man named David Baldwin. David was also from the South, from Louisiana. While his marriage with Bertus was loving at first, he was haunted by both personal and worldly demons, and he often took that anger out on his stepson and his wife. David was an evangelical preacher, and the family continued to barely eke by financially, especially as they grew. Bertus and David would go on to have eight children together. But like she'd done years ago, Bertus' children found a way out through education, especially James, whom she often called Jimmy. Bertus saw in Jimmy the same hunger for writing as she had, and she did everything she could to both protect him and raise him up, including putting herself between Jimmy and her husband David's rage. The principal of Jimmy's first school described Bertus as a mother above all mothers, noting that both Bertus and her son wrote like angels. As the years wore on, David became even more cruel and paranoid. In 1943, Bertus was pregnant with their ninth child and exhausted from trying to get David to eat. She finally made the decision to have him committed. He was diagnosed with mental illness and tuberculosis. Bertus urged Jimmy to visit his stepfather one last time so he wouldn't be burdened with regret, and so he did. Just a day later, on July 29th, David died. A few hours after that, Bertus gave birth to a baby girl. Jimmy named her Paula Marie. Jimmy grew into the writer James Baldwin. With his literary success, he bought a house for his mother in 1966, fulfilling a long-held promise. The house on West 71st Street was often filled with family and laughter and food and joy. James would bring other famous writers over to introduce to his mother, Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. Bertus, it seemed, was making up for lost time. But the constant that had always been there, no matter how dire the circumstances, was her fierce love for her children. For years, the living arrangements in the house on West 71st Street stayed the same. Bertus' daughter, Paula Marie, on the first floor, another daughter, Gloria, on the third, and Bertus on the second, at the heart of the home, in the middle of it all. Today, Bertus' house on West 71st Street is a national landmark. Bertus passed away in 1999. A tribute written by one of her many grandchildren read, "'Bertus' song thundered against their beating hearts. "'Love one another, love one another, "'teach your friends to love one another, "'how we struggle to sing like our Bertus.'" All month, we're talking about mothers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanaka Podcast. Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me as a guest host. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02: Bye.
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