Show Notes
Missing Stones
In this episode, Caitlin and Frances trade stories about the lives and impoverished deaths of H.P. Lovecraft, the writer, and Sissieretta Jones, the singer.
Accessibility: Plain headstone reads Lovecraft with his birth-death dates and the phrase ‘I am Providence’. Stone is square with an angled front face, possibly made of granite. on the base of the stone, are coins, seashells, and scraps of paper. In front of it are what looks like palm fronds and a rubber monster finger puppet. On top, more shells, more coins, a green blobby thing, and other nicknacks.
HP Lovecraft:
de Camp, L. Sprague. Lovecraft: A Biography. New York: Doubleday, 1975.
Faig, Kenneth W. "The Parents of Howard Phillips Lovecraft". In Joshi, S. T.; Schultz, David E. (eds.). An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honor of H. P. Lovecraft. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1991.
Joshi, S.T. I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft. New York: Hippocampus Press, 2010.
Lovecraft, H.P. Selected Letters. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1965.
Macrobert, Franch A. "Cosmic Dread: The Astronomy of H. P. Lovecraft,” The FreeLibraryByFarlex. February 1, 2015. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cosmic+dread%3A+the+astronomy+of+H.P.+Lovecraft.-a0396766826
Schweitzer, Darrell. Discovering H. P. Lovecraft. Holicog, PA: Wildside Press, 2001.
Touponce, William F. Lord Dunsany, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ray Bradbury: Spectral Journeys. Studies in Supernatural Literature. Scarecrow Press, 2013.
Bonus Link:
Accessibility Description: Large grey marble, rectangular headstone that reads: Sissieretta Jones | January 5, 1868-June 24, 1933 | The Greatest Singer Of Her Race | Known as Black Patti | This international celebrated Soprano was | The highest paid African American Female | vocalist and one of the first black women | to preform at Carnegie Hall in a career | spanning 28 years. She sang for four US presidents | British royalty and millions in the United States, | Europe, West Indies and Canada | for 85 years she laid in an unmarked grave | Until this stone was erected to mark the 150th | anniversary of her birth.
In the top right of the headstone is a small headshot of Sissierettta Jones in color. There is snow at the base of the stone and covering the leaves littered around it. It is bright sun out with a blue sky and scattered clouds. In the background are trees, other headstones, and buildings.
The Back of the Headstone. It reads: Here too lies Sissieretta Jones Mother | Henrietta Everett Joyner Jones Crenshaw | Birth Date unknown | Born in North Carolina | Died March 17, 1924 | Providence, RI.
There is snow at the base of the stone and covering the leaves littered around it. It is bright sun out. In the background are trees, other headstones (some of which are clear in extreme disrepair), and buildings.
The Seattle Republican (Seattle, WA). March 8th, 1907. Library of Congress.
Photo of Sissieretta Jones, sitting in a high-backed chair. She is wearing an ornate dress with a lace train and very belled sleeves. There are ruffles and roses decorating the scooped neckline. Roses are scattered across her lap and down to the ground. Her hair is up with a feather in it. She is wearing a necklace and almost smiling. The picture is in black and white.
Sissieretta Jones:
Chideya, Farai. News & Notes. “History's Unsung Opera Star.” June 11, 2007. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10948095
Cooper, Michael. “Overlooked No More: Sissieretta Jones, a Soprano Who Shattered Racial Barriers.” Aug. 15, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/obituaries/sissieretta-jones-overlooked.html
GoLocalProv Features Team.“RI Music Hall of Fame Announces 2013 Inductees.” January 21, 2013. https://www.golocalprov.com/lifestyle/new-ri-music-hall-of-fame-announces-2013-inductees/
Hudson, R. “From Opera, Minstrelsy and Ragtime to Social Justice: An Overview of African American Performers at Carnegie Hall, 1892-1943.” BlackPast. September 3, 2007. Accessed Jan. 06, 2022. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/opera-minstrelsy-and-ragtime-social-justice-overview-african-american-performers-carneg/
Lee, Maureen D. Sissieretta Jones: “The Greatest Singer of Her Race," 1868-1933. Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina Press, 2012.
Jess, Tyehimba. “Sissieretta Jones” Olio. Seattle, WA: Wave Books, 2016.
Jess, Tyehimba. “My Name is Sissieretta Jones” Olio. Seattle, WA: Wave Books, 2016.
Story, Rosalyn M. And So I Sing: African American Divas of Opera and Concert. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1990.
Unladylike2020. “Sissieretta Jones was a Trailblazing Black Opera Singer” Directed by Charlotte Mangin and Sandra Rattley. (2020: PBS) https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/first-black-woman-headline-concert-carnegie-hall-wtx97f/14930/#
Bonus Links:
FindAGrave - Sissieretta Jones
Support Grace Church Cemetery Restoration Efforts
Memory Medallion Page Attached to Sissieretta's Grave
Land Acknowledgment:
We’d like to acknowledge that both HP Lovecraft and Sissieretta Jones are buried and we recorded this podcast on the traditional lands of the Wampanoag, Pokanoket, and Narragansett peoples. Here in the Northeast and all across the country, native peoples are still here and thriving. For more information, please see the links below.
Links:
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