Lula Kendrick was a major force in my life for 50 years. I met Lula as an infant as the cook/maid of my grandmother Berry (my mother’s mother). When “Nanny” died, my mother hired Lula in a similar capacity. This was during or right after WW 2. Lula was a wonderful human being and taught Charles and me a great deal about life. We loved her meals. Often we would have her turnip greens or collards for lunch, both cooked with ham hock. We ate lunch in our big kitchen at an enamel table for four. Lula had a great sense of humor. She often told Charles or me when we had done or said something dumb: : “Bubba (or Charles), “you(re) frail for true” That saying became well planted in our family and I still use it today.
Lula was a serious Christian who went to church every Sunday. She often commented about her minister or, less frequently, her minister’s son, “ML Junior”. I’m sure you have heard of ML Junior. We never met either ML Senior or the Junior Dr. King, which I regret, but we were close. Lula would take the streetcar and trackless trolley, when they were introduced, to our house and then back home. On holidays when she worked we would drive her home, a task Charles and I took up when we got our driver’s licenses. Lula lived in “the projects” but had a nice ground floor apartment through her retirement. My mother was the only employer I was aware of who put a servant on Social Security. This supplemented by funds from my parents gave Lula a comfortable lifestyle until her death .
Lula and my mother were the same age. In 1988 our family consisted of 2 children and 4 grandchildren. Lula at the same point had over 100 descendants.
Esther Bell: came to us in mid-1930s & remained until the early 40s. She was our cook & house maid. Her husband Floyd was our chauffeur & handyman. They lived in our little servant’s quarters at the top of the driveway. Floyd left one day.
Esther was very smart. On her day off, she would tell Charles and me: “I’m going down town to see the lights”. Our father called Esther an “African princess”. She was very good looking and had an engaging personality. We were crushed when Esther joined Floyd again and moved to New York City to get better paying jobs and more personal freedom. She an my mother remained in communication until death.
Mattie was our laundress and came one day a week. She was very nice but quiet.
Lawrence Lewis was our gardener (or “yard man” as we called them). One of his sides had been partially paralyzed as a result of an encounter with a bottling machine at the Coca Cola company. No compensation in those days.
Lawrence was small but very strong and hard worker. He had a great sense of humor and we kids enjoyed talking to him. He enjoyed alcohol a bit too much and was one of 10 who died as a result of a terrible guy, Fats Hardy, selling wood alcohol as the kind you could drink.
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