"Rhymes and Ripples: Green Memory" in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (1936)
Title
"Rhymes and Ripples: Green Memory" in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (1936)
Description
This newspaper article was published by Thomas A. Daly in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin on March 17, 1936 (St Patrick's Day). Daly had been a student at Villanova in the 1880s, and decades later recalled St. Patrick's Day at Villanova. One paragraph of his article is focused on the Mouldens and describes them as "a rare couple." Daly, however, confuses the names of Julia (William's wife) and Mary (William's daughter) and insults her clothing and her body.
Creator
Thomas A. Daly
Source
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin
Date
March 17, 1936
Contributor
Angelina Lincoln
Rights
Free Library of Philadelphia
Format
Microfilm reel 405
Language
English
Type
Newspaper
Text
"Our thanks to Dr. W. T. J. for his thoughtful kindness in sending us for this day’s column copy of an old ditty explaining how the seventeenth day of March came to be “the day we celebrate.” But we must feed it to the office goat. It’s too well known, and it’s too long…
***
It wouldn’t surprise us at all if some scout out on the Main Line should discover that two graves in St. Denis Cemetery show a generous feathering of green today, though all the rest are brown. Billy and Mary Moulton, who have lain there side by side for nearly half a century, were a rare couple. They were ex-slaves, and pure black. When we knew them, in the 80s, they gave a gay tough to the solemn celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and Villanova. Mary’s bulbous figure was always clad in an ancient silk gown of vivid green; a band of the same color encircled Billy’s hat and a large rosette or it ornamented his coat lapel."
***
It wouldn’t surprise us at all if some scout out on the Main Line should discover that two graves in St. Denis Cemetery show a generous feathering of green today, though all the rest are brown. Billy and Mary Moulton, who have lain there side by side for nearly half a century, were a rare couple. They were ex-slaves, and pure black. When we knew them, in the 80s, they gave a gay tough to the solemn celebration of St. Patrick’s Day and Villanova. Mary’s bulbous figure was always clad in an ancient silk gown of vivid green; a band of the same color encircled Billy’s hat and a large rosette or it ornamented his coat lapel."
Collection
Citation
Thomas A. Daly, “"Rhymes and Ripples: Green Memory" in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (1936),” The Rooted Project , accessed February 5, 2023, https://rootedproject.org/items/show/3.