A Story About Mother Wit - Uncle Bob Blackburn
In 1947, Robert Blackburn establish the Printmaking Workshop, an 8,000-square-foot loft at 114 West 17th Street in New York City. When it first opened, the workshop's program included evening classes,…
Melody is a calm, confident, vivacious woman. Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Business owner. A proud, successful woman. At seventy she is most remarkable for having reinvented herself several times.
But this is not her story, but a story she tells about the wisdom of Mother Wit. That mysterious form of wisdom-in-action mothers pass down from generation to generation. In this story it just happens to be a man who, over thirty years delivered acts of Mother Wit that helped Melody and her siblings, navigate the calamities of New York tenement life in the 1960’s – 80’s.
Gertrude Moore (center above) Melody’s mother spent too many of her early years navigating the tumultuous waters of Harlem life from 1950 – 70. Gertrude struggled to make ends meet. Her husband (left), always in and out of his heroin addiction, failed to assist. Gertrude struggled to hold down two jobs while raising seven kids. However, as you can see, Uncle Bob (right) was always around.
If necessity is the mother of invention, Melody-as-caretaker (child in the center) was Gertrude’s invention. As the eldest, Melody was drafted at the age of ten into early parenthood. Cleaning, feeding and caring for six siblings consumed all but a few spontaneous moments of Melody’s childhood.
Fortunately Melody and her siblings had one guardian angel.
Robert Hamilton Blackburn (December 10, 1920 – April 21, 2003) was an artist, teacher, and printmaker. Blackburn studied lithography and other printmaking techniques with Riva Helfond who taught him how to operate the press, process, and prepare stones, based on simple techniques.
In 1947, Robert Blackburn establish the Printmaking Workshop, an 8,000-square-foot loft at 114 West 17th Street in New York City. When it first opened, the workshop's program included evening classes, an open studio working area, and print shops where artists could carry out their own experimentation. Forty years later and after his workshop was made available to over 900 artists from around the world, the New York Council of the Arts chose to honor him. He had established a place where a community of artists gathered to explore the creative potential of printmaking and to share technical expertise that informed and expanded their creative expression.
But to Melody and siblings Robert Blackburn was just Uncle Bob. And not just a kind uncle, but a pivotal figure in the care and feeding of their family. Melody recalls how early on, Uncle Bob recovered her clan from a catastrophic family separation. One summer afternoon the family arrived home to find the apartment stripped clean. Melody’s father had taken the children’s new clothes that had been purchased for the upcoming school year and the family furniture. All to sell for drugs. Gertrude was devastated. She lost faith in her ability to care for her kids. Never explaining why, Gertrude dropped off all seven children at the Harlem Children Services System. For several months they were confined to this institution, never knowing why. And never knowing their siblings were in the same building, living on separate floors.
Although little was ever said of the incident, Uncle Bob eventually convinced his sister to start again. He arrived with Gertrude to gather her brood from the services center to bring them home. Robert Blackburn’s career had been up and down. He understood the grace of both giving and receiving second chances. So, he replaced the furniture and new clothes to reset everyone on track to start the new school year.
During the following summers Melody and her sisters always looked forward to their visits with Uncle Bob. Always at work in his Printmaking Workshop, Blackburn had to determine how he could stay consistently connected with his nieces and nephews. So, the Saturday Loft visits became the weekend adventures for the eldest three daughters. Every weekend the trio would arrive for a brief visit. Their attendance was insured by the promise of allowance. Bob struck a deal with the girls that put them in charge of their cultural education. They could spend money on ice skating or movies with the agreement that on every other weekend they would explore the cultural institutions of Manhattan. From the Museum of Modern Art, the New York City Library, Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall these three young girls ventured into a new world, a world that had inspired Blackburn. This new world was only minutes away on the subway, yet a world apart from their tenement housing.
Robert Blackburn’s work on tour: Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit Services
It sounds like such a simple gesture. But not to Uncle Bob who realized how his exposure to the world of art had changed his life. He remembered how his mother had supported him in his discovery of the arts at the Harlem Art Center. But he knew it was something not prescribed, but something he pursued. So, for the girls he just gave a little nudge, with a little incentive. A little Mother Wit. And the rest is history.
Melody in her Twenties
For Melody, as we will see in future chapters, those Saturday’s at the Loft have always stirred inside of her, influencing several chapters of her life.
Story from an Interview with Melody Moore
Written by Andre James
December 2020
About TOTA
TOTA.world provides cultural information and sharing across the world to help you explore your Family’s Cultural History and create deep connections with the lives and cultures of your ancestors.
