When Sadie and Bessie Delany visited their friend Elizabeth Gooch in my hometown of Covington, Ky in the late 1950's, nobody outside of the so-called black elite really knew who they were. As members of one of the most distinguished black families in America, nobody had thought to write a book, a play nor a movie based on their extraordinary lives just yet. Though well into their senior years, the Delany Sisters were still in dress rehearsal for the day (four decades later) when they'd capture our hearts and have their say in the process. Timing was everything and waiting until they were fiesty Centenarians just seemed like the right time, indeed!
Chile, did you see those old ladies on 60 Minutes last night? Baby, wasn't that one named Bessie quite a mess! We adored them as they schooled us on 100 years of wit, wisdom and remarkable lives through race, struggle and success from the 1890's to the 1990's. Their joint autobiography, Having Our Say (with Amy Hill Hearth) stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 105 weeks and inspired a play and a television movie - neither of which did them any justice!
Black Covington was amazed when the book came out because there was "our" Miss Gooch right up there with the Delany's in pictures and in text. As friend, mentor and one of the most beloved teachers at Covington's segregated Lincoln-Grant School, Elizabeth Wotten Gooch is a legend in our local community. She was born in Covington on September 16, 1883. She attended the Lincoln-Grant School from the age of six until her graduation in 1902. She attended Oberlin College in Ohio, a private liberal arts college noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and African American students. It was during a stint as a teacher at St.
Athanasius School in Brunswick, GA, that she met and roomed with the slightly younger Bessie Delany.
The two didn't quite hit it off right away but eventually became life-long friends. Bessie (right) retained and wrote about enduring memories how as young women, they'd go to the beach together and lovingly watch the turtles come in from the sea to nest. Like her two more famous friends, Elizabeth Gooch never married.
Gooch ulimately earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Cincinnati, and taught at Lincoln-Grant from 1915 until her retirement in 1954. She was also an organist at Ninth St. United Methodist Church for 64 years. She passed away on August 16, 1983, a full decade before the Delany's found world-wide fame as early female pioneers.
Bessie Delany eventually became the second woman to practice dentistry in New York State. She and Sadie enjoyed another best-seller together with the Book of Everyday Wisdom (1994). She passed at the age of 104 in 1995. Sadie Delany was the first African American to teach domestic science at the high school level in the New York public schools. She released On My Own at 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie (again with Hearth) in 1997, and passed at the age of 109 in 1999.
It is with good reason that some black Covingtonians seem to think The Delany Sisters were also related to "our" Delaney's in Covington. They all "looked the part" well enough and had the right attitudes and aspirations, but John W. Delaney (and his wife Elizabeth) had SOLID Kentucky roots. The famous Delany's are solidly North Carolinian.
Wow. I'd forgotten about the Delany sisters. Hadn't realized Sadie almost lived to be 110! This does take me back. I do remember their story and the national buzz. They were certainly remarkable women, and so too was your hometown celebrity, Ms. Gooch ( I see after reading your lil blurb).
Great piece of history. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Ian | October 22, 2011 at 05:31 PM
Nobody mentioned the Delaney Sisters above were related to Samuel Delaney. Also, that family owned the Delaney Funeral Home in Harlem on West 136th Street, the same street Madame CJ Walker had her beauty salon and townhouse.
Posted by: Greg | October 22, 2011 at 11:36 PM
@Ian, it's been a long time since we've seen you around here. Thank you!
@Greg, in both this post (and the recent one on Samuel Delany) I mentioned they were "members of one of the most distinguished black families in America." I thought that would cover it. Good to see you, too!
Posted by: Corey | October 23, 2011 at 12:17 AM
@ Corey, oh trust and believe. I read your posts. I just haven't gotten around to leaving comments as much as I SHOULD of late. For that, I apologize. Will try to do better. LOL.
Posted by: Ian | October 23, 2011 at 04:25 AM