3 p. letter written in pencil on 3 sides of two sheets of plain white (more or less) stationery. Approx. 16 x 25 cm. 2 horizontal folds. Envelope not present. Letter to "Dearest:-" Fredii, full given name Fredericka Carolyn Washington, addresses the recipient as Einnie, perhaps a nickname, in the letter. A mostly cheery letter urging the recipient to ride on a roller coaster if she gets the chance. Fredi does mention some possible sickness or maybe a teenage heartbreak: "Well I cried all day Sunday and part of Monday, but the Dr. says if I don't have a relapse I'll be all right and he says he don't think a carriage ride would hurt my feet, [T]he Dr. he said that I need to get a good pair of walking shoes if I want to walk in New York City. I think that I will travel by car from now on. I almost had one tonight." Says nothing about school or work but Fredi had to drop out of high school at some point around this time and get a job -- maybe that led to the crying. Mentions getting a card from Isabell, probably her sister Isabel who also got involved in show business within a few years and whose second husband for twelve years (1933-1945) was Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. before he left her to marry a second wife. She also writes that Alice, Harold and she "."were up at the store to-night to get some of the nice medicine from Germany." She ends her letter with "If you don't get this letter, be sure and let me know. Good-bye. S,W.A.K. Lovingly, Fredi Washington." The Amistad Center and the New York Public Library have Fredi Washington archives, neither of which seems to have anything dated earlier than 1922. She turned out to be a talented actress and dancer and got herself into the chorus line in "Shuffle Along" in 1921. Her light skin made it hard to get a lot of parts in movies and plays since she was too light and too pretty for the maid and housekeeper roles open to African American women and too light skinned for romantic roles. Her most notable movie was "Imitation of Life, in which she played Peola, a light-skinned African American who is "passing" as white. Fredi was one of five founders of the Negro Actors Guild in 1936. She wrote on Entertainers and Entertainment, as well as other topics, in "People's Voice, a publication founded by Powell in 1942. She participated in various efforts to make America better and less racist. Her second marriage in 1955 was to Hugh Anthony Bell, an African American dentist in Stamford, CT. He died in 1970.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

Autograph Letter, Signed. Dated July 25, 1919 when Fredi Was only Fifteen

Publisher

[New York?]

Publication Date

1919

Condition

Very Good

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We started our business in 1971 as mail-order specialists on Africa and African-Americana. We soon expanded to include material on Asia and the Middle East. We also purchase antiquarian and rare books and libraries in all fields. A suite of offices at 2348 Whitney Avenue is open by appointment and contains 15,000 volumes. Easily accessible from I-91 or the Wilbur Cross Parkway. Catalogs are issued occasionally on listed specialties.

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McBlain Books, ABAA
CT, U.S.A.

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