Women's History Month
March 27, 2023
The Powers Family of Rand Street
Barbara Johnson, Huntsville, Alabama
Mr. Monroe Powers and Mrs. Dicie Jordan Powers were long- time residents of Huntsville, Alabama. They lived for many years just in the bend of Rands Street. When you go downtown now, Rands Street is the street that runs east and west between Madison and Franklin Street and right into the Huntsville Hospital Emergency Entrance.
Mr. Monroe Powers was an entrepreneur in the city. He was known to most in the black community as the “Ice Man” and “Coal Man,” because that’s what he did; he delivered ice and cold.
The Powers family was a family of 12 children. However, only ten of the twelve survived five girls and five boys. All grew up to have families of their own. As one of the many grandchildren, I grew up also on Rands Street. I have fond memories of visiting my grandparents, aunts and uncles and all my cousins at the house on Rands Street.
Christmases were the best. The tree must have been 8ft. tall that set in the corner of the living room. Grandpa Monroe raised chickens and turkeys in the back yard, so there was always a big turkey for dinner. One big enough to feed the brood that usually gathered at the house.
Mrs. Mary Barkley was Grandma Dicie’s neighbor. She lived in the house on the other side of the graveled driveway. She was always friendly and could make us laugh with her many jokes. We made friends with her two grandchildren, Cookie and her brother Pasquale. We always thought of pizza when we said his name.
Down the street, on the corner, where there is a service station now, was Toliver’s Café. I was only allowed to walk there once, since I was so young and had to cross the road in order to get there. I can only remember that the 7-Ups were so cold and the lemon cookies in those big jars on the counter were as big as my hands.
Grandpa Monroe passed on December 5, 1960 and soon after, Urban Renewal took the house on Rands Street. Grandma Dicie moved to 1600 Belafonte Ave.
My Grandma Dicie as my siblings and I called her was a strong, family, oriented woman. She had to be. She raised ten children, five boys and five girls. She was about 5ft tall and weighed all of 130 pounds, but she was a quiet storm. She was a breast cancer survivor during the 60’s. I don’t ever remember her raising her voice at any of us for anything. But I can remember her moving swiftly around her kitchen with the coal stove, making biscuits, grits and brewing coffee.
I also remember her dressing up at least once during the week to attend her coffee club meetings. I don’t know what they did at these meetings, but it had to have been fun, because she never missed them. And it was her treat to always take a big plate of cheese straws to the event.
Grandma Dicie was a faithful member of St. John AME Church when it was on Church Street. She was there every Sunday. And when it moved to 229 Church Street in 1971, she still attended. She served as a Stewardess at the church.
It was my job on Saturday evenings to go to her house and roll her hair in preparation for Sunday. I loved her hair. It was short, very well taken care of because one of her daughters was a cosmetologist. And it was always dyed blue. Yep. That was the style to have blue/grey hair. She was not the only little lady sitting on the Mother’s Bench with bluing in her hair. That was the trend.
She always showed each of her grandkids love and affection. Although she was not one to kiss and hug and make a fuss over us, she always offered us food, had a kind, comforting word, and a smile that showed she cared.
Our Earliest Role Models
My Grandmothers,
My Grandmothers, Mary Manigo Hamilton (Paternal) and Martha (Mattie) Boles Wright (Maternal) had character traits that I admired. Like Mary, the sister of Martha in the Bible, my Grandmother Mary was very meek and mild. She was a farmer’s wife. She worked beside my Granddaddy Isiah to help improve the quality of life for people in the community. I never saw her angry, never heard her raised her voice and she was always smiling. She lived to the age of 96 and remained the same even during her illness.
My Grand Mother, Martha was very smart, strong willed and had an abiding faith in God. She worked as a domestic cook for famous people like President Dwight Eisenhower’s Secretary of State Christian Herter. She got a chance to see how the haves lived and instilled in all her grandchildren a need for an education to improve our quality of life. She was also my spiritual Mother who led me to give my life to Christ at 12 years old. Both of my Grandmothers played a major role in shaping the person that I am today. In future articles, I will share more about them.
My Grandfathers,
My Grand Fathers, Isiah Hamilton, Sr. (Paternal) and Benjamin Wright (maternal) were very much the opposite of their spouses. My Grandfather Isiah was strong willed, a farmer who God blessed with excellent farming skills and business skills. He owned his land which he used to plant cotton as a source of income for his family and the community. He was also blessed with a great voice that he used to testify to the goodness of the God.
My Granddaddy Benjamin was a gentle giant. He was a great story teller and would amuse us late at night with tales of the past fiction and non-fiction. He was also a strong man of faith and would walk many miles on Sunday mornings to go to church. I admired both of my grandfathers for being strong men who loved God, their families and their communities. In future articles, I will share more about them.
Abbiegail Hamilton Hugine
