Twentieth Century Life in these Houses: Poster: Cora Robinson and Swept Yard

Poster: Cora Robinson and Swept Yard

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Figure 176. Poster: Cora Robinson and swept yard

In the early twentieth century, most African Americans at Mars Bluff followed the African custom of sweeping their yards every day, but by 1990, Ms. Cora Robinson was the only person in Mars Bluff who still swept her yard every day. She even made pretty patterns on the hard-packed sand. Because she lived close to a ready supply of cane, she made her yard brooms of cane, though dogwood branches are the preferred material for yard brooms. Since Ms. Robinson’s death, there are no yards that are swept daily. (Poster by Amelia Vernon, donated 1998.)