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NeighborsStory by Ron Jennings Photo by Dale RuffLeora HendersonThere have been several changes at Leora Henderson’s home since she moved in with her mother 75 years ago. But at age 91, Henderson isn’t much different from the energetic 16-year-old who crossed the threshold at 1210 South Harrison the first time in 1912.“There weren’t any lights or telephone, we all had outside toilets,” she says. But I still get around for myself just about as much as I ever did...and 1 still love parades.” . • 2Henderson and her mother moved into the home shortly after her father, a minister, died while serving a California, Mo., congregation. They hoped to buy a house in north Sedalia, where most residents lived. Because none were available, they chose the Diace on South Harrison. At the time, it wasipied byHenderson is the sole black“At first I Was mad,” she says, her voice trailing off. “Then, I just turned sad.”Bolstered by her strong faith and the support of her family, Henderson returned to Sedalia from Kansas City where she lived briefly and gradually got on with her life.theoccuresident in the neighborhood.She could have moved across the tracks later to be nearer friends and family, but, she asks, “Why should I have done that? I liked my friends and neighbors here too. I still do. Besides, it’s not that faraway. I still geta lot of visiting in.” MHenderson’s husband, with whom she exchanged vows in February 1918, entered the military during World War I and died in France of pneumonia only two davs before the Nov. 11 signing of the Armistice.“This town was really bustling back then, you know?,” she says. “We had Chasnoff’s and all theother big stores downtown. Down around the train depot, they had matrons there all the time dalling out the trains as they came in.Although she never “touched a drop of liquor in my life or put a cigarette to my mouth,” she did enjoy taking in 10 cent movies at the old Sedalia Theater — even if she did have to sit in “the buzzard s nest ” an upstairs section to which black audiences wererelegatedji§ti|«^ •“We weren’t upset. It wasn’t any big thing back then,” she says. “That’s just the way things were. Sometimes even the white folks would come up theretoo.*® k n:,' K.-i ’* ;Henderson still does all her own housework, spades her garden each spring and only reluctantly lets someone else mow the lawn. She will celebrate her 75th anniversary of living in her home by going out to dinner Sunday with relatives,But she won’t overdo it — especially with the State Fair parade coming up next week.“There’s not a paraae in this town I want to miss,”she says. “I like them all!”
Newspaper Details
Sedalia Democrat
Sedalia, Missouri, US
Thu, Aug 13, 1987
Page 3
Full Page
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OR, USA 13 Sep 2020
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