Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was a Black artist known for her colorful and impressionist work. Born in Columbus, Georgia, she and her family lived there until she was sixteen. In 1907, they relocated to Washington, DC to escape the racial hostility and threats of violence that were directed towards the Black community at the hands of whites.
She was considered a member of the Washington School of Color. A lifelong art teacher, she was the first graduate of the art department at Howard University.
Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964) was an American writer for her novels and short stories. Her final resting place is next to her parents in Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. Despite being born in Savannah, Milledgeville was Flannery’s home. Her family moved there when she was fifteen and lived there until her passing at 39. Her childhood home and the family farm, Andalusia, still stand in Milledgeville.
Whenever I’ve visited her grave, there have been flowers and other mementos. When I took this photo, someone(s) had left behind coins as a sign that someone visited. The IHS symbol stands for Iesus Hominum Salvator, which means Jesus, savior of mankind, or it can stand for the first three letters of Jesus’s name, iota eta sigma.
