Years following the death of John Austin in 1919, his wife and surviving children
began to leave Brownsville, Tennessee, some moved to Memphis
others moved although briefly to other Southern States, but his wife and the majority
of his children relocated to the small mid-western town of Monroe, Michigan, where I was born and
these photos over a span of 60 years or so were taken. The Austin's eventuly
became the largest black family in Monroe and many still reside there. Lula Austin
left Monroe in the late 1940's to live with her daughter Leora Austin in Indianapolis,
Indiana. Lula Caldwell-Austin, the Austin Family 'Matriarch' died peacefully at the home of her daughter
on September 15, 1952 |
