Real Mothers, Rare Style: Reader Photos

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Mary Sayler

Submitted by Laurel Sayler: A photo of Laurel Sayler's mother, Mary Sayler, taken around 1957. "Her style has always been classic, timeless and not too flashy," Sayler said. 

Lenora Davis McKinney Clark

Submitted by Ellisha Teapot: A photo of Teapot's mom, Lenora Davis McKinney Clark, taken around 1952. 

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Edith L. Harcum

Submitted by Robert Harcum: Harcum's mother, Edith L. Harcum, in a high school photo at 18 years of age. 

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Katherine McConnell

Submitted by Jim Lindsey: Lindsey's mom, Katherine McConnell, looking glamorous at their Queens, N.Y., home in the late 1960s. 

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Joan Mills

Submitted by Laura Michelle Murphy: Murphy's mother, Joan Mills, during Christmastime in 1960. Murphy considers her mom "the black Bardot with a side of Hepburn."

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Jeanne 'the Queen of Everything' Dixon

Submitted by Ellisha Teapot: Teapot's aunt Jeanne "the Queen of Everything" Dixon during the early 1970s. She was only second to Teapot's mother in being the first runway and print black model in Minnesota.

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Katherine Moore

Submitted by Ujima Moore: Moore's mom, Katherine Moore, during a 1998 trip to Baltimore. According to Moore, her mom still gets complimented on her savvy hat sense. 

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Elizabeth Gledhill Sayler

Submitted by Laurel Sayler: Sayler's grandmother Elizabeth Gledhill Sayler in 1937. 

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Sheppie Spigner Moore

Submitted by Shelley Christiansen: A professional portrait of Christiansen's mother, Sheppie Spigner Moore, taken around 1951 at Scurlock Studio in Washington, D.C. Christiansen's mom splurged on the photo as a gift for Christiansen's father, who was stationed in Korea. 

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Titilayo

Submitted by O Moni Gho: Gho's mom, Titilayo, during her college years in the 1970s in Ibadan, Nigeria. 

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Mary Alice Watkins

Submitted by Sherril Gerard: Gerard's grandmother Mary Alice Watkins (left) with her siblings around 1938.  

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Daisy Woodard Cook

Submitted by Freda P. Jenkins: Jenkins' mother, Daisy Woodard Cook, in New Orleans. 

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Annie Louisa Coleman

Submitted by Sheila Coleman-Castells: Coleman-Castells' aunt Annie Louisa Coleman, who adopted her in 1962. Coleman worked alongside white men at the Defense Mapping Institute in Washington, D.C.

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A'Lelia Mae Perry Bundles 

Submitted by A'Lelia Bundles: Bundles' stylish mom, A'Lelia Mae Perry Bundles. According to Bundles, "She was stylish, hosted fabulous parties, could do a mean version of the dance 'Ballin' the Jack,' could speak a little German and still makes me smile when I think of her."

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Mavin F. Winstead

Submitted by Tauheedah Hasan: Hasan's mom, Mavin F. Winstead, when she was 35 years old and already the mother of nine (and eventually 13) children. "Hats were her style to show her status, and she was my hero," Hasan said. 

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Edra Jones Chandler

Submitted by Vedra D. Chandler: "People on the street stop her and ask to take her picture. Her fashion sense is easy and contagious," Chandler said about her mom, Edra Jones Chandler.

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Georgia Bell Gray

Submitted by Donna Gray: Gray's mother, Georgia Bell Gray, in Chicago around 1949. 

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Margaret Green

Submitted by Barb Whitfield: A photo of Whitfield's mother, Margaret Green, taken in Little Rock, Ark., in the 1940s. 

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Dorothy Sutherland Seymour

Submitted by Christina K. Joseph: Joseph's grandmother Dorothy Sutherland Seymour styling it up in Jamaica in the 1930s. "She was known by her family as the 'glamour girl,' " Joseph mentioned. 

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Ricarda Louise Foster

Submitted by Sheila Coleman-Castells: Coleman-Castells' birth mother, Ricarda Louise Foster, at the Links Cotillion in Oakland, Calif., in 1959. Foster was a high school track phenom who almost made it to the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Although Foster developed multiple sclerosis after Coleman-Castells' birth, says Coleman-Castells, "Her spirit … was strong and her mind swift, and her intellect never wavered."

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Rosetta Hopson

Submitted by Crystal Joellen: Joellen's mom, Rosetta Hopson, in 1958. "Her style was genteel and gracious," Joellen said. 

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Gertrude Riley (Glover) Jackson

Submitted by Shara Blake: A portrait of Blake's mother, Gertrude Riley (Glover) Jackson. "She molded me into the woman, wife, mother and professional that I am today, and she will forever own a very special place in my heart," Blake said. 

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Jenetta E. Howard 

Submitted by Caren Howard: Howard's mom, Jenetta E. Howard, at her 1970s wedding. "Jenetta was an exceptional mother, wife, teacher and counselor in Columbia, Md.," Howard said. "She had a 6-foot, lightweight 'Amazon woman' sense of fashion."

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Mary Helen Bess

Submitted by Jacquelyn Bess Jobe: Jobe's mother, Mary Helen Bess, poses for a photo during her high school graduation in 1940. "She was a beautiful woman, and I miss her every day," Jobe said. 

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Ethel Adrine

Submitted by Lynne Adrine: A photo of Adrine's mom, Ethel Adrine, after her graduation from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. 

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Hestella Broadwater Primus

Submitted by Stella Areece Primus: Primus' mother, Hestella Broadwater Primus, leans against a car to pose for a picture in South Carolina in 1953. Primus describes her mother in three words: "Classy. Elegant. Graceful."

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Patti Ballard 

Submitted by Candace Lorraine Stowers: Stowers' mom, Patti Ballard, poses for a photograph in 1978. "She loved wearing a casual jacket with just about anything," Stowers commented.

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Hermiae C. Schmoke

Submitted by Antoinette R. Zeigler: A photo of Zeigler's mother, Hermiae C. Schmoke, taken in the 1940s in Baltimore.

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Loretta Moran Chevalier

Submitted by The Root's deputy editor, Lauren Williams: A photo of Williams' grandmother Loretta Moran Chevalier in the 1940s. "Because of this picture, my grandfather always called her 'Bootsie.' So cute," Williams said. 

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Andrea Chevalier Williams 

Submitted by The Root's deputy editor, Lauren Williams: Williams' mother, Andrea Chevalier Williams, poses under the sun in go-go boots in the 1970s. "Clearly, my mom got her love of boots from her mother," Williams commented. 

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