Activities Among Negroes
This week has been a gala one in the annals of colored society in this city. Monday evening Mr. and Mrs. Fred H. Bolmer celebrated their twentieth wedding anniversary in their home on Twenty ninth street. It was a society event. The couple are very popular in both church and club activities, and fully three hundred invited guests were in attendance. Simplicity of elegance was displayed in the decorations of their spacious home. Among the guests were colored women graduates, who have practiced as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and a trained social worker, showing the high class of colored people that have come to Oakland to make their home during the past two years.
The marriage ceremony of twenty years ago was repeated, even one of the bridesmaids who served then acting in the same capacity at the anniversary ceremony. The maids and matron of honor, carried huge bouquets of delicate pink peas; and the bride carried a show bouquet of La France roses. The bridal procession was led by little Virginia Figueroa, who acted as flower girl. She was followed by Miss Lizzie Jones of Los Angeles, maid of honor; Mrs. Emma Bertha Collins of San Mateo as matron of honor; the bridesmaids, Mrs. A. V. Willis. Miss Annie Carter. Miss T. Den and Mesdames W. N. Ricks, L Christian, E. Orvis and F. Porter: preceding the bride and groom (Mr. and Mrs. Bolmer). "O Promise Me" was sung {sig} by Mme. Petite Ford. Other musical numbers were given by Miss Mattie Butler and Miss Ethel Samuels.
The wedding march was played by Miss Marie Lenix the girls' secretary of the Y. W. C., A.. Linden street branch. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J. W. Allen of the Third Baptist church. The presents were numerous and demonstrated the high regard in which the couple is held.
One of the prettiest home weddings celebrated in colored society during this season was that of Merrill E. Brown and Gladys 0. Davis, Thursday evening at the home of the bride's parents in Oakland. The romance which culminated in this marriage is the result of three years association at the University of California in Berkeley. Miss Davis specialized in music, and is a former president of the Kappa chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
The color scheme of the wedding was the pastel shades of pink, blue, yellow and green, so blended that they formed a rainbow. The bride's gown was white satin with rare old real lace an heirloom of the family. Preceding the wedding march, her sorority sister, Miss Marie Lenix, sang "I Love You Truly." Another sorority sister, Miss Ester Smith, was accompanist. Mrs. Marie Farrow, of French Lick Springs, Indiana, a sister of the bride, acted as matron of honor, while Miss Florence Page, of Sacramento, acted as maid of honor. The bridesmaids were Miss Mildred Jones, of San Jose, a recent graduate of the College of the Pacific in music, and Miss Loma Jackson. The groom, Merrill E. Brown, was attended by Alvin Nurse, a former college chum. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Brown, a former pastor of Fifteenth Street church, Oakland, and the father of the groom.
The presents were costly and elegant. The groom's gift to the bride was a completely furnished home including a grand grand piano. Among the out-of-town guests were Mr. and Mrs. McCall, Mrs. Charles Overton, Mrs. S. H. Jones, Serg and Mrs. Moss, Miss Boyer and Mrs. Moss, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, Gentry and Anderson, of San Jose; from Sacramento, Mr. and Mrs. William Page, Harlan, Miss Rose McDaniels and Bessie Brown; from San from San Francisco, James Ellsworth, Mr. and Mrs. Glover and Miss Larkin; from Louisville, Ky., Dr. and Mrs. E. G. Oliver; Dr. and Mrs. Robst Oliver, Rev. and Mrs. J. W. Gibson; from St. Louis, Mo., Mr. and Mrs. Robert Grady and Dr. and Mrs. Arthur and Miss Theresa Wood; from New York City, John Haven; from Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. P. G. Davis, Charles Jones and Miss Orvetta Moten; from Kansas City, Mo., Mr. and Mrs. Charles Strond; from Kinberly, W. Va., Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wiley, Miss Bernice, Anderson; from Pasadena, Mr. and Mrs. O. Bunch, Mrs. E. Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Solomon, and Mr. and Mrs. Turner; from Los Angeles; Assemblyman Roberts and wife, Rev. Washingtons and wife, Miss Jeffries and Grace Perry; a from French Lick Springs, Indiana, Mr. and Mrs. Farrow and Mrs. Raville.
Noak D. Thompson, of a Los Angeles paper, was sent to the G. O. P. convention in Cleveland to represent the paper and report the convention. He will remain in the East to attend the Democratic convention in New York. This is the first time a colored reporter has been sent from this coast to report events of national importance.
Among those visiting friends and relatives in Oakland are Attorney and Mrs. William E. Watkins, of Providence, R. I. Mrs. Watkins was one of the nineteen colored women volunteer workers that served overseas during the World's War. She had previously served as an executive secretary in Y. W. C. A. work in Germantown, Pa., and also in Harpers Ferry, Va. Attorney Watkins served for six years as a member of the board of directors of the Twelfth Street branch Y. W. C. A, in Washington, D. C. Other visitors here with a possibility of making their home in California are Mr. and Mrs. Larry Montier and sister, Miss Harriet Montier from Norfolk, Va. The young lady is a trained social worker.
Mrs. Eva Jones-Smith, of Honolulu, Hawaii, is visiting her mother. She is a former Oakland girl and a graduate of the University of California, specializing in music. She has, for several years, conducted successfully a school of music in the islands. She brought with her some interesting pictures of Honolulu and her country home Mo Hala. She is enroute East to attend the Negro Musician Association convention.
