Martha Greenleaf Edwards

Embry stewardess board. they helped to run church. The church also had a group called communion stewardess board. Their function was to prepare for and assist in the communion service.

A 1960 photograph of members of the Senior Usher Board of Embry AME Church. The ushers acted as official greeters and doorkeepers for church services.

Embry senior usher board 1962

Members of the 1975 Banquet Planning Committee honoring civic leader Hattie Sandidge included many steadfast members of the Lakeland Civic Association and longtime Lakeland residents. They are, from left to right, (first row) Lois Copeland, Mary Lyons, Mary Weems Braxton, and Julia Mack Carroll; (second row) Harry Braxton Sr., Thelma Lomax, Julia Pitts, and James Claiborne. The Lakeland Civic Association has been active continuously since the 1930s. George Brooks Sr. served as president for twenty-five years. He was succeeded by James Claiborne, Leonard Smith, Elwood Gross, Julia Carroll, Hattie Sandidge, Dervey Lomax, James Weems, James Adams, Fannie Featherstone, Karen Roberts, Maxine Gross, Diane Weems Ligon, Monroe Dennis, and Robert Thurston. The Lakeland Civic Association continues to work to preserve and improve Lakeland as a residential community and to protect its unique heritage.

duchess club white gowns with sashes (Source: master photo log.xls)

Duchess Club with cake dark skirts and light tops with flower (Source: master photo log.xls)

In the 1940s and 1950s much of the organized entertainment in Lakeland was provided by social clubs. These clubs met monthly at the homes of the members. Dinners were part of the gathering and provided the host an opportunity to showcase both their cooking ability and their tableware. The Duchesses and the Counts social clubs sponsored an annual formal dance at Lakeland Hall and sometimes posed for professional photographs. The Duchesses social club was photographed here during their 1947 evening social event. They are, from left to right, Mary Walls Weems, Cecilia Brooks Stewart, Gertrude Walls Corprew, Evelyn Giles Tyner, Florence Wethers, Martha Edwards, Pearl Brooks Briscoe, and Eliza Gray.

On a summer Sunday morning in 1942, from left to right, Martha Edwards, Evelyn Giles Tyner, and Tyner’s sister, Lucille Giles, ushers for Embry A.M.E. Church, walked to church with Tyner’s daughters, Edna and Shirley. The Edwards garden is visible on the left; the Giles house is off to the right.

Stewart Board Front left Agnes Gross, Pauline Gray, Martha Edwards, Arthur Brooks Rear Mr. Conway, Milton Weems, Rev. R.H. Baddy, Delaris Dory