Chesley Mack

Rear and side views 5030 Navahoe Street Property owned by Bessie Mack, John Chesley Mack, Jr & Julia E. Carroll. After the fire in the building.

The Baltimore Afro American September 24, 1927 p 16 Lakeland, Maryland On Monday schools opened. Attendance was good. On Tuesday several residents traveled to Laurel for the six-part joint school meeting. Attendees from Lakeland were Ellen Johnson, Ellen Briscoe, Mamie Weems, Chesley Mack, Cornelia Jiles, George Randall, Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. James Gray. Mr. and Mrs. George Randall hosted the sister and brother-in-law of Mrs. Randall, Mr. and Mrs. McLeod from New York City. The list of sick in the community includes Hattie Burke, Eliza Bowie, Fannie Brown, Thomas Johnson, and James Singleton. Yesterday Bessie and Julia Mack returned to Bowie Normal School. Pauline Gray is back home after a two month stay in Atlantic City, NJ. On Sunday Mr. and Mrs. John Spriggs made a visit to Thomas Greene who is ill in Crownsville, Md For the last week Georgianna Stewart has been ill. She is getting better. Last Sunday Benjamin Thomas was hurt when he was hit in the head with a baseball bat by his brother. He is unwell. On Friday night the Union Band of Lakeland will have a regular meeting at Embry AME Church.

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 Counts appear here in formal tails and white gloves. The gentlemen are, left to right (left row) Gasson Bradford Sr., James Weems, Anderson Walls, George Walls, Charles Carroll, and Harry Braxton Sr.; (right row) Mack Allen, John Webster, William Sharps, Aubrey Corprew, Chesley Mack, and Ashby Tolson.