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Juanita Lewis Russell inside Calneta Imports, Seattle, 1957
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| Title | Juanita Lewis Russell inside Calneta Imports, Seattle, 1957 |
| Photographer | Ogawa, Elmer |
| Date | 1957 |
| Caption | Calneta Imports, owned by Juanita and Calvin Russell, was located at 2316 Jackson Street. It specialized in baskets and African imports.
Juanita Carter attended Seattle's Garfield High School (formerly East High) where she won both first and second place in a poetry contest. Garfield's yearbook name, The Arrow, came from her poem. She then attended Franklin High School, graduating in 1924, and later graduating from Seattle Pacific College.
In 1926 she married Rev. E. Martin Lewis, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church. She was active in the arts, giving poetry recitals and vocal performances, and directed an operetta at the church with a cast of 100 children.
After the family moved to New York in 1931, Juanita sang with the Hall Johnson Choir and toured with them in Europe and the Soviet Union. She also worked under contract with a concert bureau, singing and giving poetry recitals. While in Germany, she attended the University of Berlin.
In the early 1940's Juanita taught English and typing in New York City high schools. She also worked for the National Maritime Union. During World War II Juanita served with the Red Cross in Calcutta. She later served with the USO as Program Director of an NCO club on Guam.
She returned to Seattle. Juanita and Rev. Lewis were divorced in 1944. She later married Amos Gentry. Juanita served in the community, including organizations such as the East Madison (now Meredith Matthews) YMCA, the Seattle Urban League, and the Seattle Seamen's Service Club, finding housing for military personnel.
She and Amos divorced in the late 1940's. Later, she married Calvin Russell. For a while Juanita sold imported baskets and African carvings at the Pike Place Market, and from 1956 through 1961 at the Puyallup Fair. In 1957, Juanita and Calvin operated Calneta Imports, selling baskets and African crafts, first at 2316 South Jackson Street, and later on 23rd Avenue, around the corner from Mayrand Drugs. In 1957 Juanita formed the Aid for Africa Committee, which raised funds for scholarships and used clothing for African children. She and her husband Calvin attended the UNESCO conference on Africa in Boston in 1961.
In the early 1960s, Juanita and Calvin published Score Magazine, which highlighted the talents and contributions of local individuals to the community as well as national and international news of interest to African Americans.
Juanita served as Manager of the Africa Pavilion at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, and temporarily moved her shop to the fairgrounds, which her daughter, Eleanor operated. She died on April 10, 1963. |
| Notes | Stamped on verso: Photo by Elmer Ogawa. |
| Subjects | Stores & shops--Washington (State)--Seattle
Baskets--Washington (State)--Seattle
African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle
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| Personal Names | Russell, Juanita Lewis |
| Location | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital Collection | Black Heritage Society Collection |
| Image Number | 2001.16.2.03 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions, contact: TheBoard@blackheritagewa.org. Please cite the Image Number. |
| Repository | The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, Inc. |
| Physical Description | 1 photographic print: b&w; 4 x 5 in. |
| Type | Image |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 640 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
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