The Unwelcomed Guests; Insects

Search terms; critters, bugs, roach, butterfly, spider.

Insects: a noun, also referred to as bugs or critters. Usually, a bug's existence is greeted with a "wow" or "oh my" or more admiration from the viewer, like Albert Crenshaw. He says, "I just like, just like watching bugs. I still do. I can get, I can just get fascinated by it. If you take me somewhere and there's an ant farm or something like that--watching those little suckers working, and really focusing in on one of them, and seeing what they do--and you realize that they're carrying, they can carry three times their body weight or something crazy like that. And you know, you just kind of, just get amazed." It is incredible, something so tiny yet so powerful. Adorned with various colors, bugs can have multiple neat features, such as antennas and wings that look like an artist took their time to paint them. It is more acceptable to greet bugs positively in their own habitat, but it can be frightening when they step inside our habitats. Instead of a warm welcome that would be used for other guests in your home, like a handshake or hug, there entrance is followed with a bash, hit, or thud.

Ladybug on Hand at Fort Monroe Beach in Hampton, Virginia captured by the Author.

When someone screams "bug," the first bug that comes to mind is a Roach, also known as a Water bug. Grabbing a can of Raid and spraying the roach is the common way to handle these quite terrifying little creatures. You have probably heard someone say that the spray is not the most efficient method; Jeanette Jones discusses this rumor saying; "Yeah, it's just like that little joke they said about spraying roaches and then the roaches become so immune to the spray that, you know, it doesn't do any good to spray them anymore. They're resistant to it. And similarly, if you use too many of those antibacterial things, it's the same thing." Cockroaches seem to be everywhere; most climates support their existence. Neglect and Hazardous environments can attract their company. Nancy Bowlin can support this claim as she worked within the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene saying, "I'd go into homes where you couldn't even sit down. Are you kidding? Go into homes, roaches all over the floor and you says, oh my god, you didn't want one to drop on you. Oh, yes. Oh, yes, went into all--homes where the, the--all--everything was filthy and—." This can be an alarming subject, so on a lighthearted note, Frances Frazier has a humorous story surrounding her run-in with a cockroach during her time volunteering in Norfolk; she says; "I was sitting in a chair. And they had lots of little critters and things in their house. And so I watched this roach, like maybe it was over there in the corner, and I just watched him like beeline up to me and come up my chair. And in my head--'cause I know they're watching everything, right? And I'm saying to myself, "What am I going to do about this roach?". . . So I'm sitting there, and I'm kind of trying to position myself, you know. So I--somebody said something, and I decided it was gonna be funny. And I said, "Hah, hah, hah", killed that roach (laughter) and then went back on to, you know, talking, whatever. And then they told me later, "You know what really made us want to like be with you and work with you and you can be in my house was when you killed that roach 'cause we watched you? We kept saying, 'Wonder what this lady gonna do when this roach comes all the way up to her.'" I got to know that family in such a special way and all the kids in that neighborhood. There are many neat things about these insects, but you do not want them to thrive within your living space. To reduce the chance of encountering this bug by prioritizing mental health and ensuring to reset our environments with cleaning and more efficient extermination methods. Do not be afraid to lend a helping hand or ask for help; the best company we have is each other, not these insects. Brighten the environment by supporting other means of insect life, and plant some flowers in the community to attract joyous insects.

Butterflies, enjoyable insects, are so admired by people that some install specific gardens for them. Children may run around and catch them, placing them in their hands or jars to observe and preserve their beauty. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam let her curiosity of butterflies get the best of her, saying, "I was also a little girl that was very curious. I would, man, I would go out and catch all the insects either from little--from caterpillars to, to, to butterflies, to anything that was out there. I would play with them until they die. And then I would bury them. I would have regular rituals. I put them in matchbox and dig holes and buried them and had all my little friends and put flowers on the grave." Scientific curiosity can be addressed by observation and is the best method for learning. Fern Hunt discusses unique observations of the color of butterflies in Industrial England, she says; "You know, there are these wonderful studies, for example, of how in butterflies in industrial England, and they have wonderful pictures of the morphs, as they call them, the individuals, and how their colors can vary so very, very much as a city began to industrialize, all right. And it's not just sort of soot that falls on them, but they actually began to look like, you know--you know, they're on a pole or something like that, and you'd never know they were there. You know, whereas, you know, thirteen miles out into the field they're kind of the way they always were, you know. And the question really is how does that arise? Well, we know that a lot of the theory of evolution, in particular, how species change, it turns out the mechanism for doing that is--lies in genes." Such fascinating creatures.

While on the subject of bugs, this fan favorite must be brought to light, spiders. They have been constantly thrown into the category of insects, but they are in fact, arachnids. Albert Crenshaw still finds these critters to be quite neat. He shares; "I mainly liked spiders and the spider webs. And I used to, and even when I, later on when I grew up, I became interested in taking photography with the spider webs. I didn't know where they came from, but then I--one day I was talking to somebody, and I realized--But, how spiders--how they protect, how they build this web and then they catch these bugs--and then how they come out and how they wrap it up and sometimes they save it for a little while." 

Readers can agree with MaVeene "the beach lady" Betsch as she believes butterflies are such beautiful creatures to watch. She shares; "They're so beautiful, so harmless. I wanna be one in the next life. I believe in reincarnation. Trust me: butterflies have a fabulous life. All they do is fly around, sip nectar, make love; what else you want? Look at humans. All these problems, child please." The life of a butterfly is quite simple yet so intriguing, they experience rapid growth through stages, somewhat similar to our development as we also go through growth stages. Ms. Betsch goes on to share that he favorite color is orange. This love for orange is partially due to butterflies as she says; Favorite color; orange, orange. My lipstick, the hair, the butterflies--there's a flower and the--for butterflies and the color is orange. Using these clues given in her statement, she could be talking about monarch, viceroy, or gulf fritillary butterfly as they all are adorned with a vibrant hue of orange.

Butterflies of Callaway Resort and Gardens in Georgia, captured by the Author.

Another fan of butterflies is Naomi King, as she expresses in her interview, while viewers might be hooked on the large butterfly throw pillow behind her. She goes on to share; That's easy, my daughter [Alveda King Beal] carried me to Callaway Gardens [Callaway Resort and Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia] years ago and when we went on the tour I remember going into the butterfly room where the, you know where the butterflies live and thrive what have you and while I was standing there and just looking in awe at all of 'em and I think the monarch is the--to my knowledge the most beautiful one, I was just standing there looking and I remember I put my finger out like that and when I put my finger out a monarch lit on this finger, I won't forget it. He lit--one lit, another one lit on my shoulder, another lit in my hair and that did it for me, and I said, "From now on," I said, "I gotta have a butterfly." So that started my love for butterflies and it has continued." What a coincidence the images of butterflies used in this article are from a birthday trip my parents surprised me with. She is correct, the butterflies of Calloway Gardens are so friendly and will land on visitors giving them an up close and personal introduction to the gracefulness of these charming insects. As they flutter they barely make a sound, but their presence is accompanied with a feeling Carol H. Williams says, as she witnessed them during her childhood. She shares; "It is very interesting when I think about it because (pause) I know that butterflies do not make sounds. But, there is a vibration that you hear a little kind of hum of them visiting the extreme wildflower areas that line the, the "L" track [elevated train]. And, also an area next to us that had--where tall weeds and wildflowers grew and it was always visited by millions of butterflies, just, they would be all over the place. And, in that little area that's what we would hear. We would only hear the sounds of the insect as we--when I was small." A unique characteristic of butterflies to remember from childhood. The first time I gathered an interest in these beautiful creatures was from watching PBS as sesame street had a segment about it. Jim Henson was a puppeteer that helped bring this show to life years ago when producer Joan Ganz Cooney asked him if he could help with the creation of characters. Big Bird and Grover are just two of my favorites from the show. Grover has a segment where he discusses butterflies and children all over had an opportunity to learn about the insect.

Image from Sesame Street; Grover teaching television viewers about butterflies.

Puppeteering was a massive part of my childhood as there was the center of puppetry arts where my mother would religiously take me to Atlanta. This medium of what many perceive as early childhood education and entertainment took on many forms. These shows are plays, and they took time effort and creativity. Jim Henson inspired many puppeteers, even today. To honor him, there was a five and half hour memorial, and according to Kevin Clash, butterflies were used as a memorable memento for guests at the service. He shares; "So there was a rod with a, with a, a cutout of a butterfly on it that you would flip, it would just flutter and that's how you made a butterfly look like it was floating you know. And on, on 'Sesame Street' or what have you and, and so somebody got, thought about that, one of the builders thought about that. So they made about five hundred of those butterflies, didn't know what they were gonna do with them. And they airbrushed Kermit the Frog eyes on each one, and there was a, there was a beautiful church [Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, New York] here, I forget the, the church it was, it was held at. But they decided to take the butterflies and, and take them to the memorial service, and just put them on the chairs that were in the front." May this excellent creative rest in peace, as he blessed the world with characters on sesame street that we know and love. The show to this day still has a warm feeling of belonging and fun. The show continues to grow and adapt to the world around it, constantly becoming more and more inclusive so children have the representation they need. To conclude, insects hold so much more meaning, memories of childhood, and curiosity. No matter what kind of bug, even the not-so-welcome ones still can teach us various life lessons, not taking the little things for granted, especially those with antennas.

Hampton University Ambassador Update; We are currently gathering up the finishing images and documents needed for the official submission of the event. We followed up with our attendees with an email. We are scheduling a meeting with our advisors to explain the new directions of our outreach, which will be through 4-6 event tables, and teacher and class presentations. We are so excited to host these tables and I have some mini-games for those who come by so we can get more interactions with students. We are excited to see what the future of The History Makers Digital Archive looks like as we start entering the final weeks.

Sources Used

MaVynee "Beach Lady" Betsch (The HistoryMakers A2004.168), interviewed by Jodi Merriday, September 20, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 3, MaVynee "Beach Lady" Betsch lists her favorites

Frances Frazier (The HistoryMakers A2012.078), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 4, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 4, Frances Frazier talks about volunteering in Norfolk, Virginia's Ghent neighborhood while a student at Norfolk State College

Nancy Bowlin (The HistoryMakers A2007.144), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 17, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 11, Nancy Bowlin describes her duties at the New York City Department of Health

Albert Crenshaw (The HistoryMakers A2013.002), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 21, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 8, Albert Crenshaw talks about his fascination with insects, especially spiders

Jeanette Jones (The HistoryMakers A2013.101), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 10, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 1, Jeanette Jones talks about antibiotics, anti-bacterial products, bleach, and mold

The Honorable Shirley Nathan-Pulliam (The HistoryMakers A2004.174), interviewed by Racine Tucker Hamilton, September 22, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 5, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam details her earliest childhood memories and the discovery of an older brother

Naomi King (The HistoryMakers A2010.071), interviewed by Denise Gines, July 14, 2010, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 6, Naomi King reflects upon her life

Carol H. Williams (The HistoryMakers A2007.341), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, June 14, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 2, tape 2, story 1, Carol H. Williams describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood

Kevin Clash (The HistoryMakers A2007.268), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, September 21, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 6, Kevin Clash remembers Jim Henson's memorial, pt. 1

Jim Henson, https://www.henson.com/our-founders/.