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February 1943. "Jacksonville, Florida. Street scene in the Negro section." Photo by Gordon Parks for the Office of War Information. View full size.
This is Nellie Gross' store. Alas, urban destruction has removed all traces. A similar building shell stands one block east. The city directory confirms both name and race of proprietress.
The building was about 40 years old having been rebuilt after the 1901 Jacksonville Fire. The fire began in a Spanish Moss drying facility 2 blocks north and 3 blocks west.
My mother grew up in central Florida before and during WWII and lived not far from an ice plant. They used to go over and scrounge shavings and other leftover pieces. All of which prepared her for years of "When I was your age we lived in Florida without air conditioning so quit complaining" stories that we heard as kids in the '60s when the A/C in the house went out.
The poster in the background on the right. In a different poster for the same movie, one finds the blockbuster prose: “Men of Steel! Women of Fire! … They forged a nation’s power!”
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