Pemberton Hall, EIU c. 1921 (left to right) Mrs. Minnie Portee, three white females in the middle unknown, far right Mr. Arthur Portee. The Portees were cooks in Pemberton Dining Hall in the 1920's.

Charles B. Hall, football and track star at Eastern. He was an ace fighter pilot during WWII with the famous all negro 99th Fighter Squadron (Tuskegee Airmen), 1944.

Arthur Anderson Barber Shop in Mattoon, Illinois. Standing by a customer to the left is Mr. Sidney Williams, and to his left is Mr. Arthur Anderson (owner), c. 1920.

Left is Mrs. Minnie Portee in her restaurant/dining room, 514 1/2 6th street, west side of the square, Charleston, Illinois, c. 1924. The young boy front right is Kenneth H. Norton, Jr., grandson of Mrs. Minnie Portee and son of Ona and Kenneth "Crackers" H. Norton. Others are workers or patrons.

A worker and a customer in Mrs. Minnie Portee's restaurant/dining room, 1915.

Left is Mrs. Minnie Portee in her restaurant/dining room, 1924.

Left is Mrs. Minnie Portee in her restaurant/dining room, 1924.

Newspaper story on Ms. Bernice Gray, a Mattoon AME church member.

Bernice Gray and her Mattoon African Methodist Episcopal Church. Ms. Gray graduated from EIU in 1928.

Wood River Baptist Association Conference Attendees, Peoria, Illinois, c. 1943-44.

Second Baptist Church choir.

Second Baptist Church Junior Ushers Board, C. 1963.

The New Second Missionary Baptist Church on Old State Road in Mattoon, Illinois. The church was built in 1997 under the leadership of pastor Cyprus Hughes.

The Old Second Missionary Baptist Church, 2520 Shelby Avenue, Mattoon, Illinois. The church was founded in 1868. The original church was destroyed by a tornado in 1917. This structure was rebuilt in 1921 and remodeled in 1966.

Rev. and Mrs. T.J. Jackson of Second Missionary Baptist Church, Mattoon, Illinois, 1963.