Atlanta, Georgia (December 25, 1901 -February 27, 1990) age 97 yrs

Emma Berdis Jones Baldwin, a Solo Mom when she gave birth to James Baldwin at Harlem Hospital in 1924. She taught James that hatred is as destructive to the hate monger as it is to the hated “other”. She worked as a cleaning woman to support her son. When James was about three years old, she married a Baptist preacher named David Baldwin. David brought into the marriage a son from an earlier marriage. The couple went on to have eight children together. Berdis Baldwin was a tolerant and loving parent who understood James’s love of books.