Delilah W. Pierce's Unnamed Red Roofs: Un Code de vie dans les petits toits rouges By Stephen R. McDow II

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I was sitting in the bathroom at our family home on Martha’s Vineyard at 2 am when it hit me: The history of the “Unnamed” paintings with the red-roofs was not just of the River Tay in Scotland as I'd concluded back in 2020 with a series of Twitter posts on Delilah W. Pierce's page. Before we begin, I NEVER called Delilah by Aunt Delilah. She was known as Aunt Louise to me. In true Aunt Louise fashion, she created a historical puzzle of hidden messages, of what I can conclude, in protest of human oppression and brutality while staying true to her style and message of what Judith Means says, "capturing what is true and beautiful in the world". In fact, the "Unnamed" painting, which appears to be one of two in the series, represents four key historical events. For even greater context, I draw my conclusions from her archives that include her artifacts from foreign and domestic travel, her personal library, and most of all our relationship as family. I want to amplify Aunt Louise’s personality for those who have an intermediate perspective. 

Around age 9 or 10 while on vacation at our home on Martha’s Vineyard, I went with Aunt Louise to visit dear family friends. In those days children were told to call everyone “aunt or uncle” out of respect. This occasion included, Aunt Shirley Hammond and Aunt Lois Mailou Jones. Aunt Shirley was a very respected principal in Washington, DC. I would consider the Hammond family true Black aristocrats and movers and shakers in DC political, education, and art life. Aunt Shirley also attended St Mary’s Episcopol church in Foggie Bottom Wasington, DC. They sat on the first pew with my Aunt Louise and Uncle Joe. This was HUGE IN CHURCH LIFE. 

According to St. Mary’s Church website, “[St. Mary’s]is a historic Episcopal parish in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC. Founded in 1867 as the first African American congregation of the Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia, it is now a tightly knit community serving as a witness in a thriving international city.”

Aunt Shirley was also my elementary school principal and someone who had permission to “correct” my behavior in school without needing to call my parents. Yes – I was afraid of Aunt Shirley more than my own mom – and that says a lot. You can also visit the Delilah W. Pierce Collection website and see a video with my mom at age 6 playing with Aunt Shirley’s son Kenny and children at state beach in Oak Bluffs. That’s how long our family’s have been connected. And I loved her too! 

Aunt Lois was always fun to see in DC or on the Vineyard and gave the BEST hugs. Funny, as a child I never thought of her as an internationaly renowned artist, advocate, and educator. She was Aunt Lois who at any moment in her presence could ask you about school, extracurriculars, and having fun. I recall she and Aunt Louise always debating.  

At the time, Aunt Shirley vacationed in an A-Framed loft style home in a more wooded part of Oak Bluffs. I remember entering the home and everyone hugged and commented about how tall I was getting. In true Aunt Shirley fashion, she asked if I wanted something to eat and drink. Of course I said, "Yes". I sat on the couch and the adults began to talk. I remember conversations around school, art, politics, as Reagan was the President at the time. What many of you may not know, Aunt Lois believed in the Pan-African movement and believed in celebrating our ancestors. She felt as though her celebration of African roots was associated with more positive constructs and gave us (Blacks) an identity based on the love of the “motherland”. 

Aunt Shirley recalled my Marcus Garvey tri-fold presentation board project. It feels like yesterday that I completed that project for Ms. Elaine Cooke in the 4th grade. Aunt Lois began to talk to me and say she heard about it and made a funny comment about how White folks were less threatened by the Pan-African movement and how they always seem to adopt our styles - Like the afros in the 60’s during the fight for civil rights. I remember her tone being ‘cheeky’ and not militant. Even still, Aunt Louise (Delilah W. Pierce), abruptly cut her off and said, “Reggie is not ready for all of that and to cool it.” Aunt Lois pushed back and said, “Its true!” - and Aunt Shirley invited me to leave the room. She said to me, “Reggie why don’t you go updatairs and play a game.” I didn’t want to leave but my mom, who was also in the room, gave me the eye. I was always mad when adults did that. That exchange, as I recall it, shines a light on Aunt Louise. She believed in the soft but firm approach and was more diplomatic in how she conversed about any issue or conflict. 

Now at 2 am I had tears in my eyes remembering those times. At that same time, I started to ponder the Red Roof series. My mom named the two-part art series Unknown and it was classically signed “Delilah W Pierce 1955”. Aunt Louise was metiliculous and left beind VERY detailed records regarding her works of art in the collection. Oddly enough out of hundreds of works these two, along with a few others, had NOTHING! My mom was puzzled by this and so was I. I began the project of re-discovering the history of Delilah and Joseph Pierce in 2008 out of frustration. I was frustrated about the value of her work, how the art work treated her once she died, and to have a central place to discuss her legacy and that of my other family members. 

I added the mystery of the “unnamed” red-roof paintings to the list in 2015. In 2015, just before the University of Maryland University College exhibit, new information began to get published digitally from the Afro American, Smithsonian, Women’s Museum, Congress, and many other sources. Determined to prove her worthiness within the Black Fine Arts Canon as a movement leader, redesigned the Delilah W. Pierce website and created an archive. I always knew Aunt Louise, Aunt Lois, and Alma Thomas were one of six movement leaders of the Black Fine Arts Community. Taking nothing away from, for example, Sam Gilliam and Elizabeth Catlet who I consider Black Art groundbreakers who paved the way. Movement leaders are those who then pick-up the ball and advance, or move the needle if you will, towards equity, and (or) increased cultural capital. 

I went to my computer and began searching bridges with crosses on the shore. Many things appeared but the River Tay captured my eye. For local validation, I reached out to my friend Elaine Dean from Derby, United Kingdom. Elaine is my forever friend and a fellow co-operator, former UK Magistrate and coincidently her mom was best friends with Agnes Meyer. Yes – The same Agnes Meyer who commissioned the university fellowship for which Aunt Louise won.

Then, I reached out to Stephen Gill, founder and former CEO of a co-operative company by the name of Co-op Exchange. His goal was to change the world by having the first inclusive investment platform for people to use. 

Elaine and Stephen agreed immediately it was the River Tay. I started posting it all over the internet. Stephen also rallied his friends in Scotland amd vistied multiple sites to find where she may have painted it from. They think they found several locations in the Perth region. On Stephen’s 2023 visit to America with his wife Lorraine had dinner he commented, “I had friends going on a treasure hunt trying to find the location of this painting” around the River Tay. It renewed my excitement after being stuck in the house during COVID.”

Then one night it hit me. The painting is a hybrid. It also told the story of injustice in only a manner Aunt Louise would have allowed. I can say with almost certainty that the three locations are confirmed. Why? My Uncle Joseph Pierce, her husband, went on several family tree expeditions in Scotland for many years. I remember he always talked about his findings at family dinner and on vacation. He even had his Pierce family crest hanging in his library. Aunt Louise was a lover of adventure, and unlocking clues and treasures in the world as if she was viewing French Impressionists like Degas and Monet. I can imagine them touring the United Kingdom like Bessie Coleman and Jean-Baptiste DuSable.

I believe it is her love of adventure that inspired this painting. Aunt Louise traveled to Europe with her group from the 1930’s until she was too old to travel. Evidence seems to suggest the “DC Group” or “The Group” was the start of what would become during WWII the Little Paris Group – with the unnamed woman next to the model being Dorothy Height (See Little Paris Group on website). I believe the group had many variations of like-minded professional women, with the most famous being the Little Paris Group (Mostly African American women) who created a space to show and critique one another’s art during the 40’s. 

The “unnamed” redroofs seem to be:

1st Hybrid Scene:

‘Russian serfs’ fight for land rights in the 1800’s and the serfs fight for emancipation. Later, the Russian Revolution of 1917 that would lead to the Latvian People’s Council (peasants, bourgeois, and socialists) proclaimming independence. Later during WWII (1943), Latvia was taken under German control where 75,000 Jewish Latvian’s were murdered by Nazi’s.  Latavia is also a UNESCO protected capital. The scene is likely the Stone (1955) and Railway Bridge in Riga. The Railway Bridge was built in 1909, rebuilt in 1914 and again in 1944 after World War II.  Aunt Louise was a co-operator and involved in the Washington, DC Co-op Book Store. Uncle Joseph was the chair of the board. Additionally, her old library had lengthy books included topics about socialism, Russia, and art. I know because I turned their library into my bedroom when we moved into 1753 Verbena Street at 14. 

2nd Hybrid Scene:

Where Europe meets Asia (West meets East) is the second hybrid scene. In this territory, Istanbul (Turkey) at the iconic Bosphorus Bridge completed in 1973. Before the bridge was constructed people used caique’s to pass. Turkey was also home to the Armenian Genocide where over 500K people were killed. The crossing is a major channel and was used by the Persian Emperor Darius who took his army over the river, and marched against the Scythians in the first quarter B.C. Aunt Louise traveled to Paris in the 1930’s and Europe frequently with what was referred to as the “DC Group” or later the “Paris Group”. Aunt Louise traveled to visit Aunt Lois while aunt Lois was in graduate school in the 30’s. My greatest proof is our collection artwork from Maurice Utrillo V, 1922. 


3rd Hybrid Scene: 

The 3rd Hybrid is the River Tay in Perth, Scotland. First was the 
Battle of Dunkeld in this village along the River Tay itself. The second, interestingly enough, the Glencoe Massacre in the late 1600’s where Nigel Cole writes:

The catalyst for these battles was the rejection of the Catholic leaning King James II and James VII by the British establishment and replacement by the Protestants, William and Mary in 1688. However, James still retained a loyal following, particularly in the Highlands, with such supporters known as Jacobites (Latin for James).

Aunt Louise and Uncle Joe were committed Episcopalians – hence the reason I was Confirmed at the National Cathedral through St. Mary’s Church (Foggy Bottom) in the 80’s – I was an Alter Boy.

The third event, in proximity, Bloody Sunday of 1920 where 8 groups of IIS officers including 12 Apostles executed 11 British Intelligence officers. It may also be said that the battle between Western allied countries and Russia was infiltrating France and other cities using the Okhrana foreign bureau. Aunt Louise would have been very sensitive to this history because it seems, based on rediscovered reels, she and her sister tag teamed diplomatic and intelligence work (See Delilah Vault on website). Delilah also lived through Washington, DC’s Bloody Sunday of 1919. I also have a picture of her in a café in what looks like Paris dated 1930. Many of the people in that photo are in later photographs.

The fact that she made it one painting which gave us so much suggests she had an intimate understanding of how connected all of these places where by tragedy and through triumph. Delilah, perhaps in some ways, would have taken Queen Elizabeth’s approach. She loved the monarchy and European way of life. It was well known in British society the Queen never openly expressed disapproval or confronted anyone. The Queen understood how to protest like royalty: subtle, firm, but gracious. Like thw Queen, Aunt Louise possessed an intellectual acuity for the people, leaders, the landscape and their history. 

It seems as if this painting is Aunt Louise’s way of silently protesting by allowing the canvass to speak for her using a DaVinci or Free Mason style code. Oh, did I mention Uncle Joe was a PROUD Free Mason? He had many artifacts with the symbol and a picture with him and is lodge in our home.

Most endearing was Aunt Louise’s love for the Snoopy (Peanuts) cartoon and character. Playfully, he was the best secret agent if you remember those particular. Always saving the day but rarely getting credit. My aunt Louise, Delilah W. Pierce, always sent me a Snoopy card during holidays and birthdays.