Z 2225.000 F
MOHAMED (ETHEL LEE WRIGHT) MANUSCRIPT


Biography/History:

Ethel Lee Wright was born in Fame, Webster County, Mississippi, on October 13, 1906. She was the eldest daughter of Elijah (Lidge) and Nina Bell Ramsay Wright. The Wright family, including siblings Hazel Edna (b. ca. 1909), Eva Lloyd (b. ca. 1910), and Ortie Orville (b. ca. 1913), moved to Shaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi, around 1921.

While living in Shaw, Ethel Wright met Lebanese immigrant and dry-goods merchant Hussein Mohamed Asim Shuman (later Hassan Mohamed). They were married on April 21, 1924. The Mohameds had eight children: Carol, Hassan, Jr., Hazel, Joseph, Joy, June, Nina Mae (Sunny), and Ollie, who later became a Mississippi state senator. The couple moved to Belzoni, Humphreys County, Mississippi, in 1927 after Hassan Mohamed and his partner, Dave Homod, completed a new building for their dry-goods business. Ethel Wright Mohamed assisted her husband with the operation of the dry-goods store until his death on March 23, 1965. She continued to run the business after his death and also resumed her childhood pastime of embroidery.

Mohamed retired from the dry-goods business in 1980 and turned the store over to her grandson, David Shuman Mohamed. She continued to do embroidery, completing over one hundred twenty-five pieces. Her works depict scenes from her life and the lives of family members. Mohamed often found inspiration in stories told by her husband, in her dreams, and in works of art. Her embroideries have been exhibited during the Festival of American Folklife, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi. Mohameds work was also featured on a card printed for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Although Mohamed never sold her embroideries, she did donate several pieces to be auctioned for the benefit of the American Heart Association and the University of Mississippi Medical Center Childrens Cancer Clinic. She received the Governors Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1991. Mohamed continued to do embroidery until her death at the age of eighty-five on February 15, 1992. She was interred at the Belzoni City Cemetery.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of a handwritten manuscript of Ethel Lee Wright Mohamed of Belzoni, Humphreys County, Mississippi. The manuscript contains the introduction and captions for an illustrated book of Mohameds embroidered works entitled Ethel Wright Mohamed. In the introduction, Mohamed discusses some of the embroideries illustrated in the book and the sources of her inspiration. The individually titled captions offer more detailed information on the creation of each piece. Included in the manuscript are two captions entitled Birds in Our Apricot Tree and My Grandchildren at Play and a blank page entitled The Yellow Rooster. These captions apparently refer to pieces not featured in the book. The bracketed numbers on the manuscript pages have been supplied by the archivist and reflect the order in which the captions appear in the publication.

Series Identification:

  1. Manuscript. ca. 1984. 1 folder.