Cat Lady
The recent political chatter about ‘cat ladies’ brought to mind this photograph I took in 1980. My eldest sister lived on West 71st Street in New York City, and I often visited her while I was in high school. Using a manual camera, I photographed her cat, Tolbert, in front of the apartment’s windows. The name Tolbert inspired these musings.
Cats started in human history being revered, both by ancient Egyptians as well as religious orders throughout the Middle Ages. Their hunting of vermin, and thus protecting stores of food, was much appreciated. Unlike dogs, they were not completely domesticated, often remaining aloof, but helpful. Somewhere along the way, the cat became associated with evil women, and having a cat, especially a black one, was a sign the accused woman was a witch. (I discuss this a bit in a prior blog: ericas-heirloom-treasures/weird-women). The first documented trial of a woman accused of witchcraft was in 1566 in England. Elizabeth Francis owned a cat called “Sathan”, an old English version of “Satan”. While that may be a poor choice for a cat’s name, I can relate. My children had a cat we called “Evil Puddy” - he was a semi-feral feline with very little lovey-dovey instincts. We called him Puddy for the most part, except when he would capture animals and deposit them in the house as presents, sometimes live and sometimes in pieces. While Elizabeth survived her trial in 1566, her sister, Agnes Waterhouse who inherited Sathan later, did not.
My sister’s cat, Tolbert, had a vaguely familiar name, and I asked another sister recently why. Back in the 1960s, my parents hosted foreign students living in NYC to come for weekend visits to our home in Chappaqua. I imagine this was through some organization, but I have no idea about the logistics. They hosted a number of students, though I only recall a young Japanese man, Chit Chon, who came a few times, bearing gifts for the children. What an experience that must have been for a young man to land in a suburban American home with 6 or 7 children running about! Around that time, my mother named our Siamese kitten Chit Chon, which is somewhat cringe-worthy now that I think of it.
I still have a few child-sized kimonos and obi sashes Chit Chon gave my parents. There were 4 originally, three floral ones for my older sisters and 1 gray elephant kimono for a brother. The obis are works of art. The silk was hand dyed using “shibori” handwork. The technique involves wrapping the fabric around a nail (called Arashi), tying it in place, then dying the silk. The compressed area resists the dye, and creates unique patterns. When unwrapped, a wonderful textural pattern will remain. I wore the pink obi as a scarf over the years, and the raised texture has faded. Absolutely you cannot wash these as the entire textural design will disappear! https://www.wanderingsilk.org/shibori-history-meaning. This photo shows the two sashes I still have (I also have two kimonos). The yellow obi was not used over the past 60 years, and thus you can see the fabulous textural handwork more clearly.
According to my sister, another student who visited our family was Victoria Tolbert, though likely when I was an infant. Victoria made an impression on my older sister, who was 7 or 8, as she recalls Victoria was a stunning and regal young woman. A number of years ago my sister looked to see what became of Victoria. It was a sad story. Victoria was from Liberia, and educated in the United States. She was studying at Pace Business College in 1962-3 which was when she visited our home. She married Adolph Yancy, also educated in the United States, who was the senior economist for the Bank of Monrovia. The couple had two children, but Victoria died in 1971 at the age 30 after emergency surgery. (No details but I cannot help but suspect it was a pregnancy gone wrong given her age). Her father, William Tolbert, was President of the Republic of Liberia for 19 years, and was assassinated in a bloody coup in 1980, as was his son. His living daughters were imprisoned without their children, and his widow – who watched his murder – was locked in a bare jail cell for a month, then allowed to flee Liberia for the United States. Thus began a brutal 15-year military dictatorship lead by Sam Doe.
It certainly gave me pause to think about the sweet house cat, Tolbert, and the political history of the family who inspired his name.
