Author Pauline Mansfield to speak at meeting

December 12, 2015

Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society (MPAAGHS) will hold its monthly meeting on Saturday, December 12, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at Grafton Baptist Church, 425 Grafton Church Rd, Hartfield, Virginia 23071 (map).

Author Pauline Mansfield will discuss her recently released biography of her father, renowned tenor Emanuel Mansfield. The book, entitled Songs of a Father I Never Really Knew, tells the story of Emanuel Mansfield’s rise from rural Middlesex County, Virginia, to attain national fame as a concert tenor. Mansfield, who was born in 1903 and died in 1978, was a native of Wake, Virginia, and a member of Grafton Baptist Church. He wrote the lyrics and music to the St. Clare Walker High School alma mater. (St. Clare Walker High was the black high school prior to integration).

Copies of Songs of a Father will be offered for sale, and Pauline Mansfield will be available to autograph them. Mansfield is the author of two other books and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Refreshments will be served following the talk.

For further information about this meeting or about (MPAAGHS), visit mpaagenealogicalsociety.org or call 804.651.8753. (MPAAGHS) annual dues of $20 may be paid at the meeting.