The Public and the Private: Or My Great Grandmother fights off burglers

I think one of the issues that I have always loved to explore in history is what is revealed easily and what do people what to keep close to their hearts. If you study women's history like I did from a relatively early age, you learn that what is close to the heart (otherwise known as private) is often quite the most interesting stuff and what is public is often so shaped by circumstances that it appears boring. Thus, the poem from my hometown poet, Emily Dickinson, on "I'm nobody" which includes the line "How dreary to be somebody, How public like a frog" [checked thanks to excess of good internet sources on Dickinson]. I hope you have your pop-up blocker on for that link, but the reality is that quick access to some sources is worth ignoring or investing in some pop up blockers. I'd like to find everything for free without ads, but some sites do the republishing or the aggregation and need the money. [Friends, remind me to tell you about a fellow grad student from Brown who took the risk on internet commentary and is now useful and income producing but I am too tired to discuss this approach now.]

I'm not going to address that what is public might look boring, but in my opinion rarely is today. Instead, I'm quickly sharing just the shell of a story that I found through the miracles of digitized newspapers: I.e. "D.C. Mother Scares Off 3 Robbers." it is about my great grandmother Lucy Lombardi Barber (who gave me or shares my name). It is not available for free but if you have access to Proquest Digitized newspaper, the link on the title should work. If not, here's the quick summary:
My grandfather's brother Alvin Barton Barber, Jr (who I never met) was held up at about 1:00 am in the morning and the "carjackers" forced him and his friend Rogers Albritton to drive back to his parents house in Northwest Washington. There in the early morning of July 1947, they found Lucy Barber who called the police and threatened them. The robbers fled on foot, saving the car, and the cash on hand. My great uncle and his friend had little cash on hand. The Washington Post ran the story because (I assume) it was cool that a white woman in Northwest had drove off robbers of her son and his friend with a phone call to the police rather than with weapons.

So this is a "public story" that when I shared with my father and his siblings and cousins, none had heard. It was not part of the considerable number of stories passed down from generation to generation. There are reasons I am sure that a public story did not become a family story. And if anyone wants to speculate, I welcome your inquiries. I might have some more answers or not.

I like this complexity, but I also find it hard to write about. Given the time and everything, I'll sign off now (how about that for a dated phrase). I feel as though I need a picture though, so let's see what I can do. Here's a picture of (I think) Lucy Sr's father Cesar Maurice Lombardi of Rice University. I might be off by a generation. If so, apologies and corrections, PLEASE

From Drop Box