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Ancestral Bridges

“Ancestral Bridges: Celebrating Black and Afro-Indigenous families who lived and worked in Amherst in the 18th through early 20th centuries,” an exhibit of historical photographs and artifacts, will be on view in Frost Library through the summer of 2024.

Ida Mae (Bateman) Roberts Photograph


c. 1920

About Ida Mae Roberts

Born in Amherst in 1895, she is pictured above with her son, Perry Roberts. Family, friends, and neighbors often made their way to her home on Snell Street for her homemade pies. She knew the life of a single mother because her husband, Gil Roberts, had to leave town for years at a time to provide for the family.