Supermoms: towers of strength, these women continue the Black tradition

Ebony, May, 1991 by Roxanne Brown

One of the most enduring traditions of Black America revolves around the strength of magnificent Black mothers who raised large families and sent them out into the world, well-prepared and eager to make a contribution.

Although large families are no longer fashionable, the mothers of five or more children featured on these pages are continuing the tradition in a new setting, and the proof of their mothering is the accomplishments of the children.

Katherine Jackson and the musical clan she raised are world-renowned. A mother who is not as well-known but who has reason to be equally proud is Bessie Sheffield of New Brighton, Pa. Of the 18 children she raised, including five from her late husband's first marriage, 13 have earned at least a bachelor's degree.

Almost without exception, these supermoms shrink from public acknowledgment of their child-rearing abilities. Carrie Ponder, a Chicago parent who is in the process of putting the last four of her eight children through prestigious universities like Princeton and Northwestern, still wonders what all the fuss is about each time a reporter asks how she did it.

Sometimes mothers who have mothered large and mothered well are amazed by their children's accomplishments. Delores Winans, mother of 10 gospel-singing siblings, says that knowing she brought such musically gifted people into the world is an awesome feeling. "I could sit back and listen to them all day," she marvels.

Talk to any of the offspring of the mothers on the following pages, and you will hear the same words used again and again to describe Mom: giving, patient, strong. And, according to the children, mothers who have nurtured so many are good at spreading their love around. Carol Sheffield a college administrator and No. 13 of the 18 children mothered by Bessie Sheffield, says it was this gift she appreciated most from her mother. "My mother ha the uncanny ability to make each one of us feel like we were the most special child she had."