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[San Diego, Calif.?, Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary, ca. 1968]. Illustrated fan, 7.875” x 7.5”, heavy stock stapled to wooden handle, 8” x 1”, illustrations and text on both sides. CONDITION: Very good, toning from handle mainly affecting the margin below the image of Dr. King.

An original memorial fan, apparently manufactured soon after Martin Luther King’s assassination and advertising an African American-owned mortuary in San Diego.

A photographic image of Dr. King appears on one side of the fan, below which he is described as “Minister - Civil Rights Leader - Nobel Prize Winner.” The Anderson-Ragsdale mortuary is pictured on the other side and is touted as “The third generation of Ragsdales in the Mortuary Profession.” Martin Luther King memorial fans were apparently marketed nationally for advertising purposes, as examples advertising other mortuaries are known. They were doubtless distributed at services held in Black communities throughout the country mourning the most revered Black leader of the twentieth century. 

“The Ragsdale family history in Funeral Service dates back to the late 1800’s in what is now called the State of Oklahoma. The Ragsdale Undertaking Company began after the family relocated from Arkansas to Indian Territory and opened a livery stable in Muskogee that developed into their Grandfather, William Ragsdale renting horse drawn hearses to mourners and later taking an embalming course, that would lead to the opening of The Ragsdale Undertaking Company in 1889. The family would eventually open firms in Tulsa and Ardmore, OK. In 1947 Hartwell Ragsdale, II and his brother Lincoln Ragsdale would open a mortuary in Phoenix, Arizona with the help of their father from Ardmore. In 1955 while Hartwell was on a fishing trip in San Diego he would learn of the Anderson Mortuary on Imperial Avenue was for sale following the death of it’s owner. That same year he and his wife, Hazel would relocate their family from Arizona to San Diego to open the Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary. Their business grew as they became active in the Community serving in several churches and other social organizations” (Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary online).

Item #9604

Price: $275.00