Actress and long-time Chicago residents Etta Moten Barnett and founder of the Associated Negro Press, Claude A. Barnett’s, treasures will be sold on September 18-19, 2021. Lynne McDaniel and husband and business partner Ty McDaniel, owners of Estate Sale Goddess, will host the one-of-a-kind Barnett estate liquidation sale at an undisclosed location in Bronzeville. For 12 years, the McDaniel’s have owned Orange Moon, a vintage interior furnishings & design center in Wicker Park. Their pieces are French, Victorian, Art Deco, English, and Mid Century Modern period.
Lynne McDaniel has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years. The McDaniel’s have handled the estate of Jesse Owens, Lerone Bennett, the Lorraine Hansberry family, Muhammad Ali, and Elijah Muhammad’s attorney, Chauncey Eskridge. The Etta Moten Barnett collection includes memorabilia such as photos, furniture, books, jewelry, handbag, shoes, and designer clothes. Other personal possessions for sale is an October 2, 2001 letter from actor Sidney Poitier, correspondences from the White House, 1922 copy of “The Negro In Our History,” by Carter G. Woodson and Etta Moten Barnett’s passport.
McDaniel has seen amazing collections and says the Barnett archives are incredible. “This is an amazing opportunity for the city of Chicago and the world to buy some historical heirlooms. Things that can be passed on to their children or start a collection,” says McDaniel. Etta Moten Barnett was born on November 5, 1901, in Weimar, TX, to Rev. Freeman F. Moten, a minister, and Ida Norman Moten, a school teacher.
Barnett studied voice and drama at the University of Kansas and spent the summer touring with the Jackson Jubilee Singers’ gospel group. Barnett received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1931. In 1934, Barnett married Claude A. Barnett, founder of the Associated Negro Press. They lived in an 1895 12-room brownstone in Bronzeville. Etta and Claude remained married until he died in 1967. Barnett appeared in several films, including Flying Down to Rio, Forgotten Man, Gold Diggers of 1933, Ladies of the Big House, and the 1942 revival of Porgy and Bess on Broadway.
For decades, Barnet devoted her time to civic organizations such as the DuSable Museum of African American History, Opera of Chicago, founding member of the women’s board at the Field Museum, South Side Community Arts Center, and served on the WTTW board. In 1979, Barnett was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
At Barnett’s 100th birthday celebration at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, more than 400 family and friends attended, including Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Halle Berry. Barnett passed away from pancreatic cancer on January 2, 2004, at the age of 102.
The Etta Moten Barnett and Claude A. Barnett online auction will begin at noon on September 13, 2021, and end on September 16, 2021, at 9 pm. Auction Pick-Up is on Friday, September 17, from 12 pm to 5 pm. Doors open for the onsite estate sale on September 18-19, 2021, from 9 am to 3 pm. Address to attend the estate sale will go live September 17, at 9 am. For those attending an estate sale for the first time, check out a few tips here.
To learn about the Estate Sale Goddess and view Barnett’s catalog click here.
Tammy Gibson is a black history traveler and author. Find her on social media @SankofaTravelher.
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