Name/Title
Central Gardens - Evelene Washington - From Africa to LouisiannaDescription
Evelene Washington was born on a Louisiana farm in 1928. Her father was the son of a slave. “That’s where the name ‘Washington’ comes from,” she says. “My father’s father was brought over on a boat with no clothes.” As a child, she played in the fields and made her own toys. Recalling a pet pig who protected her from snakes, she laughs heartily. “You have to have strange pets when you live in the country!” She attended school until third grade, leaving to do housework at $4.50 a day.
Evelene’s 21 year old brother was seriously wounded in combat in World War II. As he was being evacuated from the war zone aboard the USS Drexler, the destroyer was attacked by kamikazes on May 28, 1945, and he perished. She actually made a picture of it in art class. “I’ve never seen the ship in my life, I just thought about
it and that’s how I painted it,” she explains.
After a stroke, Evelene moved to San Francisco to be with her two children and four grandchildren. She is extremely proud of how much they all have achieved. Evelene’s advice for a productive life: “Do whatever you can now. If you want to do it, do it, because if you never try, you’ll never learn.”
