[Welcome to Everything Is Stories, a podcast essentially, but truthfully an ongoing audio survey of individuals who have experienced transcendence and/or power of the will. Everything Is Stories exists many places and every month Impose will be among those places.]
Abraham Bolden was the first black Secret Service agent on the White House detail. Serving under John F. Kennedy, Bolden cracked counterfeiting cases and provided security for the President. However, the segregated 60s led Bolden from the White House to prison. In this story, EIS finds Bolden inside his Chicago home as he recounts his experiences of racial tension and why he considers himself a tool of fate.
Abraham Bolden and his wife Barbara.
Lawrence Daily Journal – June 16, 1961
An invite to the the Cook County Democratic Party reception, where Abraham first met John F. Kennedy.
Abraham working at the Chicago office of the Secret Service. Photo courtesy of Abraham Bolden
Abraham on White House detail, top right. Photo courtesy of Abraham Bolden
Toldeo Blade – May 21, 1964
Associated Press images compiled by the Warren Commission as part of their investigation on the assassination of JFK.
Lewiston Morning Tribune – May 21, 1964
Baltimore Afro-American May 26, 1964
Members of the Warren Commission, assembled by President Johnson and headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren (center).
“See you got to go through the furnace of affliction. I was a good man, but I was rusty. There was a gold deposit beneath this flesh.” – Abraham Bolden reflecting on his experiences.
“Yes, I had a love for music. That love was sort of forced, because here’s what happened: when we became 9 years of age, my father demanded that we take piano lessons. Everybody had to take piano lessons.” – Abraham Bolden Photo courtesy of Jet Magazine – July 2, 1964
