Della Moore: Local Cultural Icon
Della Moore: Local Cultural Icon
A Look Back at One Olean Woman’s Legacy
With so much talk about octogenarians in the news, please meet an Olean gal by the name of Della Moore, an 85-year-old bundle of energy whom I defy you to keep up with. Della, although not a native of Olean, moved here from Philadelphia with her husband, Jimmy Moore and her son and daughter in 1972, in her mid-thirties, to find a better life for her family and to be with her husband’s Olean family. Although she was close to her own parents, Robert Lee and Opense Patten, her Aunt Gladys and three sisters, a brother and a niece who was like a sister, she never hesitated and immediately adopted Olean as her home.
Much as Wyvetta (Vetta) Offerbeck won the hearts of Ellicottville’s Quality/Tops Market shoppers over decades of years, Della befriended everyone who came to her register and later as a department manager at Tops Market in Olean for thirty-two years. Of course, this dynamo still found time to earn a handful of degrees: AA-Alfred University, BA English + Master’s History-St. Bonaventure University, and a Master’s in Black history from Temple University. She taught at JCC and Julius Nyerere University of Kankan in Guinea, West Africa.
Della tells the story of hearing a speaker in her last semester who said Africa was in dire need of teachers and asked if anyone would want to go to Africa for a year to teach. Up went her hand and the next thing she knew she was in West Africa teaching classes of between 7 students to 92 students, ages 17 to 47, teaching English as a second language, history, poetry, business, and computer technology. Della was 67 at the time. Alas, she had to leave Africa after 8 months; she caught a parasite and she says, “they sent me home kicking and screaming.” Why? Because she never enjoyed teaching as much because they were all very eager to learn, even asking for classes on a weekend. She marveled that even five-year-olds spoke 3 languages and some of her students spoke as many as 7 or 8.
After a conversation with Della, it is very clear that the lady lives by faith, optimism, volunteerism and involvement in her community and beyond. Here is a list of some of her involvements past or present as Board Member: Genesis House, The NeighborWorks, Olean Board of Education, The Cattaraugus County Arts Council, The Greater Olean Area Council of Churches, Rebuilding Together, Olean Historical Society and the Historians Advisory Committee for the Cattaraugus County Planning and Tourism Department. In addition, she has volunteered for the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help and served with Ameri-Corps for three years to learn about team building. And, of course, in her spare time, she volunteers for the Olean Food Pantry and the YMCA.
As if that isn’t enough, it is Della who was the motivation behind the creation of the African American Center for Cultural Development in the city, now located at 214 North Barry Street, Olean, NY. After years of searching for a building and working out of her car and one small, donated space, the Center was gifted its present building in 2021 by attorneys John Hart and Ed Wagner. The responsibility was Della’s as the Director and the Center and its volunteers to refurbish and make it their own.
Through many generous donations from friends and monthly supporters Della says, “It is coming along beautifully. The first floor is almost done. Friends of the Center went to Selma, Alabama and brought wonderful commemorative pieces that they generously presented to the Center. Lectures are held regularly and every month we have Sunday jam sessions on the porch (1:30-3:30pm).” Naturally, Della plays the guitar along with the participants who play drums, keyboard, and harmonica. They had a writers group in the past and plan to revive it. Visitors come from all over, and schools come to tour the center and hear Della speak about black history. She has also created a 2-hour walking tour through Olean that traces black history from the heart of the city to Oakhill Park, which was once an old cemetery.
“You see, I never learned black history growing up,” Della told ellicottvilleNOW. “What I learned, I learned from my mother and my Aunt Gladys. I may have heard about George Washington Carver, but I was never taught in school about the horror that was Tulsa, or the black businessmen, manufacturers, shop owners, bankers and millionaires that lived there until their town was burned. I never learned about the grit and stamina of regular people who wanted better lives than slavery and had the courage to run away and find freedom, like Sarah Johnson, who at age 13 found her way to freedom in Olean from slavery in Maryland.” She speaks with pride about the good people of Olean who protected Sarah and gave her a home and freedom and a life, along with others who came to Olean through the Underground Railroad, none of whom were ever turned over to the bounty hunters. “Not a one,” she says proudly.
At age 85, Della continues to work tirelessly to make people aware of the gifts and talents and lives of the many African Americans who found their way to Olean and Ischua and Cadiz and so many other towns along the route of the Underground Railroad, and the roles they played in the drama of slavery in these United States.
The Center is a 501(c)3 and as such, every donation anyone gives to the Center is tax deductible. Donations can be sent to the African American Center for Cultural Development (The Center), PO Box 240, Olean, NY 14760 or to the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation at 201 N. Union St. #203, Olean, NY 14760 in support of the Center.