Alex Drake
Alex Drake, like a true American, was drafted and registered into World War I on June 5, 1917, and served valiantly until the war ended. At the time, Drake could be described as a Black man of medium stature with black eyes. Drake was born in Opelika, Alabama, on March 1st of 1892 where he resided with his parents, Georgia who passed away between 1900-1910, and Addie Drake, and was also supported by his lovely brothers and sisters: Hodge Drake, Addie Dowdell, Lucy Drake, Corrie Summers, Emmett, and Issac, all of whom were literate at the time. Drake's father was raised upon sharecropping but after acquiring a fairly prestigious job; they moved to their own farm which allowed Drake to receive a 6th grade education. After his valiant efforts in WWI, Drake would become a painter in a cotton mill, dye works plant, and in construction alongside his wife whose name was Sallie Bailey whom he married in 1927. During this time, Drake would reside with his in-laws in Lanett, Alabama, then moved to NYC between 1930-1940 and then moved back. Drake would eventually have a child named Morris who was able to receive a high school education and who he raised alongside six of his nephews. Drake and his siblings would inherit land from the deceased Hodge Drake, who in his will had left Drake and his siblings as heirs. Drake would eventually give the property in Roanoke, Randolph, Alabama to his son George Alex McKinnley and decided to buy a house in Opelika, Alabama, where he would reside with Corrie Summers and his nephews. Drake died on March 1, 1956, at 61-years-old, an unforgettable man.
Contributed by Lodan and Isaac from Auburn High School