Homecomings

Klein homecomings

Homecomings have been held in 2018 and 2019, each attended by about 40 persons whose ancestors were linked together at Klein during the antebellum period.  Each homecoming began at the cemetery with prayers, singing of Amazing Grace, responsive reading of the names of those buried in the black and white Wallace cemeteries, and honoring of those enslaved persons who lay in unmarked graves.  The group then adjourned to the house for a facilitated discussion led by T. Marie King and meal.  Peter Datcher brought displays from his history house for viewing. Together, we are creating a new shared narrative in this place in which our ancestors were either enslaved or the enslavers.  

A focus of the first homecoming was the rededication of the cemeteries and opening of the black cemetery.  On behalf of her family, Nell Gottlieb apologized for closing off the African American family cemetery for burial and for the much longer, unspoken history from slavery to the present. This was the first time that many people had been inside the house built by their ancestors, without pay and without freedom.  The activities of the day began the building of trust with the sharing of our various histories and hopes for the future.  

 The 2018 Homecoming was one of the For Freedoms projects in Alabama.  Founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms continues to provide a national platform for art, civic engagement, and discourse to explore what freedoms in the 21st century look like.

 The second homecoming began at the cemetery with smudging sage to acknowledge that we were standing on Muskogee Creek Land.  The format of the cemetery ceremony was similar to the first one, except that Theo Perkins sang “Fly Away” in memory of Ms. Beverly Odum who had been an active participant in last year’s homecoming and passed away.  Henry Smith laid a wreath in honor of the enslaved people whose graves were not marked, both in the Wallace cemetery and throughout the county. 

 The Wideman-Davis Dance Company was in town to prepare for their performance in January 2020 and attended the 2019 homecoming.  A film crew documenting the dance festival was there as well.  They also filmed several interviews of descendants conducted by Georgette Norman.