From 2014 to the present, The Texas Freedom Colonies Project founder, Dr. Andrea Roberts has documented Black settlement heritage and grassroots preservation practice among descendants of these historic communities. Freedom colonies (an umbrella term for Black settlements, Black towns, enclaves, or freedmen's towns) are everywhere -hidden behind the pine curtain of the rural countryside and underneath the concrete landscapes of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Beaumont.
Until recently, planners have overlooked unmapped freedom colonies located in rural or unincorporated areas. Inspired by her own familial roots in freedom colonies, social justice, and the book Freedom Colonies by Thad Sitton, planning scholar, Dr. Roberts makes these places visible through her participatory action and ethnographic research. The result: old voices given new purposes, old stories making new maps, old places made visible and relevant.
If you or someone you know are a descendant of a Texas freedom colony, please contribute to our study's survey with your stories and/or images through the short and extended surveys. Click on the button below to access this online survey. Survey data is reviewed for inclusion in the database.
If you or someone you know are a descendant of a Texas freedom colony, please contribute to our study's survey by clicking the button below.
This project is supported by a grant from Texas A&M University's Division of Research, the College of Architecture, Center for Heritage Conservation, the Institute for Sustainable Communities, and the Center of Digital Humanities Research.
Credits:
Shankleville Community Homecoming, Odom Family Photo Collection.