History of the land
Any discussion of this land must first acknowledge that this farm is on the traditional land of the eastern band of Cherokee (Tsalaguwetiyi), bordering on the traditional home land of the Muscogee/Creek (Mvskoke). These lands were not ceded, nor given, and so my occupancy of this land must recognize that history. I hope to honor these original caretakers and the relationship of reciprocity they first established with the land. This will take on many forms, I hope the least of which is a relationship with the local members of these groups and an understanding of my role on this land, past and present.
The history of this land as it pertains to colonization and what happened in the area through the 1700 and 1800’s is something I am interested in learning more about in the years to come, but for now the history that I do know is the history of my family. Being on this land is a very powerful experience for me because it has been in my family for 4 generations, and it started with my great grandfather. He was a poor tenant farmer who spent his life farming for others. Then in the 1930’s, thanks to Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, he was able to purchase 200 acres of his own. To hear my grandfather talk about what it felt like to be on land of “their own” and not have to worry about moving anymore, was a beautiful thing. This is another moment that I must take to acknowledge the privilege of being a white person in the south. My great grandfather was able to purchase this land through the help of the government and then hold on to that land. These are two things that if he were not white would not have been possible. I farm on this land holding that legacy of privilege.
When my great grandfather (Malbert Warren Lee) purchased the land he started as a cotton farmer because that was all he knew, but soon transitioned to raising cows, chickens and growing vegetables. My grandfather helped on the land until he was in his early 20’s when he left Cedartown to pursue an education in divinity (something that was very contentious and created a large rift in the family). After Malbert retired from farming in the 60’s the land did not get much use. He passed away in 1976 and my Grandfather (Heslip “Happy” Lee) took up residency on the farm, retiring from years of ministry and civil rights work to be on the land. He continued to do work with the democratic party of Polk county and Gerogia and keep up with the social justice work he was a part of, but he also started taking care of cows. My grandmother joined him a few years later after retiring from being a librarian, and she began to grow food on the land again. It is their life out there, and this part of the land history that I grew up with.
My memories of the farm were of my grandfather having cows, which were in many respects just a hobby and my grandmother growing food, flowers and harvesting pecans. My grandfather would sell the cows occasionally if they needed money, mostly the things they grew and raised were for subsistence and as a hobby. I think for both of them it was a return to childhood, having grown up in Cedartown, and a re-connection to land and the idea of home . My grandmother grew all of their food in the open space east of the house, underneath and all around the pecan tree. She also had a beautiful flower garden that started as a memorial garden for my father who passed away in 1994. My earliest memories of being on a farm were driving the tractor and the old beat-up ford with my grandfather, and picking pecans with my sister from underneath the two big pecan trees. We would then shell and pick them clean for pecan pie or to freeze for later.
My grandparents were amazing people. I remember a time when someone stopped on the side of the road to admire my grandmother’s flower garden and she talked with them for 45 minutes and sent them home with a trunk full of flowers. They loved people, all people, and collected friends like one does pecans; you pick up one, and then notice another right next to it, then another. Thus their network grew wherever they went and they had friends who would write and visit from all over the country. There was always homemade food on the table (my grandmother was an amazing cook) and my grandfather was the stereotypical southern storyteller. If there were people around he was at the kitchen table telling stories and engaging in conversation for hours. They both had incredible lives outside of the farm as well.
My grandfather had a book “The Happy Warrior” written about his life and the work he did with Martin Luther King Jr, and with various Civil Rights organizations. His papers and correspondences have been preserved in the archives of the Virginia Commonwealth University. My grandmother raised 5 children and supported my grandfather wherever they moved. She was the rock and the moral compass that directed my grandfather’s outward work and inner growth. He always called her the “angel that was sent by god to guide and take care of him.”
I honor these two, the “angel” in my grandmother who grew food and took care of everyone, and the passionate activist in my grandfather, with this farm. I hope to live in their legacy and continue it forward. I also honor the other ancestors of this land, the people who took care of it long before my family, the people who survived to pass on their knowledge about how to live with the land. I hope to also honor their legacy in whatever way may be appropriate. The history of this land is long, I hope to be but a small part of that continued story.