Published On Oct 23, 2023
Learn how descendants of the 1841 Wallace House plantation in Harpersville, Alabama, are reckoning with their shared past — to build a new future, together.
Over the past five years, White and Black descendants of the Wallace House have come together for family reunions and honest conversations that have led to healing and connection among people with a shared but complicated history.
The Alabama Humanities Alliance (AHA) recently partnered with the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation, selecting the Harpersville site as a pilot project of AHA's Healing History initiative. The Wallace House used AHA's funding to craft an oral history project and this video about the work of reconciliation in progress there.
ABOUT THE WALLACE HOUSE
The Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation facilitates racial healing and repair through the arts and education. The Wallace Center is converting a remnant of America’s racist past into a symbol of a more equitable future. The Center provides opportunities to engage in activities that raise consciousness about race through dance, music, poetry, visual arts and education. Participants have the opportunity to acknowledge and express a painful past and move to a brighter future. Learn more: https://wallacearts.org/
ABOUT THE ALABAMA HUMANITIES ALLIANCE
Founded in 1974, the nonprofit Alabama Humanities Alliance serves as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Through our grant making and public programming, we connect Alabamians to impactful storytelling, lifelong learning, and civic engagement. We believe the humanities can bring our communities together and help us all see each other as fully human. Learn more: https://alabamahumanities.org/
ABOUT HEALING HISTORY
AHA's Healing History initiative offers Alabamians shared experiences toward common ground. This collaborative initiative is designed to strengthen our communities, workforces, and state by helping Alabamians examine their shared history and get to know each other better. Across race, religion, politics, and all the supposed dividing lines that shouldn’t keep us apart.
