Illustration by Neal Stepp

GRANDPA'S HERITAGE

by Travis E. Jackson, Ed.D.

Cathy Wilson closed her social studies book and put it in her backpack. She liked hearing about people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and she was looking forward to doing the assignment that Mrs. Turner had given the class, but today it seemed like last period would never end. A few of the kids had stopped at Mrs. Turner's desk to look at the books on African American history and to choose an African American that they would do research on. Cathy's best friend, Sharon, was balancing a large book on the corner of Mrs. Turner's file cabinet. She was not paying attention to much else.

"I've got to get home early today," Cathy said to Sharon. "Are you walking home?"

"I'm going to stay a little longer and finish looking at this book," Sharon said. "Can you wait just a few minutes?"

"I can't today. Grandma and Grandpa Owens are coming for the weekend. Mom told me that Grandpa had something important to tell me."

"Then I guess I'll see you sometime tomorrow. I'll call you." Sharon turned back to her book. Cathy and Sharon were great friends, but Cathy knew that when Sharon decided to bury her head in a book, she was not coming up until she was good and ready.

"See you then," Cathy replied, but Sharon had already returned to her reading. A short time later as Cathy was closing her locker, Marion Flemming said, "Are you walking home, Cathy? I saw Sharon with her head buried in one of those books Mrs. Turner brought in. Is it O.K. if I walk with you?"

"Sure Marion, but I'm going to be walking awfully fast. My grandparents are visiting and I want to get home. My mother told me that Grandpa Owens has something important to tell me."

The two girls left the building and headed down Oak Street towards home. Actually, Marion was not one of Cathy's favorite people, but she usually tried to satisfy her mother by being nice to everyone. She had known Sharon and Marion since third grade when the Wilsons had first moved into their house on Peach Road. Sharon had made her feel at home the first day they met, but there was always something about Marion that had kept them from becoming too close. "Where do your grandparents live?" Marion asked.

"They live in Florida now for most of the year, and then they spend the rest of their time visiting their children. Lately, Grandpa has been spending a lot of time studying the family history. I think that's what he has to tell me. Maybe I'm related to someone famous."

"I hate history," Marion said. "It's bad enough, and then Mrs. Turner has to bring in all that stuff about African Americans. My father says it's a waste of time, and if she doesn't stop he's going to call Mr. Anthony."

Cathy looked at Marion. "I like Mrs. Turner, and I don't mind hearing about famous African Americans. My father says if more people knew about what African Americans really did for this country, we wouldn't have so many racial problems. All we ever see on television is the bad stuff."

"Well, my father says they didn't do much of anything, and you can't change what really happened and call it history. He may even try to get Mrs. Turner fired."

"I hope he doesn't try. I like her and so do the other kids. I'll see you on Monday, Marion." Luckily, they had reached Cathy's house.

"You let me know if you are related to someone famous." Marion never seemed to know when she had upset someone. Cathy saw her grandparents' car parked in the driveway. She hurried inside and found everyone in the family room.

Her mother's mother was sitting on the arm of the chair near the fireplace. She was a small woman with graying hair and bright eyes. Her husband was seated in the chair, legs crossed and drinking a cup of coffee. When he saw Cathy, he stood up and placed his mug on the fireplace mantle. "There she is now" he said." I wondered if I was going to have to go down to that school and bail her out."

Cathy kissed her grandmother and grandfather hello and was handed a plate with a piece of cake. Shortly, her older brother, Eric, arrived home from school and then her father came in. Grandma and Grandpa spent the time before dinner talking about driving north from Florida and about their trips through New England and New York State searching through the records as Grandpa worked on his family history. Cathy was anxious to hear, but she knew Grandpa well enough to know that he would tell them when they were all assembled and ready to be extra good listeners. This would probably be at dinner after everyone was finished eating.

After a while Cathy's father and Eric went into the dining room to set the table and her mother and Grandma Owens went to the kitchen to finish with dinner. Grandpa excused himself and said, "I've got to go upstairs and get everything in order."

"Do you need any help, Grandpa? I'd be happy to give you a hand."

"Yes, I probably do, Honey, but I want this to be a surprise for everyone, so I'll do it myself this time.

Cathy turned on the television but there was nothing on that she wanted to see. She was thinking about Sharon and the history lesson at school and about what Marion had said. She knew her mother and father and most of the other parents would speak up for Mrs. Turner. Her parents had always taught her that there was no difference between people, and that even though she was white, she was no better than anyone else. She knew that Sharon felt even more strongly about this. She should have stayed a little longer at school and shared some of Mrs. Turner's books with Sharon. She would not have had to walk home with Marion.

She decided to write Sharon a letter telling her that she was sorry that she had not waited and how happy she was to have her for a friend. When she finished her letter, she took out her assignment book. Her history assignment was to choose an African American, either living or dead. She had to research that person and then be prepared to come into class as that person. She had to make a presentation as that person and to know that person so well that she would be able to answer questions from the class. It really sounded like fun.

Mrs. Turner was always coming up with fun assignments. She began to think about who she might be. Before she knew it, her father was calling her to dinner. Mr. Wilson and Eric had placed the extra leaf in the dining room table. Cathy's mother and father took their usual places at either end of the oblong table.

Eric and his grandmother sat on one side of the table facing the large bay window that overlooked the side yard. Cathy sat next to her grandfather on the opposite side of the table. When her father finished the blessing, she noticed three very large photograph albums piled on the buffet.

When Grandma and Grandpa Owens came for a visit, it seemed like they had never been away. They made everyone feel good. They were genuinely interested in what Cathy and Eric were doing and wanted to hear about everything. Dinner took a long time as the family brought each other up to date on their lives. Before long, Eric and Cathy were clearing away the dishes and filling the dishwasher in the kitchen. When they returned to the dining room, Grandpa Owens was at the head of the table, and the three large albums were sitting on the table in front of him. The two spaces on either side and closest to him were empty.

"Come sit up here near me," Grandpa Owens said. "I have some fascinating things to show all of you." He opened the first of the three albums. "Now that I am retired, I have had a lot of time to do things I have always wanted to do. You know all of those pictures I've been taking for years, of you Eric and Cathy, ever since you were little tykes. Well I've put them all together in two albums. One is of Grandma's and my family including your mother and your Uncle Timothy, and the other is of you grandchildren. I'm going to let you look at them in a little bit." He put the two albums aside and pulled the third one towards him. It was a little larger than the other two.

Cathy couldn't wait any longer. "What's in that one, Grandpa? Is that the one that is special?

He smiled and said, "I surely hope you all think so. It is very special to me because I found out something that I never knew before so I never told your mother or Uncle Timothy. I never even told Grandma because I didn't know." He glanced over at Grandma and smiled.

Cathy was about to burst with wonder. What did he find out? She knew that he had been trying to find out information about his relatives. Mrs. Turner had called it studying one's geneology. Was she really related to someone famous?

He opened the album. "This first picture is of my grandfather. Now, so that I don't startle you too much, let me give you a little background. You all probably remember how I told you that whenever I asked my father about his family, he never said much. Well, he was hiding something that I suppose in his day was a terrible, terrible secret. His father, that would be my grandfather, and your great, great grandfather, Eric and Cathy, was born a slave. I found all this out when I requested a copy of his death certificate. He was born in 1853 in Virginia, and he was listed on his birth certificate as colored. His father was a man by the name of Wilfred Owens, probably his master and his mother was unknown. She was probably a slave on his father's plantation."

"How could a person allow his own child to live as a slave?" Eric asked.

"It was pretty common in those days. We don't understand it now, but lots of slave owners did just that. Sometimes they would try to get them freed and up north, but mostly they just denied any responsibility."

Cathy's mother said, "I thought you told me that Grandpa was born in western New York State, Dad. How did your grandfather get there?"

"When the Civil War was over, I guess he had no where else to go, so he moved north to around Buffalo with a northern officer. From what I have been able to find out, he probably served as a kind of house boy for the officer during the war. That was pretty common too."

"Then what happened to him?" Cathy asked.

"Well, I do know that he went to college, but I don't know what he was planning to become. He ended up being a barber which was not unusual for an African American in those days. Then a few years later he married my grandmother, who was, of course, a white woman. He was very light skinned himself so most of their children looked white. I have found that a few of them decided to live their lives as "colored" as they said in those days, but others in the family decided to move away to other parts of the state or country and live as white. My father never told my mother and he didn't tell me. I'm sorry he didn't, but I understand that in his way he was trying to protect us all. So now you know. I think it is only fair that we all decide right here how far we want it to go. And now, let's look at this last album that is about my Grandfather and Grandmother."

After Cathy had on her pajamas, her mother stopped in her room to kiss her good night. "Some story Grandpa had, Cathy. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure yet, Mom. What do you think?"

"Well, it's not going to change our lives one way or the other. Things are a lot different now than they were in your great-grandfather's day. Actually, I'm kind of proud of it. How do you feel?"

"I'm still not certain. I don't know what a lot of the kids would think." "Well, I'm sure it will all work out. We are going to talk about it again tomorrow. Good night, Honey."

"Night, Mom."

A few days later Mrs. Turner was getting everyone settled in history class. "We are going to continue with our reports today, and I think I promised Cathy that she could be first today. She told me who she was going to do her special report on, but she wanted to surprise the rest of you, so Cathy, if you are ready."

Cathy took a deep breath and then began, "I am a man named William Owens. I know that you have never heard of me before, but that is not so unusual. There have been a lot of important African Americans in the history of our country that you have never heard of. To you I may not seem like such an important person, but I am to my family - my grandson, my great grandchildren, and my great, great grandchildren. My descendants out there now are very proud of me and of what I did with my life. They are proud that even though I was born a slave in Virginia in 1853..."

"... and I want to close by simply saying that my great, great grandaughter is in your class. Her name is Cathy Wilson."

Later as Sharon and Cathy were gathering their things together at Cathy's locker, Marion approached them. "Are you guys walking home?" she said. "Is it O.K. if I walk with you?"

"Well, sure, that is if you want to," Cathy said. "I thought after you heard my news that you might not want to."

"Oh, you mean about your great, great, grandfather? I liked your report, and I am learning a lot from all the other reports on African Americans. I can see why Mrs. Turner wanted us to do this. Well, you guys going or not? I have to get home."

"We are," said Cathy, "and you are sure welcome to walk with us."

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