What the Historic Freedmen’s Town Across the Tracks from the Woodlands Looks Like Today

WHAT THE HISTORIC FREEDMEN’S TOWN ACROSS THE TRACKS FROM THE WOODLANDS LOOKS LIKE TODAY The Ground on Which I Stand, by Marti CornHouston-based photographer Marti Corn’s newly-published book The Ground on Which I Stand documents the history and visuals of Tamina, an unincorporated community still occupied by the descendants of freed slaves who settled in the area immediately east of I-45 and the Missouri Pacific railroad from what’s now the Woodlands back in 1871.  Corn tells Mark Murrmann that Tamina’s 1960s-and-70s enclosure by affluent suburbs, and the community’s complex relationship with those developments, is part of what drew her to photograph the area. The book of portraits includes stories compiled from 15 families (both relatives of original founders and late-comers to the area); collected family photos supplement Corn’s original snapshots. [Texas A&M University Press; previously on Swamplot]

3 Comment

  • This is a wonderful idea – I look forward to getting my hands on the book!
    Too many Afro-American communities’ histories simply disappear. And that is a shame

  • Great piece please do more stories like this! I seem to read swamplot only finding stories or our more white affluent neighborhoods.