Aunt Harriet, a Juneteenth Story in Texas

                                Aunt Harriet a Great Woman of Texas 

New Year's Good Luck African American 
food traditions.

A Juneteenth2020 inspired story: 

      Many African Americans worship in prayer and reflection proclaiming God's glory to see triumphant days prospered by way of our Ancestors. We shout in praise with unspeakable joy, the deliverance of a legacy of FAITH. For centuries our Ancestors have held up "the blood-stained banner" of slain liberation fighters, unjust lynchings of Family members, and our descendants of the Trails of Tears.  When the New Year transcends into Emancipation Day, we call this historical time of the year Freedom's Eve. 

Ancestor Harriet Eliza Evans "Paine"1822-1917

lived to  tell her story; She is a celebrated Historical
Woman of Liberty County, Texas. foto cr: C.Cullen

Historically January 1, 1863, represents the first effects of the Emancipation Proclamation, serving as a military tactic that first released the bondage of those enslaved on rebellious Southern territory against the Union Army under Lincoln presidency; this included some of my own Ancestors of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; Yet, it'd be an ongoing battle in the Civil War with others of my Ancestors serving in the United States Colored Troops, paving the way towards the abolition of slavery by the 13th Amendment, passed through Congress January 31, 1865, and ratified December 6, 1865.

"I say that my folks are the most resilient, brilliant Human specie on this planet" ~R.Califa

         For no matter the tactics or the terror, we were and are a liberation minded people, who've navigated slave ship horror stories, launched scores of uncharted rebellions, to waging the strife of everyday plantation life, striving to thrive. And with success, God was at the helm, with Spirituality binding us as it is commonly known about the deep Soul of Black Folks.

My Ancestral Matriarch known as Harriett Eliza Evans, Paine, and to be born in perhaps Maury County, Tennessee, enslaved by Swan and Jerusha (Blackburn) Hardin and carried to Texas with the Family to join others in Texas, building a plantation near Trinity River. During Freedom's Eve, and years after Emancipation Day, she continued to work her finger to the bone, whereby news of her Freedom, as well as over 250,000 others, enslaved in Texas, was "delayed" until June 19,  1865, hence the celebration of Juneteenth in Texas and across America today.  Yet, for African Americans, their Celebration of on the ground was not shared by their Oppressor agents; their lives morphed into a very familiar plight of slavery by other names: "Reconstruction", terror-lynchings, Jim Crow, sharecropping, convict leasing, all were legal processes with gross discriminatory law enforcement practices, systematically embedded and stratified through institutions to oppress and perpetuate trauma upon Black life physically and through mental enslavement. 

     So to my Ancestor's story, she did indeed stay upon the plantation owner's property and continued working, until her enslavers, the Hardin Family moved her and her children to their Seven Pines home, where she continued to serve living behind the main house. She even rescued the Family papers and documents as the Seven Pines home had all but been destroyed from a chimney fire, She lived nearly to be 100.

"Aunt Harriet" became a celebrated storyteller and Historian of Liberty County, as she knew the Families in the area and lived through some of the County's most historical times, including the Battle of Jacinto and the Alamo and even Texas Declaration of Independence.  Her memoirs have been documented and treasured in the Hardin Family papers are preserved in the Hardin Collection of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center. 

Good God, the degree of servitude, my people have extended themselves even under the yoke of slavery. Such a spirit of perseverance with a strong foundation of character. Today The Texas State Historical Association features an online Biography of my Ancestor fondly called "Aunt Harriet" written by Richard Allen Burns, published June 15, 2010. Although the article cited her burial place as unknown, 3 years later I'd discover at least the possible whereabouts of her burial place on the Find-A-Grave website with a photograph and this citation:

          Harriet Evans Paine (1822-1917)

Formerly enslaved person

Owners were Swan and Jerusha Hardin

Believed to be buried in old slave section

    Grove Hill Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas

#givepraisetolife of a Great Woman of Texas, and American history, who has seen much, did for so many and outlived most to tell it -- and for her descendants to unearth Herstory.

Love and gratitude Queen Mother Harriet,

R. Califa \ @nzoCALIFA

Nzo Califa Dance Works

#Dancestory2020

#nzoCALIFAncestry

sources:

• Genealogy/ Family History research: R.Calloway #nzoCALIFAncestry  
• This extended version is drawn from nzocalifablogspot.com, Dec. 2018 blogpost: Dec. 31, 2018

• Burns, Richard Allen (15 June 2010). "Paine, Harriet Evans"Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.  
• Find-A-Grave link:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182903916/harriet-paine?fbclid=IwAR15aHvL9a-tLKPh4KOQg4yrvzp-emCM-pz4z3jNnsr6LUvfF2TrL3nFUOs