Tamina
A Freedmen’s Town
The Randle homestead in its pastoral beauty
Barry Schuster on annual trail ride
Tamina landscape
Reverend William "Bubba" Webber
Aerial shot of artesian well on Falvey property
Reginald Chevalier
Families gather each year to ride with the Black Cowboys
Jaren Chevalier
The Elmore Family at Sweet Rest Cemetery, where their ancestors are buried
Della Mae Haywood-Henry
Robert Henry
Reverend Elvin Ginns, pastor at Falvey Memorial Baptist Church for 38 years.
Dr. Ruth Watson, choir director for Lone Star Baptist Church
Handmade headstones in Sweet Rest Cemetery
Jimaniece Ginns has a gifted voice and sings in the church choir
Tamina landscape
Tamina landscape
Established in 1871, it is the oldest freedmen's town in Texas
Tamina landscape
Lonnie Pitts, one of the keepers of the history of Tamina
Molly Brown remembers horses roaming freely throughout the town
Andrew Robinson began in the lumber industry in his twenties
Tamina, Texas, is one of the few remaining emancipation communities in the United States, considered the oldest freedmen’s town in Texas. Traveling from as far away as the Carolinas and Georgia, freed slaves found work more than one hundred and forty years ago in the lumber industry of Montgomery County. They established Tamina in 1871, purchased land for farming and built their own schools and churches.
Through visual storytelling and a selection of oral histories, explore this deep-rooted community that has endured and overcome so many challenges.
Discover how you, your students, and family members can create your own oral history project.