Existing comment:
Next-door Neighbors
"The nearest house to ours, between the barn and the main road, was the home of a special family. Jack Clark was in charge of the barn, the mules and horses, the equipment and harness, and rarely worked in the field... For me and the other boys... he seemed to be in charge of everything.
"His wife Rachel was also special... There was something about her character and demeanor that set her apart... Her skill as field worker, hoeing, picking cotton, or shaking peanuts was legend... Rachel was the one who took me fishing... and taught me... the names of trees and wildflowers, the habits of animals, how to avoid getting lost in the woods and swamps...
"Whenever both my mother and father were away from home, I stayed with Jack and Rachel. Perhaps because of this, I felt at ease in the homes of the other black families in the neighborhood. My childhood was really theirs." -- Jimmy Carter, 1999.
The Clark home originally sat in the curve of the highway to your right. Road work in the 1960's moved the house here. Just up the road was the whistle-stop community of Archery, consisting mostly of African-American families. Some of the people who lived there were employed by Earl Carter to work on his farm. |