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THE FREE HILLS COMMUNITY
Clay County TN
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE AREA
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Made by NEW HERITAGE RESEARCH
Community of Free Hill
in Clay County TN
Contributed by: Amy Batton
Free Hill (sometimes called Free Hills) is an African American
community established in the upper Cumberland before the Civil War. It is
located northeast of Celina in a remote section of Clay County near the
Kentucky border. The original inhabitants were the freed slaves of Virginia
Hill, the daughter of a wealthy North Carolina planter. Hill purchased two
thousand acres of isolated and hilly land in what, at that time, was Overton
County. She then freed the slaves, turned the property over to them, and left
the area. Folklore suggests that among the blacks were her mulatto children
Rube, Josh, Betty, and Marie.
Free Hill refers to the surname of the original residents as well as their legal
status. Thus, the community's name distinguished them from the slaves of owners
with the same surname. The community conferred some degree of freedom on its
residents and afforded protection for runaway slaves and black outlaws reaching
the isolated region. The name also described the region's remote and hilly
physical geography, which provided a haven for antebellum runaway slaves and
post-Civil War freedmen.
Free Hill stands as a testament to the resolve of African Americans to retain
their sociocultural distinctiveness and promote self-help in an atmosphere of
segregation and discrimination. During its heyday, Free Hill contained two
grocery stores, three clubs, two eateries, two churches, a school, skilled
artisans, and three hundred residents. Although a small, close-knit contingent
remains in the black settlement, the community has declined since the 1960s. A
substantial number of residents deserted farming and moved to more prosperous
areas for economic gain. In September 1993 the State of Tennessee placed a
historic marker on Highway 53 identifying the entrance to this African American
community and commemorating its uniqueness. Free Hill's historic Rosenwald
school was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Folklorists also have conducted several research projects at Free Hill,
documenting the community's significant place within the folk life of the Upper
Cumberland.
Wali R. Kharif, Tennessee Technological University
Courtesy of Carroll Van West.
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AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE SITE.
The Rosenwald School of the Free Hills community in Clay County, Tennessee
was but one of 354 Rosenwald schools
built, with only about 30 still
standing. In the year 2000 the National Trust placed these schools on its list
of 11 Most
Endangered Historic Places.
The Rosenwald Fund (also known as the Julius Rosenwald Fund)
was established in 1917 by
Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind."
A Rosenwald School was the name informally applied to
over five thousand schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the
United States which were built primarily for the education of
African Americans in the early twentieth century. The name
originated with Julius Rosenwald, an American clothier who
became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company,
and founder of The Rosenwald Fund, through which many of the
schools and other philanthropic causes were funded. A
requirement of grants for local matching funds resulted in
community efforts which raised millions of dollars.
Learn more
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