CLEMMONS FAMILY FARM
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A Living Legacy: Jack and Lydia Clemmons

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The Clemmons Family Farm honors the extraordinary lives of Jackson and Lydia Clemmons, who have owned the farm, located in Charlotte, Vermont, since 1962. ​ We actively promote the celebration of heritage as a continuum in which we learn from our past, shape our present, and invest in our future. ​

​At 99 years old, Jack and Lydia Clemmons are among the oldest livingAfrican-American Vermonters.
The Farm is in a gradual transition phase from a private family-owned farm to a non-profit organization offering   K-12 ethnic studies and educational enrichment programs, and community-building engagements. Honoring the example of Jack and Lydia's amazing lives and work, we use creative placemaking and the power of African-American and African diaspora people, arts, culture and history to foster a loving and supportive multicultural community in Vermont.

Defying Societal Expectations of Race and Class

Jack and Lydia's decision to buy an old run-down farm in rural Vermont defied the social pressures and expectations of their Black and white communities alike. Many people in the Black community of the 1960's perceived farming and rural life as things to escape- not to embrace.  Most of Jack and Lydia's family, friends and colleagues in the mid-west and rural southern parts of the U.S. believed that the professional couple was making a mistake to move to a small town and live on a farm when they could have lived in a modern home in the city.  They felt that the young doctor and nurse were "going backward" by deliberately choosing a lifestyle that included manual labor, working the earth, driving tractors, canning vegetables and mucking out the stalls of cows, pigs and chickens. They also worried about Jack and Lydia's decision to move to what was then the whitest state in the country. "Vermont? There aren't any Black people in Vermont!", Black friends and family members would exclaim. "And why on earth would you want to buy a big old place like that?"

Meanwhile, the white professional community in Vermont in the 1960's perceived Burlington and its neighboring suburbs, like Shelburne, as "the place to be" for the newcomers. Well-meaning colleagues advised them against investing in a Vermont farm, especially in a little farm town like Charlotte.  "You're from Cleveland! Why go all the way out there? Why would you want to buy an old farm?," ​white colleagues would ask the young couple.  

Between the 1960s and 1990s, passersby driving or walking by the large white farm house with the big red barns on Greenbush Road would often mistake Jack, on his tractor or lawn mower-- or Lydia, kneeling in the rich soils of the farm to weed her vegetable garden-- as the hired help. Curious, they would stop to ask Jack or Lydia if they could speak with the owners to learn more about the Farm. They were speechless when they found out that the humble African American couple in their simple grass-stained clothes were not only the actual owners of the beautiful property, they were also a doctor and a nurse!


Jack and Lydia didn't allow others to define who they were and how they should live. Now in their 90's, they continue to defy societal expectations.  Resisting stereotypes tied to race, class, gender and age-- and not letting considerations of social status and prestige deter you from following your dreams-- are an important part of their living legacy. 
LEARN ABOUT OUR VISION
LEARN ABOUT WHAT WE DO
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Clemmons Family Farm, Inc.
PO Box 546
Charlotte, Vermont 05445
​​Leave us a message at: 765-560-5445
​Contact us at: contact@clemmonsfamilyfarm.org
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© CLEMMONS FAMILY FARM. COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • What We Do
    • Our Programs >
      • Heritage Celebrations >
        • MLK Day 2023!
        • Kwanzaa 2022
        • Juneteenth 2022!
      • K-12 Ethnic Studies >
        • Field Trips
      • Creating Healthy Communities >
        • Beneath Our Skin
        • Cancelling Miss Rona
        • A Sense of Place >
          • A Sense of Place at NEFA-CCX
      • Art >
        • Farm2Art Program >
          • Summer 2016 Farm2Art Program
        • Culinary Heritage & Arts Program
      • Farm
      • Forest
      • Heritage
  • About
    • Our Team
    • About Us >
      • Our Vision
    • Who We Are >
      • Jack and Lydia's Living Legacy
      • How Jack and Lydia Found and Bought the Farm
      • Holding On to Our Legacies
    • When Are We Open?
    • Press Coverage >
      • Other News >
        • 2019 Visitors Survey: Sneak Preview
        • 2018 Updates
        • 2017 Updates
        • 2016 Updates
    • What Our Community is Saying >
      • 2018 Visitor Survey Findings!
      • Feedback from other Vermont communities
    • Subscribe!
  • Artists' Registry
    • Are You Looking for an Artist?
    • Why, Hello there, Artists!
  • Historic Buildings
    • Venue Rentals
    • Stay with Us!
    • Six Historic Buildings
    • The Barn House >
      • The Barn House Legacy
      • Stay with Us!
    • The Big Barn >
      • "Making History, Creating Place" Videos!
      • The Historic Water Cistern
    • The Main House >
      • About the Black Locust Trees
    • The Shop >
      • The Authentica Library
      • Shop Storytelling Videos
  • Please Donate!
    • Subscribe!
  • 2023 Calendar!!