Who We Are.
A RARE GEM FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE AND FOR THE STATE OF VERMONT
Clemmons Family Farm, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded and led by African American women. We own and steward the historic Clemmons Farm- which was one of the rare African-American-owned farms in the state of Vermont- as part of our mission-based work to foster understanding and appreciation of African-American history, art and culture and to build community across differences of race and culture.
According to the 2012 United States agriculture census, of the nearly 7000 farms in Vermont, only 19 farm are African-American-owned or operated. Of the 1.2 million acres of farmland in Vermont, only 3,960 acres (0.33%) are owned or principally operated by African-Americans. Nation-wide, less than half of one percent (0.4%) of farms in the United States are African-American-owned.
Clemmons Family Farm, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded and led by African American women. We own and steward the historic Clemmons Farm- which was one of the rare African-American-owned farms in the state of Vermont- as part of our mission-based work to foster understanding and appreciation of African-American history, art and culture and to build community across differences of race and culture.
According to the 2012 United States agriculture census, of the nearly 7000 farms in Vermont, only 19 farm are African-American-owned or operated. Of the 1.2 million acres of farmland in Vermont, only 3,960 acres (0.33%) are owned or principally operated by African-Americans. Nation-wide, less than half of one percent (0.4%) of farms in the United States are African-American-owned.
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WCAX Television News: June 2016. Eva McKend reporting.
Above: Channel 22 ABC News. February 22, 2018. Amanda Thibault and Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society Stephen Perkins reporting.
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Located in Charlotte near beautiful Lake Champlain, the Clemmons farm was one of the largest African- American-owned historic farms in Vermont. The farm includes 6 historic buildings (circa late 1700s-1800s), a spacious 1990’s residence, and 138 acres of prime farmland and forests, ponds and streams abundant with wildlife.
The Clemmons farm is one of the 22 landmark museums, cultural sites and historic markers on the State of Vermont's African-American Heritage Trail. It was owned by Jackson and Lydia Clemmons from 1962 to 2023, when the nonprofit organization-Clemmons Family Farm, Inc., purchased the farm. The farm has been in a gradual transition phase from a private family-owned farm to being under the stewardship of Clemmons Family Farm. Inc. - a Vermont 501c3 charitable non-profit organization. We actively promote the celebration of heritage and history as a continuum in which we learn from our past, shape our present, and invest in our future.
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We follow the values and traditions set by Jack and Lydia Clemmons when they arrived in the town of Charlotte, Vermont in 1962 and worked to create a just, loving, and enriching community of friends, neighbors and visitors to their farm. Following in their footsteps, we encourage multicultural small group interactions where quality human-to-human connections and positive relationships begin on the Farm and continue off the Farm.
