From The Help to The Great Migration

My Family Tree

I shared the story of my Kittian side, now here is the story on my African American/Black side as far back as I know it.

All African Americans are aware that once slavery “ended” Black people still had to work in homes and with white families to make ends meet. The first picture I attached is of my great great grandmother in Montgomery/Birmingham Alabama as an indentured servant. She had 12 children, the youngest of which was my great-grandmother, Rosebud Jordan, who was born in 1901. The second picture shows the family tree from as far back as we know. It includes my great great grandmother, her husband, and her 12 children and the years they were born. This also give a bit of insight into our Jackson family relations. Prince, is one of my great grandmothers siblings.

Before my great grandmother passed she would tell us stories about her working as a teacher. Her pride wouldnt tell us that she was actually a maid or as society now knows it The Help. Her husband, my great grandfather was a brick layer. He moved up to Detroit, Michigan during the Great Migration with my grandmother, Gladys Motley, and her brother Edward, to find more work laying bricks and train tracks. The final picture I attached is of my grandmother in a black and white picture that was colored in. Much of my family is still in Detroit, but unfortunately with our older relatives passing away and losing their memory, we are losing a lot of contact, but I still hold these stories near and dear to my heart.

My Great Great Grandmother

My Grandmother