FERRISBURGH — Rokeby Museum will open for its 2017 season onSunday, May 21. Rokeby is a 90-acre National Historic Landmark designated for its exceptional underground railroad history. It will be open daily from 10 to 5 throughOctober 29.
As part of opening day, the museum will present a special program at 3 p.m.Rokeby neighbors the Clemmons family own the the newest stop on Vermont’s African American Heritage Trail. They have owned a 148-acre farm since the 1960s. Now they are transforming their home with its fields, forests, and six historic buildings into a center for African and African American art, heritage, and culture.
Dr. Jack Clemmons joined the faculty at the University of Vermont Medical School in 1962, and his wife Lydia worked as a nurse anesthetist and later sold African art from a shop at their home. Their five children grew up in Charlotte, attended local schools, and many live in the area today. Daughter Lydia Clemmons, who worked in Africa for many years, has returned home and is spearheading the new effort.
The family’s plans include expanding the current organic hay and wheat farming to add new forage, grain, and produce to support an African heritage farm-to-table initiative. The woodlands, fields, and historic buildings will offer a venue for performances, retreats, meetings, and events. Artists, scholars, farmers, and community members will come to celebrate, learn, share, build skills, commune, and create within the context of African American heritage and multiculturalism, the arts, and agriculture.
$2 program only. Free with museum admission.