AMERICANA
Heartland
Alfred Martin, now 88 and the town’s self-
appointed historian, understands better than
most. Thegrandsonof a slavewho couldneither
readnorwrite, hewasborn inPelhamand, aftera
longabsenceduringwhichhesoughthigheredu-
cation in a SanAntonio junior college andbriefly
at the University of Minnesota (and served as a
member of the flight line crew for the legendary
Tuskegee Airmen in Alabama duringWorldWar
II), ithasbeenhishomesincemovingback in 1969.
Andhehasbeenaneyewitness to itschanging.
Pelham today is far different from that of his
childhood, little more than a faint reminder of
times past. The thriving businesses are gone.
AcrossFarmRoad744, thePelhamSchool isnow
a museum, filled with photographs, genealogy
archivesandartifactsofa timegoneby.Thesound
of children laughing fell silent longago.
When asked for themean age of those who
still reside inPelham,Martin smilesashepictures
his neighbors, a finger pointing in the direction
of each house that remains. “Let’s see,” he says,
“82 … 93 … 85 … 80 … .” Only the elderly, now
pastdaysof tending fieldsandwatching the town
grow, remain.
Hewas, he says, the last in the community to
retireafterhaving farmedasmanyas2,500acres.
Today, his sprawling fields and those owned by
friendsare leasedout toanewgenerationof farm-
ers, who reside in the nearby towns of Corsicana
and Hubbard. There is a degree of irony and a
sign of social progress attached to the fact that
thosewho now till the soil and harvest the crops
arewhite.
There is, in truth, no longer need for the iso-
lation of a Pelham, no cause to shrink from the
outsideworld that hasbecomea richmeltingpot
of races. “It’sadifferentworldaltogether forblack
people,”Martinquickly volunteers. “Now, there’s
opportunityeverywhereone looks.”
And that, he says, pleases him greatly. Still,
onemust have a comforting place to call home.
ForAlfredMartinand thedecliningnumberof his
neighbors, Pelham, Texas, established 146 years
ago, still serves that need. And it will likely con-
tinue to do so until everyone is gone and it, too,
quietlyvanishes intoahistorical footnote.
TIMEWASWHEN
theywere scattered through-
out the post–Civil War South, tiny enclaves far
removed from theurbanbyways, littlemore than
dot-on-the-map remindersofahistorical transfor-
mation thatwasoftenoverlookedbyanationbusi-
lycongratulating itself forhavingset free itsslave
laborers.Thesesmall all-blacksettlements,hidden
downback roads,were thegateway to freedom.
Pelham, Texas, just over anhour’sdrive south
ofglitzyandever-growingDallas,wasoneof those
communities that sprang to lifeback in 1866after
landowners allotted each of their former slaves
200 acres of rich cotton and grain farmland on
which tobeginnew lives.Andwith that land, they
built a community. In time, there were a couple
of churches, a general store, a grocery, a cotton
ginandacafé.As thepopulationsteadilygrew to
an estimated 325 residents, they recognized the
need foreducation,prompting thehiringof teach-
ers and the building of a small two-story frame
structure that housed the elementary students
downstairs and theolder studentsupstairs.
By the early 1900s, Pelham was thriving.
Crops were bountiful, new businesses opened,
and therewas regularmaildeliveryand telephone
service. Residentsworked hard andplayed hard.
The PelhamHigh Panthers basketball team soon
gained a reputation that spread far beyond the
flatlands of the little town that it represented. In
the summers, the local baseball team played in
itsownballparkandproduced such standouts as
shortstopElmerMcMullen,who laterwas a semi-
pro star inCalifornia in thedaysbefore themajor
leagueswelcomedblackathletes into the fold.
And unlike somany of the nation’s all-black
communities that faded tomemory in the 1960s
once amore enlightened nation adhered to the
concept of integration in its schools, workplaces
and businesses, Pelham remains. Today it is one
of thenation’s lastentirelyAfrican-Americancom-
munities.Notbecauseof lingeringangeroverpast
social injustices or any aversion tominglingwith
other races, butbecause for the35 to40whostill
call it home, it remains their heartland.
86
FEBRUARY 01, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
