Biography
When Dr. Jackson and Lydia Clemmons moved to Vermont to take jobs at Mary Fletcher Hospital and UVM (now UVM Medical Center), they opted to purchase, restore, and work a historic farm in Charlotte, Vermont. They raised their children on the farm and served in multiple leadership and civic roles in their community.
In 2017 only 0.4% of farms in the United States were black owned. Only 17 of 7,000 farms in Vermont are black owned. Clemmons Family Farm represents this small percentage and witnesses to the 93% loss of black-owned land to racism and discrimination throughout the course of the 20th century.
In 2015 the family started an organization that will gradually take over operation of the farm, both as black equity in the agricultural sector but also as a center for celebrating and supporting the African and African-American American diaspora through education, program, and exhibits.
Clemmons Family Farm programs will include: Tours of the Historic Farm; educational talks and demonstrations; cooking classes and pop-up meals; music, dance, and theater performances; art exhibits and cultural events; book talks and literary arts events; holistic health and healing events; on-Farm K-12 field trips and in-classroom programs; and family story-telling that spans 150 years of African-American history.