The Long and Winding Road of Waxahachie

As of April 2021, we've been in the research phase for a documentary project. Recently we visited Waxahachie, a historically rich and under-examined town in North Texas. This morning we went to Prince Hall Fraternal Cemetery and studied the graves of the city's black residents. Dating as far back as the early 1800s, these grave markers revealed not just the obvious status difference between these residents and their white counterparts, but the abundant cultural and economic impact made by the black community. In a town known for being the nation’s largest cotton-producing county during the early 1900s, the interior life and dreams of those living on the East side of town has been largely undocumented. We met with several of the town's historians who shared stories with us of a thriving district now referred to as a "Black Wall Street." They shared the wealth and influence of black business owners in the area and the role they played in uplifting their race nation-wide. They shared photos and memories of the generational dedication to this land with all its buried creeks and stories.