Last spring, my parents and I took a trip down south to Franklin, Tennessee. We originally went for a dedication ceremony for my Great-Grandfather, but we were met with much more than just that. When we met family that had also traveled to Tennessee for the dedication, we all learned about my great-grandfather’s mother, who was a slave for the wealthy McGavock Family, who lived on the Carnton plantation. She was a nanny for the McGavocks’ children, and after she gained her freedom, she began to work for other citizens of Franklin as a nanny. She later got married and gave birth to my great-grandfather, who stayed in Franklin until my grandfather was born. My grandfather later moved to Chicago after college, where he met my grandmother, and they moved to Massachusetts, where my mother and her siblings grew up. After college, my mom came back to Chicago and met my father through a mutual friend, and they got married and had me. The circle was finally completed in the spring of 2017, when we traveled to Franklin and learned all of this from various family members, and we now know more about our family’s extremely rich history. 

– Zahra

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more