Black Freedom Colonies in McLennan County (1865 – 1895)
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Emancipation brought with it multiple problems for millions of former slaves facing the prospect of trying to make a living in a dynamic economy in which they were penniless and had scarce resources. Fortunately, President Lincoln had the wisdom and foresight to create the Freedmen’s Bureau – a federal agency (that I believe became the nation’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative) instituted by Lincoln to enable four million former slaves to receive the education, trade skills, and resources in order to assimilate them into the mainstream of American society. Without a federal agency laying an educational foundation and plan for how freedmen were to make their living, transitioning them was doomed to failure. Most shockingly within 40 days following the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Hence, the transition to freedom hit a pause button and the well-thought-out plans of President Lincoln had little chance of being implemented. Clearly the domain of freedom that Lincoln had intended for uplifting four millions former slaves was stalled and his plans transferred into the hands of God and His alliance of Black churches.
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About the Book
Eleven African American settlements consisting of a church, school, and cemetery in McLennan County, Texas, continued the work begun originally by the Freedmen’s Bureau that would enable thousands of ex-slaves in Texas to adapt to freedom.
About the Author
Mr. Perkins retired after 33 years of federal service in support of CIA, DIA and NGA intelligence agencies.* While residing in Virginia, he was ordained on 1 April 1979 as a deacon at First Mount Zion Baptist Church (Dumfries, VA). At this church, he served several prominent roles as founding director of several FMZ ministries and entities, to include: Founder of the Zone Fellowship Ministry (28 years) Volunteering one week each Summer to teach Vacation Bible School (30 years) Founder of the Christian Co-Ed Volleyball League (CCVL) (25 years) Director of the Free Spirit Gospel Band (27 years) Baptist Training Union Director for 17 years As a self-trained, gifted musician, his roots sprang from a small rural community of Chalk Bluff (later known as Elm Mott, TX) where he was born in 1946. Following graduation in 1965 from G. W. Carver High School in Waco, Perkins married the love of his life, Rose Mary Clayton, a Gholson native, in 1968. While in high school, his band director, Robert E. Lee, Jr. mentored and trained him to compose band music for halftime performances. At the University of Texas at Austin, he became the first African American band member of the “Show Band of the Southwest” and financed his education by playing weekends with local Austin bands. He later earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1971. He was a six-year veteran with the Waco Airborne Army National Guard and later ended with the Washington, D.C., Army National Guard, rising from the enlistment rank of private, graduating from Officer Candidate School, and concluded his six years with the rank of Second Lieutenant. After being recruited by CIA in 1972, as a DEI hire in mathematics, he arose through the ranks to reach the position of Senior Intelligence Analysts (GG-15), within six years of retirement (33 years). Perkins obtained numerous awards as a founder of a new international Intelligence organization and as a prolific writer of classified Intelligence reports and daily briefs for key decision makers in government. Following his retirement from federal service in 2004, he taught math, science, and band for two years at a private parochial school (Calvary Christian School) in Dumfries, Virginia. Later on in 2007, he and Rosemary relocated back to her hometown of Gholson, TX, for the first phase of his post-retirement. He obtained highly qualified Texas teaching certificates in both Elementary and High School Mathematics during a year-long course at McLennan County Community College in Waco, Texas. Perkins then began his teaching career at Connally ISD and La Vega ISD high schools. Since neither school allowed him an opportunity to teach band, he accepted a position at Aquilla ISD in 2008 and served as both high School math teacher and director of that school’s first marching band program. In 2013, Dr. David Edison, Aquilla ISD Superintendent permitted him to split his time teaching at Aquilla ISD while concurrently partnering with Rosemary in the first-of-its-kind music and math business innovation in America. The business location was in Woodway, Texas, and dubbed Music & Math Masters Studio. In 2018, he retired from his second phase of post-retirement from Aquilla ISD and his small music and math business to work as an independent contractor tutoring part time in mathematics at Brook Avenue Elementary School (Waco ISD) until April 2020 when the once-in-a-century Covid-19 pandemic abruptly upended his teaching and music careers. In 2021, Perkins filled the Secretary vacancy with the then 98-year old McLennan County Historical Commission (MCHC). This Commission had been founded by 80 distinguished charter historians in 1824 to preserve, protect, and promote significant cultural and historical events germane to McLennan County. He also was elected President of the Zion Hill Memorial Cemetery Club in 2021, in order to help maintain the community cemetery affiliated with his home church. This year, Perkins published his first book on African American history as he enters 46 years of continuous service as a Baptist deacon (while in Virginia and Texas). He is currently an active deacon and trustee at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Gholson (one of the original Elite 11 Black Freedom Colonies). Among his duties, he enjoys teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir, playing musical instruments and drawing portraits. Nearing 57 years of marriage, he and Rosemary reside in Gholson, Texas and have an only son (Chuck) and two granddaughters (Eden and Hannah) who live in Virginia, and one grandson (Michael) serving duty with the U.S Army in North Carolina. Email: musicandmathmasters@gmail.com Acronyms: CIA: Central Intelligence Agency DIA: Defense Intelligence Agency NGA: National Geospatial Intelligence Agency