Family Roots and Freedom Colonies

While a student at Prairie View A&M in the 1940s, Larutha began research on this family story. Her father, A.T. Odom, spearheaded the effort to obtain a historical marker for the community. The marker was awarded in 1973 and tells the story of Jim and Winnie Shankle.“That is when I first thought this is more than just family stories,” Clay says. “It fits into a larger view of what history is about.”

Thrust into Preservation

Upon graduation from the University of Texas, Clay went to work for Southwestern Bell. Transferred to Orlando, Florida, in the 1980s, she became a member of the city’s preservation board; here, Clay’s love of history would be employed on a larger scale, and she’d become involved in historic preservation.

As part of her board duties, Clay attended the National Trust Conference. She realized there were careers in preservation, and she met people interested in preserving both the natural and the built environments. Clay knew Shankleville had historic fabric; now she began thinking about how she could preserve this community and tell its story. That conference prompted Clay to work on obtaining a National Register designation for the Odom Family Homestead; that designation was eventually awarded in 2012.

Additionally, Clay gained firsthand knowledge of historic preservation as a volunteer at the ZORA Festival in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville is considered the first African American city in the U.S. and was the home of author Zora Neale Hurston. The annual arts and humanities festival was developed to save Eatonville from being wiped off the map by development. Being part of the festival was a turning point for Clay. She began thinking about having a festival in Shankleville that would entertain, educate and make an economic impact in the region.

Returning to Texas

Clay returned to Texas in 1995 with the goal of being appointed to the Texas Historical Commission so she could continue to learn about historical preservation through connections she’d make. Achieving that goal in 2001, Clay traveled the state visiting communities where heritage tourism is a recognized part of the economy. Many places were off the beaten path, like Shankleville, which only fed her desire to bring people there.

The Purple Hull Pea Festival: Sharing the Knowledge

In 2005, Thad Sitton and James H. Conrad authored Freedom Colonies: Independent Black Texans in the Time of Jim Crow and coined the phrase “freedom colonies.” After reading the book she realized that there was a name for the community she grew up with: a freedom colony. Clay describes a freedom colony as, “a settlement or a town, but basically a place where African Americans owned their land, had a church, school and cemetery. It doesn’t have to be on the map, just a collective belief that it exists. The communities know what the boundaries are, but they can change.”

That set in motion plans for developing the Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival and the Aya Symposium. The name of the festival comes from the purple hull peas grown all over East Texas. It’s also a tribute to Clay’s fond memories of planting, picking and shelling peas with her grandparents.

The first festival and symposium were held in 2014 in Shankleville at the historic Addie L. and A.T. Odom Homestead. Clay’s mother and siblings plus local volunteers were on hand to help.