"Free Hill: Renewal and Rememory" a conversation with Xandr Brown

We talk with Xandr Brown, producer of the new exhibit "Free Hill: Renewal and Rememory,"  about the story of Free Hill, a community of free Black residents of Athens, Tennessee that was established before the 1840s and later demolished as part of urban renewal. Families that lived in the Free Hill area were displaced after phases of urban renewal, spearheaded by the City of Athens, which demolished their homes in the 60’s and 70’s to the benefit of Tennessee Wesleyan University. Through video, oral histories, and portraits, the exhibit "explores the relationship between place, personal memory, and identity as a way to challenge collective assumptions about democracy, freedom, and equality." 

The exhibit is hosted by the Athens Area Council for the Arts (AACA) through December 12, 2022. An online multimedia version of the exhibit will be available soon at ruralassembly.org. Sign up for newsletters at www.ruralassembly.org/newsletters for more. 

Xandr Brown is currently a multimedia producer with the Center for Rural Strategies. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Rochester in upstate New York with a BA in History and Communications with a minor in Environmental Humanities. Before reporting for the Daily Yonder she previously reported with hyperlocal newsrooms in Flint, Michigan. While trained as a journalist, she aspires to continue to do community engaged, multimedia exhibits based in the intersection of oral history, ethnography, and documentary.