Lettie's Story

We're All Human, No Matter The Hue, Man

Nov 10, 2024

Author’s Note:

I’ll ask my readers and listeners to forgive me for not publishing during the heat of the election frenzy. The results of this week left me with little recourse but to retreat into my own somewhat depleted store of resilience. More than once, I had to catch myself before descending into near-panic. But over…..what?

….Ghosts ? Primal fears? The media-induced goo of misinformation thickly spread over our public discourse…..?

Whatever had me temporarily frozen, eventually thawed. I’m able to write today because the ones who brought me here were blessed with knowledge of the antidote to the virus of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

One hundred and twenty-eight years ago this month, Lettie Thompson, my maternal grandmother, was born in Monroe Co. in Southeastern Iowa. The ‘big town’ in the area was Albia but it was the coal mines of Buxton where Lettie’s family lived and worked from 1895 until 1922. It was there that African-American and European-American miners worked together in the danger and the darkness of the mines. It was there where a multi-racial workforce understood that respect and support for each other was essential if they were going to survive the chaos of hatred and ignorance so prevalent in the country in the post-Civil War Jim Crow days.

Faced with the 2024’s updated, rebranded form (think: James Crow Esq.) I went back into my archives to bring you a 1978 interview with Grandmother Lettie at her home in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

As I was editing, my own personal anxiety was alleviated somewhat by the knowledge that my ancestors survived and thrived without hating, without cheating and without the need to denigrate others to make themselves feel superior. The respect with which the workers of Buxton honored each other was a God-given thing. The acknowledgement of a shared humanity and destiny was something that workers needed (and still need) to survive. It created the foundation which succeeding generations benefit from today. Simply stated it was the realization that…..:

“We’re all human, no matter the hue, man”

Lettie Porter Thompson born Nov. 1896 to Ross and Blanche Johnson was the daughter of a Buxton coal miner. The family lived through a fraught time in American history. Post Civil War America was a stark challenge for newly emancipated Black workers born in the old Confederacy.

Grandmother Lettie Thompson born November 1896 Monroe County, Iowa

Buxton, a company coal town owned by Consolidation Coal of Chicago did things differently and after an initial period of Union strife, the place evolved into a community where workers, regardless of ethnicity, supported each other in an integrated, highly productive society most black workers described as a Utopia.

I, of course, witnessed none of that being born in 1949 but the stories and most importantly, the ethic espoused by Black and White friends of the family etched the idea of interracial harmony and cooperation deep within our young memories.

(If you need to go back to the beginning of My Integrated Life, please see my original writing here. )

In 1978, I brought a cassette player with me to record some of Lettie’s stories and memories. It was important for me to hear directly from a woman who quietly, but steadfastly worked to provide stability and opportunity for her three daughters Lenora, Adele and Mary Alice.

The story of Buxton has slipped in and out of Iowa Black (and White) history over the decades and thanks to the efforts of Puppeteer Monica Leo and Author Rachelle Chase the story is rightfully gaining additional prominence.

Rachelle is a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative and the author of two books on the subject of Buxton, Ia. She devoted years to doing a proper study on the town, its fascinating history and a further glimpse into how the place achieved prominence in the history of Iowa and race relations.

Monica Leo, a longtime friend and collaborator, began the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre in the 1970’s in West Liberty Iowa. Her connection to the world of marionettes, puppets and storytelling are deeply embedded in her German ancestry. The Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater works regularly with public school students bringing interactive arts and historically important stories to students across Iowa.

Three years ago, Monica teamed up with Rachelle to write and produce “Remembering Buxton” as an interactive puppet show giving Iowa students and community members an opportunity to have fun working as a creative team.

Monica contacted Yours truly about providing music and sound efx for the puppet show, giving me a reason to dig back into Grandmother Lettie’s life and times to create “Buxton ambience” in the form of songs and sound effects.

Monica and I first worked together as members of the Iowa Arts Council Touring-Artists-Team in the 1970’s. Visiting towns no larger than 1500 residents, we brought music, art, storytelling, dance, and…puppets to lots of rural folks looking to have fun.

Building “Remembering Buxton” gave Monica and I a great opportunity to rekindle a great friendship and tell a wonderful story to kids of all ages. Performing it with students and community members from Des Moines to Muscatine to Oskaloosa, to Creston has been a joy and a blessing to this old teaching artist.

“Hard work and plenty of it” The Thompson sisters Lettie seated front, Anzul upper left and 1930’s State Debating champion, Katherine upper right

I’ll wind up this section of the story by saying I’m not so clueless as to believe things will be OK soon. Apparently, Iowa and much of the rest of the nation has indicated it’s desire to extend our malignant status quo, at least for the next four years. Only by recognizing and nurturing the things that we share can we traverse this passage with our nation and our humanity intact.
I’m thankful that my personal default position is faith, humanity, empathy, truth and the ability to put in “hard work and plenty of it”

Forever Thanks to Lettie. Even now her inspiration shines bright.

Rachelle Chase has written several fine accounts of Buxton Life. A true Iowa treasure and a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative

Click the pic above to go the the podcast featuring Lettie Thompson in her own words.

And check out a short version of the Buxton Song I wrote for the puppet show:

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Please don’t hesitate to contact the author with inquiries about his work as a composer, sound designer and writer. soundranger@icloud.com

Lettie's Story

We're All Human, No Matter The Hue, Man

“We’re all human, no matter the hue, man”

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