Mattox Family Home at Its Original Site, Richmond Hill, Georgia, circa 1935

THF123292 / Mattox Family Home at Its Original Site, Richmond Hill, Georgia, circa 1935
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Artifact Overview

Henry Ford brought this house to Greenfield Village in 1943, one of a group of buildings to represent African Americans' progress from bondage through emancipation to world recognition. Later research revealed that this home belonged to the Mattoxes, a land-owning African-American family--not a white plantation overseer, as Ford had believed. Current interpretation presents Mattox family life from the 1930s.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

circa 1935

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Object ID

EI.1929.2474

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 4 in
Width: 5.25 in

Inscriptions

verso, stamped: 1 2
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    Mattox Family Home

    Amos and Grace Mattox -- descended from enslaved African Americans -- raised their two children in this rural Georgia farmhouse during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Amos farmed, cut hair, made shoes, and preached at the local church, while Grace sewed, canned, cooked, and helped needy neighbors. Although life was hard, the family proudly affirmed that there was "always enough."
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