Thomas Hawkins

Through war, hardship, and rebuilding, Thomas Hawkins raised a legacy that stretched across Georgia and into generations of strength.

Theodore Joseph "Ted" Davenport Sr

Ted was the backbone of a large and thriving family, working hard his entire life to give his children a better future

Charity Cooksey

Jacob (Jack) Davenport

Born enslaved, Jack Davenport endured the horrors of bondage and emerged from emancipation to build a legacy rooted in resilience. From sharecropping fields to quiet gardening in his later years, he carried his family through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and loss—leaving behind a lineage of strength, survival, and silent resistance.

Amanda Goolsby

Born enslaved and buried free, Amanda Wilkerson Davenport outlived slavery, Reconstruction, and the loss of ten children to become the matriarch of a liberated lineage

Bernice Alexander

From Chicago’s South Side to the Michigan State Capitol, she rose from drugstore clerk to civil rights trailblazer—shattering racial barriers, raising twelve children, and becoming the first Equal Employment Opportunity Officer in the state. A true matriarch of justice and resilience.

Chaney Watkins

Chaney Watkins lived across three centuries, a quiet yet enduring presence from Georgia’s farmlands to the bustling streets of Chicago

Dinah Hawkins

Dinah Hawkins was born into bondage in 1861 and rose to become a symbol of resilience and generational strength. From her childhood in the cotton fields of postwar Georgia to her later years as a matriarch in Michigan, Dinah endured the brutality of slavery.