Interview: Lenwood Johnson
Freedmen’s Town row house circa 1984
By: Amanda Hart
Photo by: Paul Hester
The importance of preserving Freedmen’s Town has been explored over this past year by Free Press Houston in the form of investigative articles and a community-focused documentary that featured longtime resident, Lenwood Johnson. The following is a follow-up interview with Johnson to highlight the current state of affairs in one of Houston’s oldest townships.
What is the current community of Freedmen‘s Town facing right now?
Just like French novelist Alphonse Karr stated in about 1849, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” That being said, that is what is facing the Freedmen’s Town community today. Slavery ended, but it did not end. Starting with Jim Crow (the “separate but equal” doctrine), it just took a new form – economic slavery. The masters, just like during slavery, are deciding the fate of this community.
The decision was made starting in about the 1920’s to remove all Blacks from Freedmen’s Town. That removal is what’s going on today. With only a few relics left, the powers that be (developers that control the city government) are still working to remove the indigenous population. Soon, you will never know that Freedmen’s Town ever existed. You will never know that people came from bondage slavery on plantations and built a self-contained free civil society here.
What is the state of the Victor Street row houses?
The 10 Victor Street row houses are the last remaining city block of shotguns that are left in Freedmen’s Town. They are nearly a 100 years old. These are the typical type of tenements that made up Freedmen’s Town. The City of Houston has done everything they could to remove the row houses as a place for the indigenous population to live. It is part of the continuing plot to get rid of the Blacks from this area.
Right now, there is a group of compromised church ministers agreeing to the city’s idea of removal and relocation of four of the shotgun style houses to another site. Then they will demolish the rest for spare parts (that may be good for cars, but unheard of for buildings). The city has the money to save the building on-site in part due to Freedmen’s Town being on the National Register of Historic Places. But they have chosen to destroy the last freed slave settlements in the country so that developers can make money.
Any news on the repurposing project going on at Bethel Baptist Church?
Bethel Baptist Church was organized in 1891 by a former slave who was one of the founders of Freedmen’s Town, Rev. Jack Yates. The current building was started in 1923 with several later additions.
There was a fire in the then-vacant three-story church in 2024. Although the city had a contractor waiting to bulldoze the church as soon as the fire was put out, residents literally stood in front of the bulldozer to stop the demolition.
Because of the historical significances of the building, the city finally decided to keep the property as a park. There was a request to have a doggie park put on the site that would be gated and only accessible with a gate card by the new homeowners in the area. The city found this to be untenable at the present time. However, as they remove more Black people that may still be in the plans. But, currently, the city is working to turn the site into a park. What kind – that is another question. There are no parks left in the community for bigger children except the small Wiley Park. And it appears that the plans in store for Bethel are not to enrich the lives of the original community but more so for the newly-developed townhome inhabitants.
If people wanted to get involved in the fight to save Freedmen’s Town how would they go about doing that?
With the city using every governmental institution to target the people and places in Freedmen’s Town, we need hands-on help from all professions. The Free Man’s Neighborhood Association has been working since about 1983 to try to save the neighborhood. However, this low-income community lacks many of the skills that are needed to be effective. Further, the concerned residents are older and need additional hands and legs.
If anyone would like to get involved – please come by, call, or email our office at:
Free Man’s Neighborhood Association
1111 Genesee Street
Houston, Texas 77019
Phone: 713-709-3001
Email: apv123@gmail.com
Contact Person: Lenwood E. Johnson
Working together, we can build the structures to preserve part of the American history that helped build this country. We can change this country by eventually getting rid of the corporate control of our electoral politics — as planned by some members of this community.
