Nedra and Bill visit the Hometown of President Jimmy Carter

*******************
Last edit 2019-05-01 .
Note: As mentioned in the banner, this area of Southern Matters is private; if you are not a family member, friend, or invited guest, please enjoy the public areas of Southern Matters or exit. Thank you for following our Honor System. This file may contain copyrighted material; the authority to grant permission for its use does not rest with us. Otherwise--for our original material--the following citation format is suggested: "Southern Matters, accessed yyyy/mm/dd."

On July 25, 2018, Nedra and Bill visited Plains again. It was a planned respite from the combative post-truth era in U.S. politics. The images are separated into two parts, viz., downtown Plains and the farm that President Carter grew up on. The narrative is provided by historical markers.

The marker (left) reads: "From this depot in 1975, James Earl Carter, Jr. launched a two-year campaign for the presidency of the United States. At first, an unknown referred to as "Jimmy Who," Carter was inaugurated America's 39^th president on January 20, 1977.

"James Earl Carter, Jr. was born October 1, 1924, in Plains. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and married Rosalynn Smith in 1946. After seven more years of naval service he returned to run the family agribusiness. In 1962, Jimmy Carter was elected to the Georgia Senate and in 1970 became Governor. As governor, he reorganized state government, reformed the budgetary process, improved race relationships, health care, education and environmental quality. Notable achievements of his presidency (1997-1981) were based on the values he considered most important "...human rights, justice and peace." Successes included the resolution of the Panama Canal issue, signing the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, the Camp David accords and peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, normalizing relations with China and reorganization of the federal government. This Depot and surrounding historic district symbolizes the culture of this small rural community which produced a highly respected international leader."

The depot is the image on the right, above.

City monument (upper left) and street scene (upper right). The shops provided an opportunity to purchase mementos for the grandchildren (presumably authentic campaign buttons for Christine and Kate, and a broken Pre-American projectile point, presumably from Sumter or surrounding counties, for Harrison). It was also fun to mail each a postcard stamped at the Plains post office.

Jimmy Carter, then 12, kicks a football at the homeplace. Later, he wrote (Why not the best? 1975), "In the early years of my life on the farm . . . we always had enough to eat . . . but no money to waste. We felt close to nature, close to the members of our family, and close to God." Elsewhere, it is indicated that Jimmy's mother encouraged reading and often meals were very quiet, each child with a book.

The top inset showing black children signifies that most of Carter's childhood friends were African-American. I (Bill) remember reading Carter's poignant account of the epiphany when Carter and his friends realized that in that time and place, their friendship was not an equal one. An hour before Daylight, 4.6/5 stars (344 reviews) on Amazon, and I wish were on a must-read list for our children, their children, their children, . . . .

The second inset honors Bishop Dexter Johnson, AME, who started an industrial school nearby, giving African -American youth a means to an education. I reflected for some minutes, recalling Booker T. Washington's description of black impoverishmnet when Washington arrived in Tuskegee. (Up from Slavery, 4.7 stars (1022 reviews) on Amazon). These thoughts, through some tangential means, led to a meaningful reminescence of my warm friendship with the late James Henderson. Do read the tribute to Jim, though it doesn't mention the terrific muscadine wine that Jim made.

"Our lives then were centered almost completely around our own family and our own home." Jimmy Carter 1975, Why not the Best?

"This is the homeplace--"hot in the summer and cold in the winter" of a Georgia farmboy who would someday sleep in the White House. Here young Jimmy Carter ran, dodging dogs, chickens, geese, and guinea fowl. The yard was swept white sand, weeded to keep snakes and bugs away from the house. . . . A chinaberry tree near the house held a tree house where Jimmy played.upper left. . . ."

The inset shows Jimmy Carter (upper left) with siblings and friends. The lady is Annie Mae Hollings, who often kept the Carter children. (Jimmy's father, Earl, was a farmer/businessman and Jimmy's mother, Lillian, was a nurse.)

Always a Reckoning, a poem by Jimmy Carter (1995). Jimmy often heard his father use this phrase to intimate that on a farm, everything had to pay its own way. The expression made a permanent impression on Mr. Carter.

"I had a pony then that lacked a way to work and pay her way except that every year or two Lady had a colt we sold, but still for less than what was due to buy the fodder, hay, and corn she ate at times she couldn't be on pasture.

"Neither feed nor colts meant all that much that I could see but still there was a thing about a creature staying on our place that none of us could eat or plow, did not give eggs, or even chase a fox or rabbit, that was sure to rile my father.

"We all knew that Lady's giving me a ride paid some on her debt, in lieu of other ways--but there would be some times I didn't get around to riding in my off-hours. And I was sure, when Daddy frowned at some mistake I might've made, he would be asking when he could, "How long since you rode Lady?"".

Miss Lillian's wood-burning Home Comfort stove (upper left) appealed to me as this brand was the last my grandmother Outlaw owned before she was murdered. I have the l-o-n-g manual.

Refreshed and satiated (upper right), I am ready to go home.

Return to Documentation for this page.
Return to Image Workshop home.
Return to Southern Matters home.