Birchdale Camp Opening Celebration
A consortium of private and public entities celebrated the opening of Birchdale Camp in Grafton, Vermont on August 28, 2021. Alec and Sally Turner built Birchdale Camp around 1910 according to Turner Family lore. Alec escaped enslavement in Virginia during the Civil War and settled in Grafton as a hill farmer in 1873. Birchdale Camp was part of Journey’s End, the Turner Family Homestead.
The Windham Foundation organized this celebration in collaboration with the Turner Hill Interpretative Center, the Grafton Historical Society, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, and Vermont Partnership for Fairness & Diversity. Birchdale Camp is the last standing structure at Journey's End, as storyteller Daisy Turner named the Turner family homestead, a featured stop on Vermont's African American Heritage Trail. The Windham Foundation is the steward for the site.
“While many African American historic sites in the nation focus on the horrors of slavery and the indignities suffered by the enslaved or freedom seekers, the Turner Family Homestead elevates the story of Alec’s forward looking vision for his family and his grit to make Journey’s End a reality. His story should ignite in all of us a reimagining of what’s possible for all Vermonters,” notes Curtiss Reed, Jr., founder of the Vermont African American Heritage Trail.
Remarks were offered by Elizabeth Bankowski of the Windham Foundation; Jane Beck, Author of Daisy Turner's Kin; Ben Doyle and Eric Gilbertson of the Preservation Trust of Vermont; Patrick Cooperman and Patsy Ellis of the Turner Interpretative Center; and Curtiss Reed, Jr. of Vermont Partnership for Fairness & Diversity and founder of the Vermont African American Heritage Trail.
Samirah Evans performed musical selections at the Birchdale Camp and François Clemmons sang songs inspired by Alec Turner in the village when attendees return.