The John Dabney Collector's Edition

John Dabney was a giant of 19th-century Richmond high society. He was a fixture of sophisticated gatherings, a connoisseur of the era’s delicacies (terrapin stew, canvasback duck, "hail-storm" mint juleps), and a family man who with his wife raised five children — among them, schoolteachers, a professional baseball player, and a musician-turned-newspaper editor.  He was much admired; each of Richmond’s four daily papers noted his passing in 1900. Yet the man who had met the Prince of Wales and knew how to craft what the papers called "immortal foods" was also defined by what prevented him from doing even more. Dabney, an African American, spent his first 41 years enslaved.

(an excerpt from co-directors of the film The Hail-Storm: John Dabney in Virginia, Hannah Ayers and Lance Warren) 

Read his full story here.

40% of box proceeds will go to the non-profit Heirs’ Rights Projects in the state of Georgia and Mississippi.

Many former slaves purchased land or were given land within one generation after the end of slavery. As a result, many of these purchases were handed down from generation to generation under the guise of heirs’ rights. Little did anyone know at the time, that without a will, property would be divided by each individual heir; fractioning portions down to minuscule plots.

Many relatives who may have no real connection to the property except maybe stories or an annual family reunion may be approached by a developer to sell their portion (typically well below market value) not realizing the impact to the entire family’s hold of the entirety of the homestead.

Many black families have lost their homes due to loopholes and lack of legal guidance. That is why in most states, organizations like Mississippi Center for Justice have formed specific programs to help families know their rights and what to do if and when approached to sell.