Why do we remember the past? Why do we care about the Past?

We remember the past because those who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it. George Santayana (philosopher 1863-1952).

We care about the past because sometimes the past is never the past. The people may
have changed but the social circumstances and conditions remain the same. We care
about the past which was once the prest because it affected our lives, our neighbors,
and our community.

On July 8, 2001, at home in Pine Bluff, I interviewed my mother about some of the
 events she remembered, growing up in rural Lincoln County, Arkansas.

The Big Tornado of 1926
I remember the Big Tornado of 1926. It was Thanksgiving Day. Grand mama Bluford
had me and Sister (Margaret) in the buggy. We went to Marzell Church. No one else
showed up. Just as we made it back home, the tornado hit. Alberta Banks' sister, Lovie
Banks was killed by the storm. The next morning, we heard that Mr. Otto Hall's daddy
was killed in the storm. He went to let the window down in his home and was blown
into the lake.

The Mississippi River Flood of 1927
I remember the Great Flood of 1927. I was eleven years old. We were living on the Diggs
Place, next to the Johnson Place (maternal grandfather's farm). Everyday, we had fish to
eat. There was a slue. We caught big grinners. Daddy stayed up all night, going in and
out, watching the rising water. We didn't have to move.

Murder at Grady
When I asked Mom: What is the worst thing you remember, growing up? Do you
remember a lynching? She recounted this event:
There was no lynching but the most shocking thing that happened at Grady was when
Sister and I were going to Grady School. Mr. Joe Gocio ( white landowner and merchant)
hired  some black men to kill Mr. Queeny (a black man) but they ended up killing the
wrong man (another black man, Mr. Willie McClinton) at Mr. Queeny's house. We saw
the dead body on the porch on our way to school. He was shot. This happened in the
1930s' but before 1935.

Mr. Willie McClinton's son and grandchildren, Dollie McClinton and Tommie
McClinton lived on the Gocio Place, off from Tamo. I don't know the outcome-
what happened to the murderers. They were called Mr. Gocio's Niggers.

The story illustrates how a powerful man could recruit or intimidate less
powerful men to kill another human being. There may have been other events of
this kind that happened in Lincoln County.  Similiar stories have surfaced.