Six Acres
Six Acres Bed & Breakfast Cincinnati
“Six Acres Bed and Breakfast is located on six lovely acres in College Hill, just fifteen minutes from Downtown Cincinnati. This bed and breakfast has beautifully landscaped grounds, offering a serene and peaceful stay.” I can’t describe it better than their website does!
I’m writing from Six Acres on the morning after leaving the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly in Columbus Ohio on Sunday. I was sorry to miss the final worship service and other Sunday events.
But I wanted to drive my friend Marilyn to Louisville We picked up my sister Beth in Cincinnati on the way, and got back in time for dinner with Beth’s friends. All was accomplished successfully with the help of GPS. How did we ever manage before?
History of Six Acres
At breakfast this morning I learned the history of Six Acres. Chelli who runs Six Acres with her sister served breakfast and sat with the five guests while we ate.
Chelli of Six Acres shared stories
She told us that the original buildings were from the 1850’s. The owners, the Strong family, were white.
They were reputedly bootleggers but also allies helping slaves on the Underground Railroad. They built a tunnel that allowed the escapees to get to nearby waterways.
In those days there were occasional huge parties on the grounds which at the time were 400 acres. Families in the area would bring their old clothes and shoes, tied in bundles, and food for the “picnic” at the Strong’s.
The event would go on for several hours with music and dancing.
“The woman who related this story was 90,” Chelli said. “She had heard it from her grandmother, one of the children who attended the picnics. As a child she couldn’t understand why they were not allowed to eat the food.”
Chelli continued, “As an adult the grandmother learned the true purpose of the events. They were a cover to allow the slaves to take the bundles and the food, and escape.”
There were houses all along Hamilton Avenue where Six Acres is located that were part of the Underground Railroad, Chelli said.
STEM in Nigeria
Recently I read about Stella Uzochukwu who encourages Nigerian girls’ interest in STEM. I wanted to learn more.
She was happy to answer my questions.
I asked how she attracts girls to the program. She said that she trained in electronics engineering. “I do a lot of career talks. I’m a member of SWE, the Society of Women Engineers. I bring [other] female engineers to the career days. I let them exhibit what they have studied.”
She said this encourages the girls to realize they can also do it. “We tell them how much they can earn and that helps,” she said.
General Assembly
The Unitarian Church in Westport banner. I think I had my finger over part of the camera.
The Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly in Columbus opened on Wednesday evening with the banner parade.
William carried our congregation’s banner in the procession. He was joined by others from congregations around the country. Carrying the banner is an honor we reserve for someone attending for the first time.
I love sitting with others from our congregation. Elaine, who moved away three years ago but doesn’t have a nearby congregation in her new home, graciously comes early and saves seats for us.
Our new – as of almost a year now – senior minister Rev. Dr. John Morehouse was with us most of the time.
Rev. Dr. John Morehouse watching for friends
On Thursday evening we heard from Rev. Bill Sinkford, senior minister at the First Unitarian Church in Portland Oregon. He described listening in 1966, 50 years ago, to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King speak at that year’s GA. He called for us to take up “our religious work” for racial justice.
“We were ready,” he said, as we listened “with tears streaming down our faces.”
But the Unitarian Universalist Association did not follow through. Instead there was discord within the body.
For years, Sinkford and many other black UU’s left the church, disappointed and disheartened.
“We have another chance,” he said. There seems to be a greater awareness of the need for change today than there has been in many years.
Rev. Bill Sinkford, Portland Unitarian Church
He quoted Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me who says we have to shatter the “dream of innocence. There is no actual innocence and there never was.”
I understand this to mean that those of us with privilege need to not only recognize that we have it, but also use it to resist injustice.
Sinkford said, “Resistance is what love looks like in the face of hate.”
Hemet Not So Unknown
I wrote about the town of Hemet, California, where we attended the Iku Aka Na Uzo ceremony – knocking on the door – for our nephew Chidi, two weeks ago. My friend Marilyn follows this blog. She surprised me as we were driving from Columbus to Cincinnati. “I know Hemet!” she said. “I worked there for a year in the 1970’s.”
And this morning I found a comment from my friend and blog reader Nancy who said her son was married in Hemet 11 years ago, “at an old stagecoach stop place turned into a wedding venue. A fun time, interesting area. We spent part of one day touring wine country in Temecula!”
So it’s not completely unknown. It’s just that I didn’t know it!
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