Visual Waters of Mineral Springs
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Visual Waters of Mineral Springs embarks on building a photographic archive of Mineral Springs, North Carolina, spotlighting Western Union Park, a historical southern Black rural community. With light, the work aims to retain the land and culture with a focus on the rural Black realm.
Chapter 1: Mr. Richard Allen Coffey
Shares the story of Mr. Richard Allen Coffey spotlighting how he reclaimed his “40 acres and a mule” in the historical southern Black rural community of Western Union Park.
I had the honor and pleasure of being one of the 30 recipients for the FUJIFILM’s Students of Storytelling program. The program “was designed to celebrate the very best young image-making talent in the US by inviting students to tell their stories to the world.” This excerpt of my BFA thesis bloomed from this fruitful experience.
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Mr. Richard Allen Coffey
Here stands Mr. Richard Allen Coffey. Mr. Coffey was born February 29, 1936. He grew up in Waxhaw, NC close to the South Carolina border. His family moved from their home in Waxhaw to the Mineral Springs, NC Western Union Park community. He built a legacy of reclaiming land and giving jobs to Black families. I am honored and proud to say Mr. Coffey is my Granddaddy. I admire this man not just because he is my Granddaddy but because his life embodies Billie Holiday’s song "God Bless the Child". Granddaddy “…got his own.” Western Union Park community has always been his home. He lives in the community and walking distance from me.
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At the age of 84, Granddaddy still wakes up in the morning to do a good day’s work. His work ethic and dedication are principles that I strive to mimic in my life and art practice. Granddaddy John Deere construction machine has been an important tool for building his legacy.
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Know How Hand
All praise goes to a person who knows where they stand and holds themselves accountable for their own dreams. Mr. Richard Allen Coffey deserves such praise and more. He had goals and dreams and knew he had to put in the time and work to achieve what he wanted. Taking a hold on to life is one of his great lessons. Once you take hold of your life you should never stop learning from it. As you spend your life learning, observing, and using the skills you have acquired then one gains know-how hands. Granddaddy is a master of his craft. With his hands he built a construction company, invested in real estate and established a legacy. His life reveals to me not just his efficiency and knowledge with the equipment of the industry more so the process of entrepreneurship despite adversity.
I pray my life honors his Know How Hands.
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A Day’s Work
Doing good work is written into Mr. Richard Allen Coffey spirit. A workday for him begins before the sun greets night and does not end after he clocked out. For his preparation was important to sustain his business, machines, and self. This morning he is clearing trees and roots from one of his lots of land that he acquired.
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all for y’all
Question: Is your life’s work about building a legacy?
“...building so y’all can have a better start.”
Labor of Onement
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey is clearing this lot of land that he acquired. His work is helping with the remodeling of one of the homes that he built in Western Union Park. One of his grandchildren is getting ready to make this house their home.
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Slash & Burn
it is the past that sew the seam
sown for callused palm
soiled labor of gold
the future may need to grow from the field fire of…
here after
sooted lands
are you familiar with the benefits?
The Process
I asked Mr. Richard Allen Coffey, my Granddaddy, what was his passion? What did he want to do?
“Well back then you did what you got to do. You couldn’t pick and choose like you do now. You did what you got to do. If you got a job. You kept it as long as you could because people change jobs or maybe they put you off. So. That’s the way that was. Mmm.
You’ll always have work as long as you work yourself. You see, I lived by myself, ain’t no body help me or give me nothing.”
He did what he had to do and made his own.
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by his own
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey, my Granddaddy, worked for others so he could work for himself. At the age of 18 he left his family home in the Waxhaw, NC region to go live and work in Charlotte, NC. He did public work like his Father but focused on pouring and finishing concrete. He kept to the job and he did it well. He would do a job better than his peers, white colleagues, and sometimes the boss. Still he noticed cuts in his checks. Granddaddy has keen observational skills and is a quick learner. He learned the trade because he was determined to be his own boss. He built his business in the 60’s, R. A. Coffey Construction. I ask Granddaddy “Why did you start your own business?” He looked at me dead in my face and simply said “To make money.”
R. A Coffey Construction evolved into R. A. Coffey & Sons Construction Co., Inc. and became a family business. His sons helped expand the business by incorporating regional and national truck driving. Their businesses and livelihood are extensions of what Granddaddy established.
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Fire Next Time
breathe
seek the fire
to understand
where your life lies
from the ashes
we were delivered
from the dust
to construct our kingdoms
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After a good days of work. Mr. Richard Allen Coffey oversees what he has accomplished... in silence.
He saw that it was good.
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Mr. Richard Allen Coffey’s Work Truck
“We done working today Granddaddy?”
“No I got to go over yonder and level out the ground some more. I’ll get on the tractor and do some more work.”
“Yes sir, I am all for it!” Granddaddy walked to his work truck. Each step graced by intention and a vision. You can’t distract him or slow him down. All one can do is keep up or get left behind. I’m allergic to dust so you know I am right there with him eager to learn from his strides.
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As I Am
“I’m a person a very few words. I never did like to talk.
Gone do whatchu about to do and go about yah business. One thing my Grandma told me was ‘to never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. Go-on by yourself.’ That what you doin. You stay out of trouble like dat.” -Mr. Richard Allen Coffey
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after fire
what comes from
have not
growth… i hope
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A Man Built From His Own Work Efforts
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“I ain’t never seen no hard times. All I see you work with what you got. When I was coming we had plenty to eat, had somewhere to stay all the time. See my Daddy, he worked, he farmed, and umm he sharecropped. I reckon he would call it sharecropping because he worked for so much. He paid with bales of cotton for rent and then he kept the rest of it. You worked and made what you wanted to make. You planted what you wanted to plant. We raised our own food. At a young age we raised chickens, hogs, cows, and all that stuff. And uhh... I ain’t never seen no slavery times. I ain’t never seen no hard times... myself. I mean, I always had something to eat, had clothes, and somewhere to stay. When my Dad was living.”
I said to Granddaddy, “I think that is what is so great about our parents & grandparents. You have always tried to make it easier for the next generation so we don’t have to struggle like you did.”
“Yeah my Daddy always gave us somewhere to eat and to stay at all times. Plenty to eat! Might not be what you wanted but you could eat. That’s about how far I can go when it comes to sla-work efforts, the work efforts.”
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Legacy of Hard Hand Work
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey established a legacy of hard hand work. His work efforts allowed him to invest into the Black realm of Western Union Park in Mineral Springs, NC. When he was younger his family moved to Western Union Park from the Waxhaw region. Western Union Park is his home. He purchased land so he could continue the rich history of this community by building homes for Black tenants. His business, R. A. Coffey Construction, allowed him to reclaim his “40 acres and a mule.” I hope my action mimicked his labor. From early to rise, we work to beat the sun, nothing comes without blood, sweat, and time. Mr. Richard Allen Coffey said, “Always stay humble and realize knowledge can be consumed by those around you.” I pray my breath honors “...have his own.”
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“Ain’t no one going to give you anything”
Get it how you live but do good work
No need to ask for help then
Once you can do for self
Then you can give
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R. A. Coffey Estate Sign
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey's work efforts allowed him to reclaim one of the greatest wrongs done towards Blacks in America. R. A. Coffey Estate honors the land ownership proclaimed by the Special Field Orders No. 15, after the American Civil War. The phrase “40 acres and a mule” comes from the Special Field Order No. 15 a wartime order made by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman on January 16, 1865.
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Land builds generational wealth.
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Private Property
(On R. A. Coffey Estate)
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey is using his John Deere tractor to maintain his property. The grass is always kept. Trees are always trimmed. His actions have made it clear that once you work for something you keep it by taking care of it.
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Sustain by maintaining.
That applies to everything within life from relationships, health, self, and etc.
Are you maintaining or coasting?
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 1
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Plaxico Drive)
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey started purchasing land in the 60’s. His legacy also focused on housing his family and other Black families on the land he built homes on.
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I am grateful to say I have always had a roof over my head.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 2
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Plaxico Drive)
Empty lots. Infinite possibilities.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 3
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Western Union School Road & Andrew Jackson Drive)
During 1400’s and 1500s, many European nations were in constant conflict with each other as they struggled to increase their power, wealth, and ravaged by famine. The possibility of free land in the Americas and free labor from African Blacks came together to push racism. Racial slavery began. Which displaced the Blacks of the “New World” and Africa. Historically, a person could only be enslaved for only three reasons, religious persecution, personal indebtedness, or being a prisoner of war. Slavery was a politico-economic play to benefit the struggle European nations and church. The slave trade made Black bodies a profitable recourse. The wealth from the slave trade coined Black bodies the term BLACK GOLD. Black gold built this nation…for free.
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I always ask myself have Blacks reaped the rewards of the wealth acquired from America.
Only if life followed the main rule of photography, the law of reciprocity.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 4
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Western Union School Road & Happy Hollow Lane)
After generations of Blacks being beaten, raped, mentally traumatized, bred, torn from their identities, culture, land, amongst others ethically wrong slave programming techniques and rituals; President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Promotion on January 1, 1863 after the Civil War. The Civil War was not fought to end slavery but stop antecedent South from the breaking away from the Union North. The North economic growth was sparked for the Industrial Revolution. The cotton production began the industrial revolution. The cotton used was mostly imported from slave plantations. Black gold provided the raw material for industrial change and growth. The South grew wealthier and used their wealth to gain more political power to push policy that would benefit the South greatly. The Union North felt threatened by the antecedent South so the Civil Wars began on April 12, 1861. The North won and slavery was outlawed, but the free labor did not stop in the South until June 19, 1865. When Union Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas two and a half years later with the news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now “free”, Juneteenth was established because we were free at last.
What came from that freedom? What were these newly freed slaves supposed to do?
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 5
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Happy Hollow Lane)
Blacks were liberated. It is important to know the difference between freedom and liberty. Freedom means the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Liberty means the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. Blacks had to be given what was ethically theirs within societies. We had to be given freedom. That liberty was claimed on Juneteenth but what good is a systematic change without socioeconomic reform. Furthermore the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution protected newly freed Black slaves’ civil rights. Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, an academic lawyer, powerful orator, leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of the Radical Republicans (the liberals of his time) in the U.S. Senate during the American Civil War. “On the floor of Congress, Senator Charles Sumner proclaimed slavery to be an economic issue and said there were only two things that Black could ever be in America. They could be slaves, or they could be free. But they were released from slavery with nothing, therefore, to be free, at minimum, they had to have 40 acres of land, a mule and $100.”
*Quote from “A Black History Reader: 101 Questions You Never Thought to Ask” by Dr. Claud Anderson.
As ask… are Blacks free?
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 6
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Happy Hollow Lane)
When Blacks were liberated Special Field Orders, No. 15, a military order was issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi of the United States Army. “40 acres and a mule” was a part of Special Field Orders, No. 15. The antecedent South built generational wealth from slave labor. Newly free Blacks did not receive ANY reparations for 400 years of slavery. If Blacks received their “40 acres and a mule” the accumulated wealth acquired is about $6.4 trillion today.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 7
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Bow Hill Drive & Richard Coffey Lane)
Special Field Orders, No. 15 was not the only historical context in which the United States dishonored the land or wealth of Blacks. Have you heard of the Adam- Onís Treaty? The Adam- Onís Treaty of 1819 (also called Transcontinental Treaty or Purchase of Florida) was a treaty between the United States and Spain that sold the Spanish territory of Florida to the United States. The treaty also settled the fights that the two countries had long waged over slavery and rights awarded to Black people who settled in Florida. During the period of 300 years that Spain colonized Florida territory, Blacks were escaping from slavery to Spain.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 8
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Richard Coffey Lane)
Florida was a haven for free Blacks and runaways who escaped Southern Plantations to become Spanish citizens. Spain offered citizenship, physical protection, and free land for Blacks who converted to Catholicism. The treaty required the Adam- Onís Treaty U.S. to honor the protection and rights that the Spanish Crown had granted the slaves, free Blacks, and Indigenous people. Free people in Spanish Florida were to be treated the same as Caucasians. Once the Adam- Onís Treaty was ratified the U.S. took this opportunity to steal the land ownership and freedom from Blacks, but also severely punished them.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 9
(Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Richard Coffey Lane)
When people show you who they are, believe them. Is it foolish to hope for reparations. I am not saying we should not fight for it because we should. As Blacks fight, we should also take hold of our own liberation like we, as people, historically done for the betterment of ourselves but for others. Mr. Richard Allen Coffey is a man who liberated himself, his family, and community by reclaiming land and entrepreneurship.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 10 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Western Union School Road and Lee Massey Road)
John Locke, was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism." Locke wrote that all individuals are equal in the sense that they are born with certain "inalienable" natural rights. That is, rights that are God-given and can never be taken or even given away. Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are "life, liberty, and property."
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 11 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Springdale Drive)
“Locke owned stock in slave trading companies and was secretary of the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas, where slavery was constitutionally permitted. He had two notions of slavery: legitimate slavery was captivity with forced labor imposed by the just winning side in a war; illegitimate slavery was an authoritarian deprivation of natural rights. Locke did not try to justify either black slavery or the oppression of Amerindians. In the Two Treatises of Government, Locke argued against the advocates of absolute monarchy. The arguments for absolute monarchy and colonial slavery turn out to be the same. So, in arguing against the one, Locke could not help but argue against the other. Examining the natural rights tradition to which Locke’s work belongs confirms this. Locke could have defended colonial slavery by building on popular ideas of his colleagues and predecessors, but there is no textual evidence that he did that or that he advocated seizing Indian agricultural land.”
- "John Locke, Racism, Slavery, and Indian Lands" by William Uzgalis from The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Race edited by Naomi Zack
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 12 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Springdale Drive)
The United States Declaration of Independence's well known phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is the foundation of American DNA. Thomas Jefferson, a founding father, coined the “pursuit of happiness" from Locke. Locke used this phrase into his famous statement of a peoples' inalienable right “life, liberty, and property.” Locke's concept of happiness was majorly influenced by the Greek philosophers, Aristotle and Epicurus. Locke understood that it is necessary to have “life, liberty, and property” when pursuing happiness. Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal,” did he mean that because he enslaved more than 600 people over the course of his life. Is the United States truly about the “pursuit of happiness” when our Constitution exclusion of PROPERTY as an inalienable right? Is America built on the principle that “all men are created equal?”
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Mr. Richard Allen Coffey honored his life and liberty by acquiring property. He invested and diversified his funds. We all should strive to build generational wealth… right?
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 13 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Springdale Drive)
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey, reclaimed his “40 acres and a mule.” He had to work diligently for his legacy. In truth he started his business “to make money.” The impact of that decision allows his community and family to sustain the Black sanctuary of Western Union Park.
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 14 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Springdale Drive)
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey’s legacy has opened my eyes to how our lives contribute to history. I ask Granddaddy, “Do you have any regrets?” We were in his work truck talking at the time and he said “No…no I don’t have any regrets. I’ve done all I wanted to do. All I need now is rest.”
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I ask myself, what does a fulfilled life mean for me? How have I grown from the foundation he established? How can I contribute to his legacy? How much does a lot of land cost?
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Acquiring 40 Acres & a Mule in Western Union Park- No. 15 (Lot XXX & Lot XXX on Springdale Drive)
Every morning Mr. Richard Allen Coffey wakes up for work. When he is done working for the day, Granddaddy rides around through the neighborhood in his truck. Most times, I can hear his truck motor rumble from inside my home. I find myself always running to the closest window or door, just to witness him watch over us, in his own way.
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Protect “Special Field Order, No. 15” When Acquired
“Yeah, I own(ed) that land...I hope it stays in the family.”
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In Possession of a John Deere
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law is an expression meaning that ownership is easier to maintain if one has possession of something, or difficult to enforce if one does not. The rightful owner shall have their possession returned to them; if taken or used.”
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A Man of His Creation
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey lived through the Segregation, Black Codes, Jim Crow, and The Great Migration. His family, our family, choose to stay, adapt, and thrive through the Black plight in the south. To this day I have yet to hear Granddaddy complain. Life gave him grit. He worked to become a man of his creation, not a representation of circumstances.
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Pride & Joy
Mr. Richard Allen Coffey and I just finished off with some yard work. While I was working, I was playing some James Brown. I stopped the music and jumped in the truck to head home. Granddaddy appreciates James Brown. I turned towards Granddaddy to ask him, “Would you rather be rich or famous?” He looked at me with peace in his eyes and said, “Well… I do not care much about being famous. I would rather be rich. No, I would rather be wealthy. The focus is to have enough to live comfortably, that is important. You should not need to worry about the day to day.”
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Granddaddy is into motor vehicles. Due to old age, and the needs/wants of his family, he has sold or gave all the bikes, and cars away. Now he is left with his last prize possession. - Special Field Order, No. 15 “the mule.”
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Mr. Richard Allen Coffey’s 55 Chevy Truck
I remember this one trip to Granddaddy’s house with my Mom and brothers, right after school. We walked up to his house in our uniforms, navy blue and khaki pants. My brothers and I were a cute trio. Of course, Granddaddy welcomed us inside and we talked as a family in the living room for a good bit. We eventually found ourselves outside under the evening hues of the sky. The garage was open for exploration at the time. There was something special about the garage back in those days. He had motorcycles that I could climb on and grease laying around to rub on my pants. You could tell the garage was his sanctuary, a place where he could sit with self and work with his vehicles. Currently, all the cars and motorcycles are gone but the 55 Chevy Truck is the only classic vehicle left. His truck has always been a personal project. Back in the day, the Chevy Truck sat in the corner of the garage with the engine hood up and had oil stained white towels hanging from the hood. I grew up watching the automotive restoration of his 55 Chevy Truck. As I got older, the nicer the truck became. Granddaddy taught me how to drive and the meticulous routine for taking care of vehicles. He believes that no matter what you are driving you should always maintain and clean your car. The 55 Chevy Truck and his land is a reflection of the man, the “40 acres, and the mule.” Mr. Richard Allen Coffey acquired his “40 acres” and the 55 Chevy Truck is his prized “mule.”
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The 55 Chevy Truck has a chrome V8 engine, gloss black paint exterior, a leather seating interior, chrome rimes, with suicide doors. Mr. Richard Allen Coffey is the only person who drives this truck. The 55 Chevy Truck reflects what was acquired from his self-fulling prophecy, hard-hand liberation, and work ethic.- Special Field Order, No. 15
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Mr. Richard Allen Coffey
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The Road Less Traveled
Chapter 2: Western Union School
An installation centers the attention on Western Union School. With the assistance of The Union County Public Library’s Genealogy Services Department, Western Union School, and oral histories from community elders investigates the origins of Western Union Park, and its community through archival research and collecting oral histories. The excerpt centers its attention on the legacy on origins of an all-Black high school founded by the late John Williams III in the 1940s. Visual Waters of Mineral Springs: Western Union Park’s land and community resonate with resilience and honor the sacred grounds of the unceded territory of the Waxhaw, Catawba, and Cheraw peoples.
Image Title
1. Negro Schools in Union County (1949), 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19”x 32”
2. Western Union School (1941-54), 2021, Wheat Paste on Wood, 19” x 32”
3. Union County’s Response to Brown v. Board of Education, 2021, Wheat Paste on Wood, 19” x 32”
4. Where there's a will there's a way, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
5. 30 Acres and a School, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19”x 32”
6. Hall’s Echoed Memory, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
7. J.W. Brown III Auditorium, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
8. Gymnasium I, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
9. Gymnasium II, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
10. Boiler Room, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
11. Freedom Kingdoms, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
12. Western Union School’s Committee Members, 2021, Image Transfer on Wood, 19” x 32”
Western Union School History
In 1940, John W. Brown III established the vision for Western Union School and organized a wooded building in Waxhaw with the mission to empower Black young minds. In 1941, Western Union School operated in a former all-white elementary school in the Marvin area which consisted of four rooms and an auditorium school. Western Union School was the first all-Black brick school in Union County further pushing the status quo. In 1954 during Brown v. Board of Education, the school building was destroyed by fire. During the 2 years before the erection of the current school, the 428 students and 13 teachers continued teaching and learning in buses and churches. In 1956, Wester Union School acquired 30 acres in Mineral Springs, NC to build on its current location. By the 1970s, Western Union School was fully integrated and became a Junior High School. The community the school primary served drastically changed. On February 27, 2021, the community elders who run the Western Union School Alumni Association fought to keep the history alive and successfully renamed the auditorium after Western Union School’s first principal, Mr. John Williams Brown III. Western Union School is now an excellent elementary school. The staff and faculty nurture academic and creative minds in a safe environment. Through all the changes the Western Union School Alumni Association continues to keep the history alive and for the sacred grounds of the unceded lands of the Waxhaw, Catawba, and Cheraw indigenous peoples.
BFA Senior Thesis Installation in the UNCC Rowe Art Gallary & Presentation (2021)
Visual Waters of Mineral Springs: Western Union School at Artfields 2022 in the Jones-Carter Gallery
Visual Waters of Mineral Springs: Western Union School Presentation
Chapter 3: Logbook
-is an archive of Mineral Springs, NC. With light, the work retains the land and culture with a focus on the rural Black realm, Western Union Park.
Below is a growing Instagram feed of this project*