Eyes on Freedom audio documentary

Tuesday, November 18 @ 5:30pm

We will listen together and have conversation & pizza, graciously provided by the Klines.

Wally and Juanita Nelson were civil rights activists, peace activists, war tax refusers, subsistence farmers, and advocates for simple living. They were members of groups such as CORE (Congress on Racial Equality), FOR (Fellowship of Reconciliation), and Peacemakers. In western Massachusetts they were founding members of the Greenfield Farmers' Market, the Free Harvest Supper, the Valley Community Land Trust, and Winter Fare. They were recipients of numerous awards during their lifetime, including the Courage of Conscience Award from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Mass., the Sacco and Vanzetti Award from Community Church in Boston, and the Local Hero Award from CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) for championing local food and agriculture. (Excerpted from Nelson Homestead website.

As folklorists, gatherers of oral testimonials and audio producers, the Klines, along with production assistant Nicholas Boyer, produced an hour-long audio tapestry. This is an interweaving of nearly 25 voices we've recorded under the guidance of the Nelson Legacy Project Archival Committee. The result is a woven conversation on the themes of the Nelsons' lives—race, or the one human race, nonviolence, war tax refusal, joy, dance, land trusts, and the action around the Kehler-Corner home seizure in Colrain by the IRS, the local food movement, and simple living.

This is sure to be a moving and thought-provoking evening.

Please register.
Free and open to the public.

Posted: to Athol Library News on Sat, Nov 1, 2025
Updated: Wed, Nov 19, 2025