Roots

“Family” is a term best defined by the generation to which it is referencing. According to historians, many African-American families in the late 19th century structured themselves around the family matriarch. To understand African-American family traditions, one must understand the structure instilled by the matriarch, which differed from the normalized patriarchal-style of other ethnicities. Today in America, typically only the immediate family live in a single household.

For African Americans, in the 19th century, the idea of family extended well beyond today’s standards. The family home carried many more generation under its roof. Traditions and roots were the embodiment of family for African Americans. They relied on them for important matter and when things turn disastrous, like most typical families. Ezra Gerry’s family lived by the same structure provided by Georgianna Goodlow, the grandmother of Ezra Gerry. She provided stability for the family while they set out on their adventures and avenues for family and progress.

The Ezra Gerry family portrayed the typical hard-working African-American family after the Civil War and during the implementation of the Jim Crow laws. Georgianna moved the family to Pensacola, seeking a better life for her family. They searched for and found employment opportunities throughout Pensacola, including the port and other industries provided by industrialization. Each member of the family worked hard to improve the lives of everyone, not just themselves.

No matter how difficult things became for Ezra Gerry’s family, everyone in the family knew they had a home with Georgianna. Home for them was not a single house but wherever Georgianna Goodlow happened to live when they returned. Not much is known about why some of them left but could always return home. The family defined a structured support group that could carry them through any disaster, like when Ezra Gerry died during the Larchmont shipwreck off the coast of Rhode Island.

The family after Georgianna looked to Octavia Goodlow, her daughter, to fulfill the role of Matriarch and provide stability when life throws a curveball. The family moved to different places and continue with their lives in many different places possible to escape the oppressive Jim Crow South. The Ezra Gerry fulfill the role of a typical African-American family grabbing any opportunity to achieve success and spread the values and virtues that made them strong and close to one another.