Reckoning with Joppa

The Dallas Morning News
09/23/2020

Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster spent more than a year researching and reporting the story of the historic freedman’s town of Joppa (pronounced jop-ee), and its strained relationship with Dallas, the city that surrounds it. That work entailed extensive archival research along with a continuous engagement in the community — before and then during the Covid pandemic — gathering an oral history and listening to residents speak about current conditions and what they would like to see for their future.

On one foray into the nearby woods, he found the haunting scene of a “witness tree,” which had been used as a whipping post by the Klu Klux Klan in the 1920s. Lamster’s narrative was augmented by the work of visual journalist Lynda M. Gonzalez, who likewise spent months in the community, documenting life there. Extensive fact-checking and a deep dive into photo archives ensured this piece was sensitive to the real history and brought the past to life. Similar care was taken in both the digital and print design, to maximize the story’s power and accessibility of a long narrative.

Writing deeply about an insular community that is understandably distrustful of establishment institutions is difficult under ordinary circumstances. During a pandemic it is especially challenging. Researching the history of a community that has been largely ignored (when not being abused) was also a challenge. There is no standard history of Joppa. Documentary evidence of its origins had to be culled together from diverse sources, and through oral-history.

This story, published as a 12-page special section, a digital interactive and an audio report, represents a unique form of storytelling, a combination of narrative history, journalistic investigation, and critical writing. Opening in the present, it shows how powerful forces are able to shut down the primary entry into the community of Joppa, a freedman’s town founded by emancipated slaves in 1872. To explain how this could happen, the story shifts back in time, to the very origins of the community, tracking more than a century of neglect, abuse, and exploitation.

The story culminates with the status of Joppa today, giving voice to members of the community, and their aspirations and concerns. In response to this reporting, the Dallas City Council allocated $500,000 for on-call transit service for Joppa and agreed to fast-track a promised pedestrian bridge that would provide access to the community.

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Submitted by Chelsea Watkins.