MICA Gallery presents Helen Mickens who will introduce seven generations of her family, three of which were enslaved people, on Thursday, August 23. Despite the fact of her ancestors’ enslavement, Helen’s family is fortunate to know about them and know their stories. Helen feels grateful to have come “from a family of story-tellers.” Because of that, her family knew a lot about their ancestors’ roots in Kansas. (Her grandfather was a mustanger and farmer there. Her great uncle worked on the Panama Canal when he was not a gravedigger and pool hall owner in Southern Kansas.)

But, a single document would open the door to the story of her third great-grandfather Henry Work who, after he was freed from slavery in 1809, worked at a skilled trade and raised the resources to buy his wife and seven of their children out of slavery. Henry and his family made the treacherous 700-mile trip from North Carolina to Michigan. Helen will share the story of Henry Work’s life and her family’s saga between the years 1809 and 1870.

Helen has a BA from Kalamazoo College, an MA from Michigan State University, and a JD from WMU Thomas Cooley Law School where she was a professor and associate dean for 32 years. Since she retired, she has made time to continue her community service, her family genealogy research, and her gardening and travel. Helen lives in Lansing with her husband Charles Mickens.

Followed with LIVE JAZZ music by HappenStance Trio, just across the street at UrbanBeat!