Throughout his life, Jester Hairston, actor and gospel singer, would look through local phonebooks on his travels. He would find others with the last name Hairston, pick up the phone and give them a call. He met many of them; sometimes they were black and sometimes they were white. They usually traced their roots back to a handful of plantations in Virginia and North Carolina. The plantation homes were owned by descendants of Peter Hairston, a Scots-Irish immigrant who’s family would go on to own over 5,000 people before the end of the Civil War.

Will Hairston, great grandson of Peter by nine generations, was inspired by Jester and the warmth and welcome he received from the many black Hairstons he met when they invited him to large family reunions every year. Also inspired by Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech which included the dream that the sons of former slaves and slave owners would sit down at the table of brotherhood, he wanted to continue honoring African American Hairstons and create opportunities for those who were connected through the relationship of being descendants of enslaved people and slave owners.

Susan Hutchison is a descendant of Thomas and Martha Jefferson and is involved in racial reconciliation work. She has enjoyed meeting some of her Hemings cousins over the last several years.

Susan learned about the Hairston family and contacted Will. As they talked about their experiences, Will and Susan dreamed of creating opportunities for more people linked by the history of slavery to come together. This inspiration led to Coming to the Table. In recalling his motivation to face the history and move forward, Will said, "reconciliation not only removed the guilt and anger but it brought about a joy that I wanted to share."

Will Hairston, an employee of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), connected with EMU’s internationally recognized Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. The Center gave the project a home to support its development.

Will and Susan invited Joe Henry Hairston and Diana Redman, their African American cousins, to join the planning process. The planning team expanded to include additional EMU staff and representatives of United to End Racism, a program of Re-Evaluation Counseling, an organization dedicated to helping people free themselves from the effects of past distress experiences.

The planning team conceptualized Coming to the Table’s first pilot event, which took take place in January 2006. The event included descendants connected through the common history of slavery who already knew each other. The event would involve a small group of people and showcase the participants’ coming to the table experience- connecting with people who had a common linked history. The Fetzer Institute, of Kalamazoo, MI, which is dedicated to honoring the power of love and forgiveness in individual and societal transformation, provided funding for the event.

The pilot event provided important information about the value of such gatherings and how to create a place where people could be open and honest as well as feel a level of safety and support. The pilot event also created a larger circle that could provide leadership to move towards the larger vision of a “more connected and truthful society addressing the unresolved and persistent effects of the institution of U.S. slavery.”

What’s Next

The participants and planners want to see this movement of coming to the table grow. They want to be able to reach out to more sets of connected families who share a history of slavery as well as bring national attention to the importance of recognizing slavery and the way it was constructed in this country as a root cause of the racism that exists today as well as share how powerful and healing connecting with the other side can be- whether a descendant of enslaved people or descendants who those who enslaved. One participant said, “We’ve got a national process and it can’t be done by a small group of people.” This movement includes the dream of not only sitting down at the table, but expanding the table to others.