Hawkins Family (L-R, Back row: Tiffany Hawkins, Tammy Hawkins, Lee Hawkins, Jr. Front row: Lee Hawkins, Sr. and Roberta Hawkins)
Hawkins Family (L-R, Back row: Tiffany Hawkins, Tammy Hawkins, Lee Hawkins, Jr. Front row: Lee Hawkins, Sr. and Roberta Hawkins)

From Alabama to Minnesota: The Legacy of Jim Crow

What Happened in Alabama? is an audio series produced by Minnesota Public Radio’s APM Studios, born out of personal experiences of intergenerational trauma, and the impacts of Jim Crow that stretch from the South to communities in Minnesota.

Told through the family history of award-winning journalist Lee Hawkins, Jr., he shares the rarely discussed stories of his father, Lee Hawkins, Sr., who left Alabama for Minnesota’s Rondo community in 1961 at the age of 12, shortly after his mother died from kidney failure exacerbated by a lack of health care for Black people. For years, Lee Hawkins, Sr. was plagued by nightmares, and when asked why he would cry out at night, he told Lee, “Alabama, son. Alabama.”

Through interviews with experts, family members and genealogical research, the series captures the enduring legacy of Jim Crow; the people who lived through it, but have been forgotten, and the ways Jim Crow continues to shape everything from parenting in Black families to policies that govern lives. 

This exhibition features members of Lee Hawkins, Jr.’s family and puts faces to the names of those found on the road to ending the cycles of trauma for Lee, his family, and for Black America.

The Faces of Family

Opie Pugh-Hawkins

Opie Pugh-Hawkins
Opie Pugh-Hawkins, born 1905 in Alabama, had 14 children with husband Lum. Lee Roy Hawkins Sr., the youngest, was her son. Her life was marked by the murder of her father, Isaac Pugh Sr., in 1914. The white perpetrator was swiftly acquitted by an all-white jury.
Photo Credit: The Hawkins Family

Ella Pugh

Ella Pugh
Ella Pugh was the wife of Isaac Pugh Sr., and grandmother to Lee Roy Hawkins Sr. After her husband was murdered over land and livestock in 1914, she was forced to vacate their property and start over. She lived to be nearly 100 years old.
Photo Credit: The Hawkins Family

Isaac Pugh, Sr.

Isaac Pugh, Sr.
Lee’s great-grandfather was killed in 1914 by Jack Taylor, swiftly acquitted by an all-white jury, leaving a lasting impact on his family over a century later.
Photo Credit: The Hawkins Family

Lee Roy Hawkins Sr.

Lee Roy Hawkins Sr.
Vietnam-era Air Force veteran Lee Sr., patriarch of the Hawkins family, shared a blissful 50-year marriage with Roberta. Raised in Jim Crow Alabama, he mourned his mother Opie’s death at 12 from a kidney infection, worsened by limited medical access due to segregation.
Photo Credit: The Hawkins Family

The first Blakey Family reunion

The first Blakey Family reunion
Held in 1971 in Missouri. As the family of Lee’s mother, Roberta Hawkins, the Blakeys have a strong presence in the Twin Cities.
Photo Courtesy of Lee Hawkins

Jack & Jill Clubs of America of the Twin Cities

Jack & Jill Clubs of America of the Twin Cities
Lee Jr. was part of the 1989 Jack & Jill Beautillion class and served as the national organization’s Midwest Regional Teen President. The St. Paul Chapter, led by Black mothers, focuses on children’s upliftment and positive development.
Photo Credit: The Hawkins Family

Death of the Beloved Lee Roy Hawkins, Sr., a Jim Crow Survivor

Death of the Beloved Lee Roy Hawkins Sr., a Jim Crow Survivor
Lee Jr. reflects on the profound impact of losing his father, emphasizing the significance of the Black father-son bond amidst racial challenges in America. Lee believes that the childhood trauma his father faced in Jim Crow Alabama contributed to his death from a massive cardiac arrest.
Photo Courtesy of Lee Hawkins

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