Our Story
Tuskegee, Alabama and South Berwick, Maine have been sister cities since 2017 when they agreed to form this relationship as a way to get to know each other. South Berwick approached Tuskegee to become its “sister city” hoping the two communities could help to bridge the racial divide in this country.
The two communities are similar in size and character; both are family-oriented and have proud histories, some of which overlap. Tuskegee is celebrated for its impact on agriculture, aviation, Civil Rights, education, entertainment and history. South Berwick is one of the oldest communities in Maine and is well known for education, manufacturing and its natural resources while the state played a role in the women’s voting rights and anti-slavery abolitionist movements.
Maine and Alabama achieved statehood three months apart in 1819 and 1820 and both grew under the cotton economy of the 19th century —Tuskegee as host to cotton plantations and South Berwick as home to textile mills.
Both municipal councils unanimously approved (Foster's Daily Democrat article) the sister city relationship in 2017, paving the way for the first domestic sister city partnership in the country, a partnership aimed at racial healing and social justice.
The relationship has grown along with friendships between residents of the two cities through visits north and south, as well as phone, video and social media communications.
During the visits, host families open their homes to the sister city guests. This gives the visitors a taste of everyday life for the host family, while they also learn about the community’s history, culture and social environment. Public forums, communal meals and other group activities engage citizens in the host community in rich dialogues about racial challenges in America, providing perspectives through the lens of their sister city friends.
The visits strengthen the collective bond and also fortify individual relationships.
"Sharing our culture & ideals to remember our past,
embrace the present, and enhance our future
by joining together our shared vision for tomorrow"
Proclamation
"To talk, listen and engage with each other to improve and sustain better race relations"
Dialogues
One of the guiding principles of the sister city project is the belief that conversation is important to our mission: "to talk, listen and engage with each other to improve and sustain better race relations." To this end, the Common Ground joint committee organizes dialogues that invite residents of both towns to participate in facilitated discussions on race relations.
Dialogues have taken place in person, as well as virtually. They focus on a specific question, such as "Why is it so hard to talk about race?" or "Why are white people afraid of Black people?" and most often evolve into a variety of other topics related to race. Some of the topics addressed were "bringing up kids in a racially homogenous town," "how to move beyond mistrust" and "risking vulnerability."
Sometimes the dialogues focus on ways the sister city can put ideas into actions. Some of the suggested actions were making the dialogue framework available for others, creating an anti-racist deck of cards, bystander training on when and how to step in and creating a sister city book club.
"Citizen groups in both communities have formed to further and bring to fruition this sister community relationship"
Meet the Committee
The Common Ground Joint Committee consists of residents from each sister city, most of whom have visited the other city and are involved and committed to the relationship. The committee meets regularly online to talk, plan events and further the sister city relationship.
Tuskegee Members
Mayor Tony Haygood
Lawrence “Tony” Haygood, Jr. is Mayor of the City of Tuskegee. He served as 2022 President of the Alabama League of Municipalities. He also works as an Economic/Business Development Specialist at the Tuskegee-Macon County Community Development Corporation (TMCDC). He previously served as President of Southern Community College for more than twenty years. Additionally, Mayor Haygood served as Chairman of the Tuskegee Area Health Education Center, as well as State Vice-President for Alabama New South Coalition, among other positions. Haygood was selected as the Alabama State Tree Farmer of the Year in 1998 and received the Tuskegee University Merit Farm Family Award in 2005 at the 113th Tuskegee University Annual Farmer’s Conference. A member and past president of Alpha Nu Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mayor Haygood was selected to receive the Alpha Man of the Year Award in 2017 by the Gamma Phi undergraduate chapter at Tuskegee University. Mayor Haygood received his undergraduate degree at Rhodes College with a major in Political Science and a minor concentration in Economics. He received an MBA Degree from Auburn University Montgomery with additional studies in Management Science at Krannert School of Management at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. In the summer of 2011, Haygood completed the Intensive Economic Development Training Course at Auburn University. Mayor Haygood is a charter supporter of the Sister City project. He can be reached at thaygood@tuskegeealabama.gov.
Judith Baldwin
Dr. Judith D. Baldwin is a native of Tuskegee, Alabama. After graduating from high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Stillman College, two master’s degrees- from Tuskegee University in personnel administration and Troy University, Montgomery in human resource management, as well as a Ph.D. in organization and management from Capella University. Judith works as bookkeeper for two organizations and a driver for a airport transportation company. Judith is member Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; an elder and Clerk of Session at Westminster Presbyterian Church; and executive committee member and Anti-Racism Committee member for the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley (PCUSA). Judith enjoys traveling, dancing, and listening to music, and most importantly being the biased aunt to a niece and grandniece.
Rovetta and Sullivan Hanna
Rovetta and Sullivan are members of the original Common Ground committee and have been to South Berwick twice.
Karin Hopkins
Karin Hopkins wears many hats: executive director of the Tuskegee Area Chamber of Commerce, owner of ECHOboom Media & Communications, original "Color Us Connected" writing partner and charter supporter of the Common Ground Sister City relationship. Karin was born in Detroit and moved to various cities throughout her TV news career. She retired in 1987 and transitioned into business ownership, partnering with her husband to sustain a successful public relations company in New Orleans. In 2005, the couple bought an historic home in Tuskegee. In 2017, Karin met Amy Miller when a delegation from South Berwick visited Tuskegee at the inception of the Sister City project. The two women decided on a novel approach to advancing race relations; they would choose a topic and write about it from their individual racial perspectives. They convinced their local newspapers to publish the dual articles and thus “Color Us Connected” was born. Karin resigned from the partnership in 2018 and Guy Trammell became the second person to work with Amy on “Color Us Connected.” Karin can be reached at karin@echoboom.media.
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Noah Hopkins
Noah Anthony Hopkins is a leading tourism advocate who works tirelessly to attract visitors to Tuskegee and Macon County. Publisher of the Macon County Tourism Resource Guide, he uses this magazine to promote Tuskegee and Macon County to the world. He also has created other materials to boost tourism including a countywide, visitor-friendly fun map that pinpoints historical entities and tourism related businesses. Hopkins founded the Community Tourism Network, LLC to act as curator for small towns, cities and counties to identify tourism assets, create collateral materials, research and develop campaigns to draw more tourists to their communities. He moved to Alabama in 2004 from Louisiana, where he was a business leader in the New Orleans tourism sector. Hopkins is presently serving as Vice-Chairman of the Macon County Healthcare Authority, Board member of Central Alabama Works and publisher of The Macon County FAMILY magazine for the Macon County School system. He is also a former columnist for The Tuskegee News and former member and publicist of The Golden Hawks of Tuskegee chapter of Black Pilots of America. A charter supporter of the Sister City project, Noah can be reached at nhopkins7644@gmail.com.
Guy Trammell Jr.
Guy Trammell, Jr. is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge on Tuskegee's past. With factual retention surpassing computer capacity, records that rival a library and experiences carved in his memory bank that are both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, he can captivate an audience with his stories about the evolution of Tuskegee. He is in demand as a speaker and can engage any audience, of any age. When he visits schools, his lessons come alive as he gets the children involved in activities tied to his teaching. Students laugh and shout in excitement as he has them acting out military plane formations to emphasize the expertise of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots in the U.S. military. His subject matter encompasses the African American experience in this country. He even discusses his own grandmother's history as a slave. Guy Trammell digs into his vault of research materials and personal experiences as a Tuskegee native to contribute to the "Color Us Connected" articles. His narratives juxtaposed to Amy Miller's writings on the same topics, provide an intriguing glimpse into the differences and similarities experienced by people who are from opposite ends of the racial spectrum. "Color Us Connected" is dual-published every other week, in the newspaper that serves Tuskegee as well as the newspaper that serves South Berwick. Guy is a charter member of the Common Ground Sister City project. He can be reached at guytram2@gmail.com
Kalaful Williams
Kalaful is a member of the original Common Ground committee and has been to South Berwick twice.
South Berwick Members
David McDermott
David McDermott,with Nora Irvine, are 48 year residents of South Berwick. They raised their children here and currently have grandchildren in town whose lives will be enriched by Common Ground. David is a former town councilor, a charter board member of the Great Works Regional Land Trust and a founding member of the Common Ground Sister City project. He is retired from a career serving children in education and social services.
Karen Eger
Karen McCarthy Eger has lived in South Berwick since 1986, when she and her husband purchased land, built their own house, and raised a daughter. A retired librarian , she worked in children’s services and as head librarian for 40 years in public libaries in the Seacoast area, including her last job as director of the South Berwick Public Library. After George Zimmerman was acquitted for murdering Trayvon Martin in Florida, she felt it was time for South Berwick to join the national conversation about race, and developed programs to help the town's citizens get started. This public library programming was supported by the community and inspired the idea of Common Ground Sister City. The first trip to Tuskegee by our group in 2017, was a transforming experience that led me to investigate being white and upended my sense of self for the good. I cherish the opportunities that Common Ground has created for our communities. She now writes for a local news source, the South Berwick Reporter, volunteers as a deckhand on a historic sailing vessel, and spends much of her time outdoors enjoying the woods, swimming, gardening and family time.
Rachel Martin
Rachel Martin is an entrepreneur and small business owner. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Brad, and together they have three kids, who like her are looking to make a difference in the world. She is involved with multiple non-profits in South Berwick, including the board of the Marshwood Education Foundation. Rachel founded Forward Motion Events, an optimistic, philanthropic events company that operates three major race events: The Pumpkinman Triathlon and Running Festival, Rick's Run 5k and the all-women's Luna Run. She has also been the assistant crew chief for an eight-person team competing in the world's toughest bike race, the Race Across America, and in 2022 helped another team as lead navigator. Rachel, who grew up in South Berwick, has loved her two visits to Tuskegee.
Scott McPhedran
Scott McPhedran is the pastor at First Baptist Church in South Berwick, where he has been since 2013. A transplant from the suburbs of Detroit, Mich., Scott has been involved with the sister city program since its start and traveled to Tuskegee in 2017 with the first delegation.
Amy Miller
Amy Miller is a writer who works part-time for the federal government. A native New Yorker, she first moved to South Berwick in 1987 and after a decade working for a newspaper in Cambridge, Mass., returned to Maine with her husband to raise their two children. She writes the bi-monthly Color Us Connected column, which she started with Karin Hopkins of Tuskegee and now continues with Guy Trammell Jr. of Tuskegee.
Julia Ouelette
Julia Oullette is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired nurse who lived in California for 30 years before moving to South Berwick. She attended the first discussions on race at the library and then joined the Sister City project, traveling to Tuskegee in 2017. With an ethnically diverse family and a longing for the diversity of California, Julia wanted to be actively involved in fighting racism.
Vicki Stewart
Vicki Stewart, a native of Norton Shores, Mich., traveled and lived around the country and world for 20 years before settling in Maine in 1987 to work as an elementary teacher at Central School in South Berwick. An accountant before that, Vicki loves being an educator and ultimately served as principal of Central School for six years and then as the Marshwood School District district curriculum coordinator and now as the district's communication director. Vicki has taken trips to three continents with local high school student groups and travels whenever possible with students, family, and friends. A favorite trip was to Tuskegee with the Sister City team in 2017. Vicki also loves to be with her two daughters and six grandsons, who live in New Mexico and Maine. A founding member of the Common Ground project, Vicki is committed to working for equity and equality.
Meghan Voss
Meghan Voss was born and raised in Southern Maine and has lived in South Berwick for the past decade. She is a full time gardener and artist, splitting her time seasonally. Meghan received her BFA in painting from the Art Institute of Boston in 2006. She loves her community and feels passionately about enriching it. She is the newest member of the Common Ground Joint committee and also serves on the board of the non profit Sanctuary Arts Connects. Meghan and her partner Jordan have two children. They enjoy supporting their town and spending time in nature and with their families.