by Jameelah Mullen
March 21, 2024
Wright’s land was bought by a previously enslaved member of the family and handed down for generations.
The household of Josephine Wright has received the correct to maintain the land that has been in her household since Civil Warfare occasions.
Wright, who died in January at age 94, spent the final years of her life preventing to maintain her property in Hilton Head Island, which is positioned within the Geechee Gullah Hall. Her story garnered worldwide media consideration in addition to public help from celebrities together with Tyler Perry and Snoop Dogg.
Bailey Level Funding, the corporate that owns the land neighboring Wright’s property, sued the aged lady final 12 months on claims of encroachment. The corporate is within the strategy of constructing a 29-acre subdivision round Wright’s property. Bailey Level Funding stated that Wright’s satellite tv for pc dish, shed, and screened porch trespassed on its land, which “considerably delayed and hindered” growth, The New York Instances reported.
The settlement concluded that the Wright household owned the property that sits in the midst of Bailey Level Funding’s growth. In accordance with household spokesperson Altimese Nicole, the settlement states that Bailey Level Funding should cease contacting the Wrights about buying their land, repair the roof of their dwelling, and erect a privateness fence between the Wright property and the brand new growth.
In one in all her final public appearances, the matriarch shared her story when she attended the Fish and Grits Pageant on Hilton Head Island.
“5 years in the past, somebody known as me on the telephone and requested me if I needed to promote my property. And what I did, I requested myself, ‘Effectively, what are you keen to pay?’ They stated $39,000. I hung up the telephone.”
She continued, “I couldn’t imagine that they’d put such a minimal worth on land that’s historic.”
Wright stated she was harassed by builders after she refused to promote her property.
“They got here into my yard whereas they had been tearing down the timber behind me, and my granddaughter was within the bed room, and there have been among the staff there that had been wanting in her bed room window.”
“The household is grateful to have settled,” Nicole informed South Carolina Public Radio. “They’re centered on maintaining the legacy of Mrs. Josephine Wright alive.”