< Previous50 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 CURRENTS | BOOKS No longer practicing law after argu- ing some 800 cases, the tireless Griffin keeps many fires stoked and projects simmering at his 21st Street island office, including a thick, ring-bound, heavily footnoted manuscript for the book he researched and wrote during the pandemic shutdown, due to be published early next year. “The Water Cries” begins as the au- thor’s search for slave auction houses in Galveston. Attempting to expand local knowledge of the slave legacy in this port city, where the personal wealth of the white elite was greatly enriched by slave labor and, post-emancipation, in- dentured servitude, Griffin also exposes knowledge of familial roots that locals have been denied historically. Weaving personal experience into the historic narrative, Griffin delves into his own family history and the lives of his great-grandparents, both former slaves in central Texas. “It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done,” he said, admitting that digging into the afterlife of slavery made him cry long and hard. “It made me examine my own family, especially my great-grandpar- ents who were slaves until they were 13 and 15 years old, then to look at Texas laws that essentially kept us en- slaved well after Juneteenth, to keep people in place. “My grandfather at 70 years old was still working 60 hours a week, push- ing a plow.” Griffin argues in the book, and daily in his life, that the whole truth about African-American history must be known and embraced if real and per- manent racial progress is to be made. The kind of research he did for the book should be widely available for all African Americans as part of a national truth and reconciliation process, he said. That argument syncs with local efforts to raise Juneteenth recognition in Galveston as a significant marker in American history. Juneteenth, also known as Emanci- pation Day, celebrates June 19, 1865, when Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger (From top) Anthony Griffin thumbs through the manuscript for his book, “The Water Cries,” at his office in Galveston; a photo in the manuscript shows Black stevedores loading and unloading ships. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 51 BESTTITLECOMPANY 2022|2021|2020 BESTLAWFIRM 2022|2021|2020 BESTATTORNEY 2022 Patrickf.Doyle,ownerofsouthlandtitlecompany,is proudlycelebrating20yearshostinghisannualfishing tournament.theeventhasraisedmillionsofdollarsto benefitlocalcharitiesandnon-profitsforourcommunity. 2 0 y e a r s 2 0 y e a r s 2 0 y e a r s S t r o n g ! S t r o n g ! S t r o n g ! EXPERIENCEMATTERS! www.SouthLandTitle.net 409.744.0727-6710StewartRd.,Ste200,Galveston,TX77551 THURSDAY,JUNE8 ForMoreInfoContact CarolynSunseri(409)220-1252 arrived in Galveston with Union troops and announced the federal govern- ment would be enforcing a prohibition against keeping slaves. Despite how little has been widely known about Galveston’s slave markets, Griffin found about 20 locations where slaves were held and sold in the Strand area of downtown Galveston, he said. The title of the book comes from the bay waters that closely border the area and the Gulf of Mexico where slave ships crossed to Galveston. “Water tells secrets,” he said. “We’re baptized in water. We’re fascinated by it. Water can wash us away. I kept hav- ing this dream about slaves being sold on the waterfront. You can’t just sell human beings and keep it a secret. Na- ture will eventually tell us something.” Wiry and energetic at 69, Griffin is casually dressed in shorts and a buttoned-up white linen shirt on a late April day, surrounded in his office by mountains of neatly stacked papers and walls covered in large format black-and-white prints of local Black families, borrowed from their fami- ly photo albums and professionally enlarged. Delivering a fuller and more complete history to the families is cen- tral to his mission. “Previously, historians and storytell- ers told stories of Galveston’s devel- opment which seemed glamorized to me, stories which fit too perfectly,” Griffin writes in the first chapter of “The Water Cries.” “Were we being told the truth? If the city was societally and economically advanced during this time, was it a comforting place for Negroes? What did the colored men and women do in Galveston after General Granger’s June 19th proclamation? What did these men and women face and accomplish once freed? What happened in Galveston and throughout Texas between the period of 1865 and 1950? In other words, what is our shared history?” “The Water Cries,” a winding and cir- cuitous route through perilous territory, is scheduled to be published in early 2024 by Texas Tech University Press. ISLECYCLESTUDIO-GROUPCLASSES MASSAGE-WELLNESSTHERAPIES THEGATHERINGSTUDIORENTALSPACE BentonHealthyLivingWellnessCenterisawellnessandfitnessspaceon GalvestonIsland.BentonHealthyLivingwillanchorthewellnessarmofthecenter witheducationalandtherapeutic-basedresources.Thewellnesscenterwillalso offerFullBodyVibrationTherapy,SaltBoothTherapy,InfraredSaunaTherapy, Massage,andIVTherapy.BentonHealthyLivingWellnessCenterwillalsooffer educationalclassesonnutrition,essentialoils,wellness,andfitness. Locatedat291053rdStreet-Galveston,TX Giveusacallat(409)220-3901 BENTonHealthyLiving.comMELISSAREKOFF BROKERASSOCIATE melissa@onyxrealtygrouptx.com mygalvestondreamhome.com 409-996-9838 ForEducators BuyingorSellingahomeisnoteasy,butIpromisetoeducateyouonthe process&setexpectationstomakethingssmootherandlessstressful. Getanexpertyoucancounton! 2528LexingtonCt LeagueCity BrittanyLakes 4Bedroom2Bath 4417AvenueR Galveston 1106TreatyDr. SurfsideBeach54 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 HOMEPORT ‘OUR PARADISE’ Islander creates budget-friendly and beachy design at West End townhome story by BARBARA CANETTI | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA D esign on a dime. That’s Jessica McAleer’s philosophy. And it makes her husband, John, very happy. The couple had a tiny Jamaica Beach cottage, which they outgrew as their family grew. They wanted to stay in Galveston and they patiently waited for a townhouse to come on the mar- ket in Evia, a neighborhood on Galveston’s West End. When one did, they very briefly visited it and made an offer. They wanted to be in the area because they own Lil’ Buffalo Grille restaurant in Evia. They also own two Buffalo Grille restau- rants in Houston. “We visited for five minutes and we knew we wanted it so we snatched it up,” John McAleer said. But the sellers of the townhome needed time before they could move because they were building a new home, he said. So, they waited and leased the unit back to them for eight months. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 55 When Jessica and John McAleer purchased their townhome in Evia on Galveston’s West End, they updated it to accommodate their lifestyle. They painted the entire unit a bright white and replaced all of the fixtures, adding new chandeliers and sconces to give the home a casual, beachy vibe. (Opposite) One of the McAleers’ favorite parts of the house is the front porch, which faces east and has an unobstructed view of the Moody Gardens golf course. 56 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 HOMEPORT COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 57 (Clockwise from left) The McAleers extensively renovated the kitchen, replacing an above-stove microwave with a custom range hood and doubling the size of the existing island. They added contemporary-looking barstools and natural material pendants to create a fashionable look; the dining area featuring bench-style seating; the couple closed off a double-door entry to add an easily accessible mudroom adjacent to the front door; artwork by iconic American painter LeRoy Neiman, known for his use of brilliant colors, hangs in the entryway.58 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 HOMEPORT Finally, in 2019, they were ready to move in. But Jessica had some ideas first. The McAleers wanted to update the three-bedroom, two-bath unit to accommodate their lifestyle. The first thing Jessica did was paint the entire unit a bright white. “Everything was beige,” she said. “I wanted it to be bright.” In the kitchen, she removed the over-the-stove microwave, hiding it in a cabinet and ordered a large, custom range hood to give the room depth. They retrofitted the small existing kitchen island and almost doubled its size, covering it in a smooth, white quartz. And she had a money-saving brainstorm for the rest of the countertops. She hired a local firm to wrap the dark brown granite in an epoxy finish, adding a faux marble design to modernize the look. Then she added four contemporary-looking barstools and natural material pendants over the bar to give the room an airy and fashionable look. “This was definitely a bud- get-friendly update,” she said, noting it cost less than $1,000 for the “new” countertop. Next, she moved on to the lighting, replacing all of the existing fixtures and adding new chandeliers and sconces, giving the rest of the home a more casual look. “I wanted a beachy vibe,” she said. “My design here is a modern twist on coastal/grandmother decor.” The grandmother designs come from the many paintings in the unit done by John’s grandmother after she suffered a serious stroke. As part of her therapy, she started painting. Her work seemed to fit in with their furnishings, so they were gifted with many of her creations. In addition, a (From top) Jessica McAleer opens a vintage mahogany Victor Victrola phonograph that once belonged to her grandparents. One of the McAleers’ prized recordings features President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressing the nation during World War II; antiques and heirlooms are found throughout the townhome, including a vintage Chinese tea canister and an unidentified portrait of a woman. The McAleers have been trying to discover information on the portrait’s subject. (Oppo- site from top) The family room on the second floor; a photograph of John McAleer’s grandfather, Vernon Frost, who was a legendary cattle breeder, oilman and a member of the pioneering Texas family that founded the first residential suburb in Houston, Frost Town; a Parisian scene painted by John McAleer’s grandmother, Inza Frost, who began painting as therapy after suffering a stroke. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JuNe 2023 59Next >