Roots Remembered

Roots Remembered was inspired by the life and stories of longtime East Austin resident Betty Ussery, an 89-year-old pillar of the community. Ms. Betty grew up in the neighborhood called Masontown and had her first baby at age 14. While parenting 7 children, she worked as a nurse’s aide and later, a supervisor for The Austin State School, caring for mentally and physically disabled young people for 20 years. Following an injury, she worked for Goodwill Industries while running her own bar/music venue in East Austin. She continues to work as a regular volunteer and leader for East Austin’s Blacklands Neighborhood Association, and uses her home as a donation site for community outreach. 

This mural depicts scenes from Ms. Betty’s life, as well as images from the community she grew up in. Each scene is framed as a photo or piece of art on a wall in someone’s home, inspired by the many framed portraits of family members when you enter Ms. Betty’s house. One image is a painting of the cheerleaders of LC Anderson High, and another depicts Mt. Olive Baptist church where Ms. Betty’s mother was a deacon, while another represent the many influential jazz musicians that would have begun their time at Anderson high. 

Through depicting her stories, we hope to represent the many generations of residents and the lives that have been lived here. 

“Masontown was a black community located in what is now east Austin in Travis County. It was bounded to the south by what is now Third Street, to the north by Sixth Street, to the west by Waller Street, and to the east by Chicon Street. Sam and Raiford Mason, the two brothers for whom the community was named, bought the first property in this area in 1867. Former slaves from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia settled in Masontown. At one time the community had two Baptist churches and as many as 200 residents. By the 1980s, however, Masonville was no longer identifiable as a distinct neighborhood.”

-Excerpt from the Texas State Historical Association