Omope Carter Daboiku

Photographs ©1996 Malcolm J. Wilson

For most of her life, Omope Carter Daboiku pursued and studied her African roots. But when her daughters were born, she began thinking about how different their childhood in Cincinnati was from her own in Ironton, a river town in southeast Ohio.  

"Let me tell you what I have finally figured out, cause I've gone through the where's home thing. I figured where's home is where you want to be buried. And I want to be buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Ironton, Ohio. That's still home. I went through the, 'I'm an African, bury me on the shores of Ghana with W. E. B. DuBois.' And I said, wait a minute, uh-uh, no. I really don't want to be buried where can't nobody come and lay a rose on me every now and then." 

Perceptions of Home: The Urban Appalachian Spirit ©1996 The Urban Appalachian Council (now Urban Appalachian Community Coalition)

Photographs ©1996 Malcolm J. Wilson; Interviews ©1996 Don Corathers

Photographs digitized by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. Genealogy & Local History Department.