CLEWISTON, Fla — Clewiston’s history is rooted in rich soil and hard work, with African American families a big part of the town’s story.
Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent, Austin Schargorodski works in the area daily, he sat down with Reverend Gwen Patrick Griffiths to learn about the early workers, called “Mucksteppers”, and her mission to keep their legacy alive.
Watch Austin's report here:
When you think of Clewiston, you can’t miss the iconic fields of sugar cane that surround “America’s Sweetest Town.” Reverend Gwen says these fields tell the story of the hardworking “mucksteppers”, early workers who built their lives cutting sugarcane in the rich muck around Lake Okeechobee.
Rev. Gwen says her father was one of them, arriving from Georgia in 1926 to help build U.S. Sugar’s railroad and work the land that defined this community - and she became a Muckstepper herself a week after she was born.
“We were the one’s who were producing the goods, producing the vegetables, even the sugarcane,” said Rev. Gwen. “It was producing, they were producing. People were making money. It might not have been all that you wanted to make, but you were making money. This was a town that was flourishing with money.”
Rev. Gwen said the Mucksteppers helped pave the way for the community we see today - but the opportunity came at a cost. Working in the muck under Florida’s blazing sun and living in tiny converted train cars, she said their days were long and difficult. Yet, they stayed - Rev. Gwen said they built lives here because, for many, it was worth it.
“There was no way to go hungry in this area. You could just plant your garden and grow whatever. You go out there and fish. There was no reason for you to go hungry,” said Rev. Gwen.
Now, Rev. Gwen is making sure stories like this live on for future generations. She said she’s in the process of publishing a book documenting the sacrifices and resilience of the Mucksteppers.
“If our children don’t know where we came from, they don’t know where they’re going,” said Rev. Gwen. “So, it’s up to us to teach them we are Mucksteppers. We learn how to make things for ourselves. We learn how to make things work.”
Plus, Rev. Gwen’s work doesn’t stop at preserving history - she’s making it too. She founded the Brown Sugar Festival, a celebration of Clewiston’s African American community that also supports students with scholarship funds raised with a unique beauty pageant.
"It’s not your every day garden variety beauty pageant. We will judge their beauty. We will judge their talent. We will judge their intellect. And we will judge their ability to raise money. If you raised enough money, you were Miss Brown Sugar,” said Rev. Gwen.
For Rev. Gwen, Clewiston’s African American history is more than just the past - it’s at the heart of the town’s identity. She hopes her work inspires others to honor that legacy and embody what she believes is the true meaning of “America’s Sweetest Town”.
“A feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood. A feeling of friendliness and cohesiveness. You’re in the sugar town. This is a sweet town, the sweetest town in America,” said Rev. Gwen.
