The soaring heights of the remarkable National Historic Register Grout House on Western Avenue in West Brattleboro speak to the elevated consciousness of the Reverend Louis Grout, his wife and his daughter, who built it in 1880. As a Congregationalist minister at a remote station in the Zulu country of today's South Africa, Grout (1815-1905) and his family witnessed and participated in the suppression of the native Zulu as missionaries trying to convert natives to Christian ways. Unlike others, Grout fought for the Zulus and spent 10 years writing what was to be the first Zulu language book in the US and translated the Bible into Zulu. Upon returning home from Africa, he wrote "Zulu-Land: Or, Life Among the Zulu-Kafirs of Natal, South Africa", in 1864. Among his other publications are poetry, essays on Zululand and the Bohr Wars and a history of Early West Brattleboro.
Audio Editing: Wendy Wallas
Production/Script Assistance and Recordings: Lissa Weinmann
Research/Script/Narration: Kathleen 'Kit' Whallon
Voice of Grout: Orion Barber
Michael Nickolas (tribal call, from Audio Blocks)
Ongoing Development and Involvement:
As a community-created project, we encourage ongoing dialogue, questions, and engagement. If you would like to be involved in future developments, have information or a perspective that could deepen others' understanding of this topic, please contact us.