In the mid-1970s I lived in a commune in Glasgow, Scotland called Common Ground.
I left the United States in 1968, semi-conscious of the wave of counterculture that was rising everywhere, thinking I would never go back. I lived in Africa for a while, and hitchhiked in Europe.
Now, at the age of 70, I’ve decided to document my time in Common Ground. I thought to catch up with people I hadn’t seen for decades, and make a sort of then/now piece. That was the impetus.
I was able to contact almost everyone who had been involved, and they were happy to be interviewed. Their memories overlapped, expanded on one another, sometimes were at odds. Whatever they could recall was precious to me, since my own memory of that time was almost entirely blank. The winding down of our commune was a watershed for me. I left my husband and friends and brought my one-year old daughter back to a place where I no longer felt comfortable – the USA. By then I had been away for 7 years, and had given up my citizenship.
Hearing what my friends recall from 1974 and 1975 has given me part of my memory back. I remember what pulled me towards Common Ground and why I needed to displace myself again and come home.
- Terry Halbert
I left the United States in 1968, semi-conscious of the wave of counterculture that was rising everywhere, thinking I would never go back. I lived in Africa for a while, and hitchhiked in Europe.
Now, at the age of 70, I’ve decided to document my time in Common Ground. I thought to catch up with people I hadn’t seen for decades, and make a sort of then/now piece. That was the impetus.
I was able to contact almost everyone who had been involved, and they were happy to be interviewed. Their memories overlapped, expanded on one another, sometimes were at odds. Whatever they could recall was precious to me, since my own memory of that time was almost entirely blank. The winding down of our commune was a watershed for me. I left my husband and friends and brought my one-year old daughter back to a place where I no longer felt comfortable – the USA. By then I had been away for 7 years, and had given up my citizenship.
Hearing what my friends recall from 1974 and 1975 has given me part of my memory back. I remember what pulled me towards Common Ground and why I needed to displace myself again and come home.
- Terry Halbert