About

The Common Ground Sister Cities promotes exchange between two enthusiastic, proud communities: Tuskegee, Alabama, and South Berwick, Maine. One in the north, one in the south, these communities are similar in size, family-oriented, and possessed of proud histories. South Berwick is one of the oldest communities in Maine with a history in education and manufacturing. Tuskegee is known as the seat of the Civil Rights Movement and is home to Tuskegee University and of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Common Ground’s mission is to cultivate an environment for citizens of two communities—one predominantly Black and the other predominantly White—to talk, listen, and engage with each other to improve and sustain better race relations. To this end, the Common Ground Joint Committee organizes dialogues that invite residents of both towns to participate in facilitated discussions on race relations.

A proclamation declaring local government support for these efforts was approved unanimously in early 2017 by the Tuskegee City Council and the South Berwick Town Council. The only domestic sister city pair in the United States, Common Ground celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2027.

Common Ground will be holding quarterly small session dialogues about race with members of both communities.