Hey y’all,
February is Black History Month meanin’ it’s a time to share and remember the history of African Americans in our country. For this Black History Month, I’ve got somethin’ real special to share. On my good friend Gilda Stanbery’s radio show, she talked with Forsyth local Ms. Rosemary Walker. She’s been workin’ on commemorating black history in our community for decades. Now, get settled, grab a snack and get ready to learn about Ms. Rosemary’s incredible contributions to Monroe County.
Ms. Rosemary Walker
For those who don’t live in Forsyth, Ms. Rosemary is well-known amongst us all as she’s grown up and lived in this community her whole life. She attended Hubbard Elementary as a child and later Mary Persons High School when it was desegregated back in 1970. That’s right folks, she was one of the first wave of African American students to attend Mary Persons. Not only that but she was also crowned the first African American homecoming queen in 1972!
A Look into Ms. Rosemary’s Life
Now, once she finished her schooling, Ms. Rosemary worked for the County Rec. Dept. for 40 years. During that time she served 12 years on the Forsyth City Council. Ms. Rosemary began putting together a collection of artifacts from the community that showcased black history. The inspiration behind startin’ this collection was to preserve history of the community. She also wanted to create somethin’ that people can appreciate. One of her biggest challenges was that her collection didn’t have a permanent home and it was only displayed during Black History Month. After years of having her exhibits constantly moving, Ms. Rosemary received a phone call from the Board of Education askin’ her if she’d like to use the old Hubbard Library at the William Hubbard Complex as a permanent home for her collection.
Telling Our Story Collection
If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Telling Our Story collection, you need to make the trip! Ms. Gilda shared that “my favorite thing about this collection is when you come in, you see photographs of people.” That’s what makes this collection so powerful and impactful because it tells a story through people from the community itself. Each artifact whether it’s a photograph, journal, or piece of clothing comes from Ms. Rosemary’s personal items and donations from the community. Even if a donation doesn’t necessarily fit into the collection, Ms. Rosemary shared that she’ll still accept it because preserving history is so important to her. She’s always updatin’ the collection too with new donations which Ms. Gilda even noticed as every time she visits she always sees something new!
Inspiring the Next Generation
Ms. Rosemary also told Ms. Gilda that she loves when students tour the museum and find members of their own family featured in the collection. Talk about braggin’ rights! Another story that Ms. Rosemary shared was that she has a mirror that reads “I’m starting with the man in the mirror.” When students visit she asks them to take a look and tell her what they see in the mirror. They often respond with “I see me.” The reason why she wants the students to take a look is because “you start with yourself and you can be anything you want to be.” The love and care Ms. Rosemary has for her community and the youth within it is just so inspirin’.
Now, I was only able to share the highlights from Ms. Gilda’s radio show. If you want to learn more about the collection and Ms. Rosemary’s story, give it a listen below! For other stories, check out our online collection! At the end of the show, Ms. Gilda asked Ms. Rosemary what she would like listeners to take away most and she shared that she just wants people to stop by to see the collection because once you do, you’ll want to come back.
Til’ Next Time,
Your Storyteller
