An old friend called me a few weeks ago to say she had just attended a performance of “To Kill A Mockingbird” at Atlanta’s Fox Theater. Then she added that Mary Badham, better known as Scout in the film, played the role of Mrs. Dubose in this live performance. I was immediately swept back to October 2010 when Ms. Badham spent four days in Eatonton!
The Grand Opening of the new exhibit took place at the regular “Sunday At The Museum” event on April 7th. The community was invited to hear a short presentation in the auditorium before the unveiling of the Old School History Museum “Sports Wall of Fame” exhibit and a chance to meet some of the Hall of Famers and their families.
Tom and I first met Martha Warren when she and her husband Herb joined our Sunday School class. Soon after, they joined the volunteer team of Docents at the Old School History Museum. They were dedicated museum workers…always there rain or shine…giving tours and volunteering where needed. They would become dear and treasured friends.
A few years ago, our museum team shared some of their favorite Christmas memories. The response from our readers was heartwarming, so we decided to share a few more with you this year. Perhaps our memories will remind you of some cherished ones of your own! We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy 2024!
If you live in or near the City of Eatonton, you already know that Madison Avenue is best known for its historic homes, churches, and The Plaza Arts Center. If you happen to live on Madison Avenue, you are accustomed to sitting on your front porch and being joined by neighbors, runners, or dog-walkers who stop for a chat or just need to “rest a spell!” It’s a warm and welcoming place. I would be remiss, however, if I did not share one more unique Madison Avenue “claim to fame….”
I also found myself going back to my childhood visits with a very dear aunt and uncle. Uncle Tom was a beekeeper and occasionally let my sister and me watch him “rob his bees” as he called it. Even though I thought “robbing” was not a very nice thing to do, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the large jar of honey that was always on their farmhouse table!
Sometimes seemingly mundane items can trigger connections -- sometimes unexpected connections. Such was the case last Friday when the University of Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscripts brought some of its collections to the Eatonton-Putnam Library and next door to The Plaza and its Old School History Museum.
On one of the walls in the north hallway at the Plaza Arts Center hangs a photograph – and with it, one of my favorite stories to tell visitors to the Old School History Museum. The photograph features a boy smiling and looking upwards while on one knee and with one hand on the ground, stretching it forward.
The story starts on a Saturday morning in early December back in the early 1950s – I’m guessing 1953 or ’54, when I would have been 9 or 10 years old; my brother, 5 or 6…It was also a time when Christmas tree lots were few and far between, and fold-up aluminum-and-plastic trees lay way off in the future.
When the war started, the Confederate government was new and wed to states’ rights. The Union government was broke, having lost its tariff revenues from the sale of cotton for overseas goods. It was financing daily operations with short-term bonds (the equivalent of financing government with a credit card.) Neither had the authority to raise taxes. Neither had a real currency, which was largely in the hands of private banks and their bank notes, essentially IOUs that people used for trade.
This year the Old School History Museum has been sharing some of our docents’ favorite artifacts. The drugstore cabinet is one of our treasures, and we’d like to share its history with you. We’d also like to invite you to come climb up on a stool at the Museum drugstore, have a pretend milkshake, cherry coke, or Black Cow soda, and step back in time!
