Abigail Dunagan, Campus Carrier features editor

Cammie Wilks, Campus Carrier asst. features editor

On February 10, 1976, 38^th United States President Gerald Ford became the first president to issue a message officially recognizing the month of February as Black History Month. Now the Month of February serves as a time to remember and honor the legacy of African American individuals throughout history, from well-known civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman, to local community members who fought for freedoms in their hometowns. Many schools, libraries and museums across the country use this time to honor Black history by hosting various events and promoting educational materials to share with the local community. 

The Rome Area History Center is located downtown on Broad Street, with a large display window that faces passerby. The window currently exhibits an array of educational posters that share some of the local African American history in Rome, Ga. In addition to this outside display, the interior of the museum features additional exhibits on local Black history.

Museum Director Selena Tilly shared that they are currently working on restoring some of the graves of African American people at Myrtle Hill Cemetery. Many of the grave sites are missing identification markers, and the cemetery department does not have many records of who is buried here. This project is expected to take several months to complete, but Tilly said that they are eventually hoping to add an exhibit inside of the museum, as well as creating some informational plaques that can be placed at the cemetery. This way, visitors can walk through the cemetery and learn about those who contributed to the history around Floyd County. While this project will be beneficial in sharing the stories of Rome’s African American community, Tilly said that they are running out of time to communicate with those who lived through the civil rights movements. 

“The people who remember these districts, business areas and communities are growing older,” Tilly said. “That’s why I say we are running on emergency mode, because we need to record this before something happens to them. This is a history that should not be forgotten. You can read a book all day, but to actually talk to someone that was there and experienced it is a whole different ballgame.” 

According to Tilly, for years the Black community’s history has been erased, and when told it was often done from a white perspective. It is important that those who are conducting the research and contacting those who have lived through these events are careful to ensure that the history is told from a respectful and accurate point of view. 

“We want it to be hold from the people who experienced it,” Tilly said. “All we are is vessel, of which to tell the history.” 

Museum Archivist Tony Pope recently worked to compile research on the African American veterans who are buried at the Myrtle Hill cemetery. While researching veterans who fought in World War II, Pope noticed that there were some service men who were mentioned in the archives of “The Enterprise,” Floyd county’s Black-owned newspaper, but not in other local papers. This was surprising to him, and Pope said that when he was a growing up local history was rarely taught in school. 

“When I went through school, things like the sit-ins and protests were history that happened in big cities,” Pope said. “Locally we didn’t do that, but we did. I think we need to know that this happened. Until I came here [the museum], I didn’t know any of that. I’ve been educated in the past five years.”

Not only has Black history been changed to fit the white perspective, but in many instances, it has been erased, and information has been changed to fit a specific narrative. Many movies and books depict slavery as a positive thing, when the enslaved people suffered abuse and mistreatment. In many southern schools, textbooks were created to show an empathetic view of the southern side of the Civil War. This spread of misinformation is dangerous, as it only tells history from the perspective of some of the population, rather than the full story. 

Outreach and Engagement Librarian Morgan Stansell works in Berry’s Memorial Library to reach different types of people and audiences. She sets up educational displays in the library for students to learn from other perspectives, and this month there are a number of book displays that highlight Black History Month. Some of the displays were put up at the end of January, and these included resources and books on Martin Luther King Jr., and the civil rights movements in the sixties. Every year Black History Month is given a theme, and this year it is “African- Americans in Labor.”  This goal of this theme is to highlight the work and contributions of African Americans, and Stansell said that this year they selected books about different entrepreneurs and innovators throughout history.

“My hope is that by pulling books out of the collection, we’ll give people something to think about that highlights the importance that Black history has on our community,” Stansell said. “Not just to celebrate, but to memorialize. I think that’s important.”

This year, the library will also contribute to hosting an African American read-in, a tradition originally established by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English. This is an event that is held in many different colleges. A read-in is an event where a collection of stories and poems are read aloud for an audience, and students are invited to join the audience as a reader or listener. This event will be held on Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Good Neighbor Center. 

Black History Month is an important time for communities to recognize and reflect on an area of history that has often been neglected. It serves as a unique celebration where we can acknowledge a painful history, while learning from it and moving forward as a society. 

“To understand history, look at it through the eyes of which it happened,” Tilly said. “Be willing to open your mind and learn.”