After two-and-a-half years of planning, a group of local officials, business owners, and community organizers has started moving forward with plans to establish an African American history museum in Eatonton.
Led by past county commissioner and recent Eatonton city council member Janie Reid, the African American Cultural Alliance (AACA), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, hosted a Dec. 22 meeting at SIPS 31024, the downtown coffee shop owned by Reid and her husband, Eatonton Mayor John Reid.
Event organizer Reid called the gathering a “museum leadership collaborative breakfast” that invited attendees to hear about and pledge support for the project.
When asked about the group’s choice to use “African American” rather than the more politically correct “Black” in its name, Reid said the terminology was never a major consideration.
“In our opinion, it’s both,” she answered. “And after two-and-a-half years talking about it, it was time to get real, go public with it, and hopefully to get the support that we need from the public.”
The response was encouraging. All 17 attendees — among them Georgia District 25 State Senator Rick Williams, Putnam County Commission Chairman Bill Sharp, Mayor Reid, and Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell — filled out pledge cards.
“Each of them proposed or pledged to support us in different ways, be it with fundraising, financially, supporting us, helping to build, maintain the grounds, and what have you,” Reid said. “Every person in the room pledged to make a financial donation.”
The idea for an African American museum in Eatonton is nothing new, Reid said, with conversations beginning about 20 years ago, including at the old Butler-Baker School that once catered to Black students and families.
However, she added, when the African American Cultural Alliance approached Butler-Baker leaders about housing the museum there, “the answer was ‘No.’”
She pointed out, though, that two Butler-Baker alumni are also AACA members, noting the two groups continue to work together.
The AACA is now considering several alternate locations in Eatonton, with the old creamery building near McDonald’s on South Jefferson Avenue emerging as the top choice. Reid, a lifelong Putnam County resident, said the creamery’s strategic location on the main artery heading east into town from Hwy. 441 makes it an ideal candidate.
She also pointed out that downtown Eatonton is to the building’s right, while the neighborhood to its left is traditionally known as East Eatonton.
“That’s a Black community,” Reid explained. “So having the museum there, everyone will pass by, and they will stop by.”
However, the creamery building is currently for sale in the mid-$600,000 range, making it an expensive option. Alternate sites under consideration include the former waterworks building on the east side of town near Putnam General Hospital, the current Eatonton police/ fire department building, or the present city hall.
The latter two will soon move from downtown to the nearby Putnam County Elementary School building on South Washington Street, which is destined to become a city operations center.
None of these locations offers the square footage of the old creamery, Reid acknowledged, but she suggested that the AACA could use multiple locations for exhibitions or rotating displays at a single fixed site.
The AACA group plans to meet at SIPS on the fourth Thursday of each month. Organizers are working on a business plan and actively seeking funds to move the project forward, including donations to purchase a suitable building.
Reid said the community response has been overwhelmingly positive from both Black and white residents.
“I have not heard one negative whatsoever,” she said.
Those interested in supporting the museum project can contact the African American Cultural Alliance, registered as the African American Cultural Experience Complex, or visit SIPS to speak with Reid in person.