As mentioned about a week ago Black Ripley sponsored a Pop Up Museum at the 2014 Lauderdale County Tomato Festival. We were there from about 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. I’d like to thank each and every person that stopped by to share their memories of the area.
From those memories I was able to learn a lot about the area.
Memories included:
– Tiny, the little person, who worked at either Joe’s or Pitts barbecue spot as a car hop
– A riot at Ripley High School the year of integration
– Life growing up in Arp, Golddust, Durhamville, and Orysa
– Stories of the Great Migration. Families moving North and sending their children back South to Ripley every summer
– Sharecropping on the Eugene Anthony, E.L. Queen, and Eylau farms
– Stories of “The Hole” and the people and businesses that were there
– Recollections of past Labor Days and the Miss Black Ripley Pageants
– Sitting in the balconies of local movie theaters and eating ice cream at the ice cream parlor that was located uptown
– Locating their childhood homes and current homes on a 1927 Sanborn Map
I’m sure all of these memories will make their way into a posting or two 🙂
There were a variety of items surpassing many years on display.

Miss Black Ripley Display with information on pageants from 1977 – 1979 along with pageant souvenir booklets. Also included were articles from the “10 Things” series.

Table Display featuring Alex Haley’s Warner Bros records on Roots, a wooden nickle from JT Williams grocery, a school book published in 1890 from the area.

Table Display featuring “Finding the Good” book by Lucas Johnson on the life of Fred Montgomery, home run baseball from a 2002 RHS baseball game and an article about the game.
Tent Set Up
It was a great day. I’m very grateful for the participation and encouragement that was received.
– Tiffany
– Photo Source: My Own
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