Mullins African American Museum fundraiser brings hope to commission

The Pee Dee Museum of African American Culture is well on its way to opening their doors later this fall after a successful BBQ fundraiser on August 30th.

Marion City Councilwomen and Chairperson of the Museum Committee Jo Sanders said the campaign printed 150 tickets and sold all of them before the event began.

“We sold them all and still had people coming in buying plates after we started,” she said.

Ohara’s Restaurant in Mullins – which is owned by Sanders – donated all the food to the event, with all proceeds going to the museum.

“I think we are really on the move now,”Pee DeeMuseum of African-American Culture program coordinator Fannie Leonard said. “I think this is going to catapult us, where in the past we were just kind of floundering along.”

The museum has been in the works for 12 years. Several pit falls including the death of the projects original organizer Herschel Eaker, has left the museum committee in flux until last year. Leonard took the project to Mullins City Council and won over the backing of Sanders and the rest of the council.

Since that time the City ofMullinshas voted to allow the museum to utilize the space behind theMullinsTobaccoMuseumin the old train depot station across fromMullinsCity Hall. The building’s renovations, furnishings and set up will not be paid for by the City. The future costs of the building will be solely placed upon the museum committee.

“We are at a point where we are trying to get set up and there is so much that we need to cover,” Pee Dee Museum of African-American Culture Chairwoman Martha Reaves said. “As soon as we can get the requirements down, we are hopeful that we can start moving some of the artifacts in by late fall.”

The objective of the Pee Dee Museum of African-American Culture is to tell and showcase the truthful history of African-Americans in thePee Deearea. This will be accomplished through collections of historical documents, cultural-based artifacts, relics and memorabilia, which can be viewed and appreciated by everyone.

Some items include: cast iron irons, hand tobacco setter, single-tree for plowing, wooden cheese box, bread box, scrub board for washing clothes, metal pump gun for spraying insects, antique canning jars, authentic African artifacts, metal flour scoop, porcelain cake pan and basin, glass milk bottles, old car crank, etc.

“This museum is not just forMarion, Mullins and Marion County, it’s thePee Dee Museum and we need a lot of cooperation from the other six counties,” Reaves said. “We need to recruit people, especially for oral history from those areas.”

The museum committee will accept donations of artifacts, stories and other items of interest to be placed in the museum. Leonard said they are a not-for-profit entity and are established under the 501-C-3 section of the Internal Revenue. To donate items call Leonard at 843-464-7162 or call Reaves at 843-464-7189.

This article by Andrew Golden originally appeared on SCNow.com.