Brown family mural. Through March 8, corner of Elizabeth Way and Canton Street, Roswell. Presented by Roswell Arts Renaissance. www.roswellroars.org
Captured in a photograph taken around 1895, six well-dressed African-American children stare solemnly at the lens. They are siblings, ranging in age from 12 to toddler: Harrison, Bertha, Fred, Naomi, Rosa Lee and Minor Augustus Brown. Their father, Jeremiah Brown, was a blacksmith; their mother, Nancy Brown, was a homemaker. They lived in Forsyth County until 1912 when virulent racial tensions forced them to flee, along with most of the county’s African-American population.
Not much is known about the image — who snapped it and for what occasion — but it has taken on new life as a powerful piece of public art in historic Roswell. Last month a 12-foot by 18-foot mural of the photograph was installed on the side of the old Lyon’s Drugstore on Canton Street, where it will remain until March 8.
“When I look at them I see a proud family,” said descendant Charles Grogan, 67, whose grandmother was Rosa Lee, the eldest child in the photograph. She grew up to marry Russell Strickland and live nearby on Webb Street, where several of her descendants still live. A skilled seamstress, she made dresses for women in the community. She died in 1975.
Grogan, a retired computer operator who grew up in Roswell but now lives in Ellenwood, provided the photo for the mural. He calls himself an amateur genealogist who’s collected nearly 1,000 family photographs and gathered dozens of stories.
The mural is “a breakthrough for public art in Roswell and a prominent tribute to Roswell’s historic African-American community,” said Maggie Davis, president of Roswell Arts Renaissance (ROAR), the organization that installed the mural.
Davis considered about a dozen photographs for the project, searching for one that would reflect well on the African-American community and “inspire people to want to know more.” As soon as she saw Grogan’s photograph, she knew it was the one she wanted to use.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “A photograph of black children from the 19th century is a treasure because it is so rare. The quality of the photograph is unsurpassed. The children are looking directly at the camera. There’s a sense of hope, maybe expectations. This image captured the aspirations of a community.”
With permission from the Historic Preservation Commission, ROAR enlisted the help of Atlanta artist JoeKingAtl (aka architect Joe Dreher), who prepared the photograph for large scale installation. The image was printed in vertical strips and installed one at a time. Descendants of the Brown family helped install the final strip.
Passersby and diners at nearby restaurants were enthralled by the process, Dreher said.
“People watched for hours. They just sat and talked about it. It became more social art than public art.”
The public’s interest in their family photo has inspired the Brown descendants to learn more about their family history and to share their stories.
Grogan said the photo had circulated in his family for years, but only recently did he discover many of his relatives didn’t know the identities of the siblings.
Revisiting the photo prompted Juanita Lamar, 75, to recall a fond memory of her grandfather, Minor Augustus Brown. She said he was a laborer and a gardener, and although he did not go beyond third grade, he was smart and self-educated.
One day she was sitting on the porch at her grandfather’s house struggling over a college calculus assignment. “He said, ‘Let me see it’,” Lamar said. She assumed he wouldn’t have a clue, but he proved her wrong. She credits him for helping her pass the class.
The photograph elicits tragic memories, too.
Racial tensions were already mounting in Forsyth County in the early 1900s when, according to reports, there were two separate incidents in which a white woman was allegedly raped by a black man. African Americans were warned to leave the county and most did. In the early 1900s, there were more than 1,000 African Americans living in the county. In 1912 that number had dwindled to just a few dozen.
When the Brown family left their home, they settled in Roswell and surrounding environs. One male relative reportedly returned to Forsyth County for reasons that are unknown, and he was never heard from again, said Grogan.
Today Grogan finds himself answering questions from younger relatives eager to learn more about their family history.
He hopes the mural will inspire others to learn more about their families and to preserve documents and photographs.
“It’s all about family,” he said.
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