The city of Smyrna unveiled the design finalists for its memorial dedicated to civil rights icon Fanny Williams, the namesake of Aunt Fanny’s Cabin, which the city demolished last fall.
Officials hope the memorial will preserve her history beyond the once-popular southern restaurant that used derogatory depictions of Black people to entertain dinner guests, employed Black boys as servers wearing wooden menu boards around their necks, and glorified Jim Crow-era racism.
“She was more known for her name on a cabin, on the restaurant, and less so on all these things that she did kind of behind the scenes, at least as the story’s been told,” said Mayor Pro Tem Tim Gould, who chaired the city’s committee to honor Fanny Williams. “We really want to tell her story.”
The restaurant was a relic of a more racist past, and Smyrna officials opted to tear it down rather than give a buyer permission to transport and preserve the dilapidated building.
Now, the city is creating a new way to honor Williams.
The top finalist for the memorial, designed by North Carolina artists David Wilson and Stephen Hayes and titled, “Testimony of Redemption,” is a life-size statue of Williams holding a shovel, referencing her participation in the 1948 groundbreaking of Cobb County’s first Black hospital for which she helped raise funds. The council discussed the design at the Thursday afternoon work session.
“We see her as someone who broke ground for people,” said Penny Moceri, the city’s deputy administrator. “She laid foundations for people who came behind her.”
A partial wall surrounding the back half of the statute will depict the Wheat Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, for which she helped raise funds and where her funeral was held. The concrete pedestal for the statue will feature a map of the Old Fourth Ward where the church is located.
The design may also be modified by the artist or at the request of the council.
“The cabin represents a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Gould said. “But I think what’s really clear is the remarkable work that Fanny Williams did in her life is what needs to be highlighted.”
The mayor formed the committee in February 2022. It consists of Smyrna council members and community leaders, who will determine the best way to honor Williams in the city. The committee also consulted a panel of experts on design and history in the Atlanta area.
The council will vote in June on whether to use this design or the second-place finalist, a statue of Williams holding a peach pie. The memorial will be located by the Smyrna History Museum off Atlanta Road and could be completed as early as December of this year. The project will cost an estimated $125,000.
Gould said he hopes the memorial will “teach our young people about being civically engaged, being courageous, standing up to the injustice. That’s the story that’s really compelling and informative.”
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