The Piedmont University Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art (MSMA) invites the community to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit spotlighting the history of the Regional African American Museum of Northeast Georgia (RAAM).
The exhibition, “Making & Celebrating History,” will be on view Jan. 8-16. The public reception will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11.
Both the exhibition and reception are free to the public.
Founded in 2010 in Cornelia, the RAAM preserves the cultural heritage of communities that attended the Cornelia Regional Colored School. The “equalization” school was built and maintained by school boards in Banks, Habersham, Rabun, and White Counties from 1955 to 1966. Equalization schools were created to racially segregate students before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. the Board of Education that such segregation was illegal.
The exhibition celebrates the addition of RAAM’s materials to the Digital Library of Georgia and the recently endowed Piedmont University scholarship in RAAM president Audrey Davenport’s honor. Special guests from the community and The Digital Library of Georgia will discuss the contribution of RAAM to Northeast Georgia at the Jan. 11 reception.
The MSMA is located at 567 Georgia Street in downtown Demorest, Georgia.
