Scottsboro Boys Museum's Future Is In Doubt

Who owns the building? (0.00 / 0)

Apparently the United Methodist Church, Alabama-West Florida Conference.

The bishop is the Rev. Will Willamon.  He is nationally known, even outside Methodist circles.

The committee should approach him and make an offer.   I believe that he would be open to at least hearing from the committee and to working out something mutually agreeable.

His address is

The Rev. Will Willamon

United Methodist Center

898 Arkadelphia Rd., Birmingham AL 35204

 

The District Superintendent is

The Rev. Tom Bell, P.O. Box 4286, Huntsville AL  35815 

 

 

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by: Doggone @ Fri Mar 19, 2010 at 23:36:56 PM UTC

That's a good idea (0.00 / 0)

Negotiation with the owner might at least give the organization time to try and raise the money.  And they might be able to swing a mortgage.  The rub is that the money they have is needed for operating costs -- utilities and so forth -- as well as rent, so they're going to need to ramp up fundraising.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 00:24:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Scottsboro (4.00 / 1)

The pwner is a religious denomination; specifically, Mainstream Protestant.  They can be shown the religious importance of supporting the legacy of the Scottsboro boys.

Mainstream Protestants were very visible and involved in the struggles.  It's not--or should not be--just dry history for them. 

 

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by: Doggone @ Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 00:51:52 AM UTC

this needs to be elevated to a national level (4.00 / 1)

So this "anonymous buyer" doesn't get away with this crap!

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 03:03:46 AM UTC

Update on the Museum (4.00 / 1)

from organizer, Shelia Washington.

we need all the help we can get, some people or organization in Scottsboro is trying to buy the church/Musuem from us by offering the UMC District Supt. last week a check for $75,000.  We have half the money but still in dire need before the middle of April to save the museum..

[...]

On another note:  Wednesday March 31, at 12:00 at the museum Alabama and Auburn University is bring in James A. Miller, a professor of English and American Studies at the George Washington University in Washington D.C., and author of Remembering Scottsboro: The Legacy of an Infamous Trial, he's speaking on this date.  I am excited that these two great Universitys came together to do this for us.

There are no "safe" Republican districts. You can run but you can't hide.  - Rahm Emmanuel

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by: countrycat @ Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 15:17:32 PM UTC

Letter to the UMC (4.00 / 1)

Shelia also sent me a letter that a Museum supporter sent asking the church to support the museum.  I'm leaving out identifying info because he/she didn't send it directly to me and give the ok to print the whole thing.  The writer is a native of Scottsboro and seminary graduate.

It's really good (and he quotes a passage of Pirke Avot from the Talmud to boot!):

Last week there was an article in our local newspaper (see attached) about a wonderful project in Scottsboro, the establishment of a center to highlight the Scottsboro case.  As you know, the case received international exposure with thousands around the world marching to free the 9 boys.  Being from Scottsboro has provided a continuous reminder of the insidiousness of racism and of the importance of people of good will coming together to fight it. 

 

After reading the article, I began to try and find the leaders of the group establishing the museum and found Ms. Sheila Washington, chair of the organization.  She and I have talked on a couple of occasions and I am interested in supporting her efforts.  She tells me that the building the group is using for the museum is owned by the United Methodist Church and she is being told her group needs to purchase the building soon or it will go up for sale.  

 

I would like to encourage you to consider that a better avenue for the Methodist Church would be to donate the building to the group or at least to give them a long-term $1 per year lease.  I understand that this may seem like a business deal to you and "business is business". 

 

But, social justice is social justice and if people like you and me are not going to nurture the flow of justice "like the waters", then who will do it? If not me, then who?  If not you, then who?

 

I will be makiing efforts to reach others in the Methodist Church as well and feel certain that after some deliberation, the church will discover ways to actively support this wonderful project.

There are no "safe" Republican districts. You can run but you can't hide.  - Rahm Emmanuel

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by: countrycat @ Sat Mar 20, 2010 at 15:22:19 PM UTC

United Methodist Church: "Business is Business" (0.00 / 0)

At least according to Mr. Tom Bell, the district superintendent.  He reinterated to the Museum board TODAY that the property will be sold to the "anonymous buyer" if the museum can't cough up $75k in the next two weeks.

An new nugget of info about the church...

The property was given to the church by a black property owner whose parents were former slaves gave the property to former slaves who built the church in 1878.

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.

And now the the UMC would sell it to someone whose goal is to keep the Museum off the property?  What the heck? 

This is a Protestant demonination with a long history of committement to social justice.  When did it become a "business is business" operation?

This is not the Methodist Church I knew as a child growing up in Morgan County.

There are no "safe" Republican districts. You can run but you can't hide.  - Rahm Emmanuel

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by: countrycat @ Sun Mar 21, 2010 at 01:37:19 AM UTC

If it's still organized like it was when I was younger (0.00 / 0)

The UM District Superintendent works for the Bishop.  Will the Bishop do the right thing?

Hard to say - all churches - not just the United Methodists - tend to get very protective about property, priveleges, and territory.

I think it goes back to the Middle Ages when the capital-C Church was a political power center contending with local feudal lords and would not give an inch on church privelege.

On the other hand, the Methodists have a long history on the right side of social justice since the 1960s, and individually, long before that.

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Sun Mar 21, 2010 at 04:59:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Send letters! (4.00 / 1)

If you are a Methodist attending a Methodist church in the Alabama-Northwest Florida jurisdiction, please send a letter to Bishop Willamon.  He is the key person in this.

And if you have friends who belong to a Methodist church, please ask them to do the same.

I am not a Methodist but I'm sending Bishop Willamon a letter.

Believe me, church officials of any denomination are extremely sensitive to communications from their flocks, and also to negative publicity.  Have the local news outlets been contacted?

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by: Doggone @ Sun Mar 21, 2010 at 18:18:50 PM UTC