Video: R. E. Hunt Museum And Cultural Center

by Victoria Bailey

COLUMBUS, Miss.(WCBI)—A Columbus woman who works to preserve local history will attend the opening of the National Museum Of African American History and Culture.

Laverne Leech is a volunteer at a museum right here in Columbus that tells the stories of contribution of African-Americans in this area.

Right in our own back yard are historic limited editions, prints, art and photographs of men and women who made an impact on American History. And they lived and worked here in Lowndes County.

R.E. Hunt Museum Volunteer Curator Laverne Green Leech says, “We have washing tubs. We have irons.  We have plowers. Depicting our livelihood in the 40s 50s and 60s.  That’s the way we were. This is where we come from.”

Visitors to the R.E. Hunt Museum and Cultural Center will find visual and written records and artifacts highlighting the lives and accomplishments of African Americans in Columbus and Lowndes County.

“A lot of facts you’ll find here would be about Hunt and Union and the people who graduated from there and the rest is about the way we were and how we were in Lowndes county,” said Leech.

The museum started out as a grassroots effort of a local group who didn’t want the history of African Americans in the county to be lost. And gradually contributions began to pour in from the community.

“We started off with just the pictures of the educators but as people came in and they started to look around they would say, Oh I have something or I have one of these or I have that and I’ll bring it,” said Leech.

The once primary African American School turned museum still has valuable lessons for young people.

“I want them to know this is our history this is our heritage and it’s here it’s all collected together where you can come and read, see and understand where we came from and how we got here,”said Leech.

The R.E. Hunt Museum is open Tuesdays from 1 to 5 p.m.  To Schedule your visit, call 662-328-8722.