History on File, Willie Long - Madison Co, GA Submitted by Mary Love Berryman 25 Apr 2003 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************************************** All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** Madison County Journal, 26 Feb 2003 History on file Willie Long’s life spanned almost a full century in Madison County. And thanks to his daughter, Lula Thompson, his contributions to the county are now a part of a permanent pictorial record of the history of the area through the Madison County Library’s picture archive project. “I’m very proud of my father, and of my family,” Mrs. Thompson said. Her dad didn’t make it to his 100th birthday this past year, but he did live to his late 80s. He was a farmer, owning and working over 100 acres of land near the corner of Hwy. 172 and Hwy. 72 for many years, while he and his wife, Lula Sims Long, reared seven of nine children (two died at birth). After he retired from farming, he became a house painter, painting hundreds of houses for people all over the county. “Everybody knew my father, he was a great man,” Mrs. Thompson says proudly. And she treasures an article written by a doctor several years ago. In it the doctor, Mark H. Ebell, describes a unique relationship he had with one of his patients during his practice in Colbert. That patient was her father. Dr. Ebell said he looked forward to his regular “visits” with Mr. Long, describing the 88-year old man, who looked and acted much younger, as an “engaging storyteller” who taught him what it meant to grow up black in the rural South. He also learned that Mr. Long was an important man in his community, who preached at his church regularly and spent a lot of time transporting his homebound friends and neighbors to their doctor’s appointments. In fact, Dr. Ebell relates, Mr. Long “died as he had lived,” collapsing on the sidewalk as he was picking up a neighbor for her doctor’s appointment. “Mr. Long was not a celebrity, statesman, or scholar, but his passing deserves to be remembered,” he wrote, adding that his patient had touched him in a special way. “That article sums up my feelings about my father very well,” Mrs. Thompson said. And it seems Mr. Long was something of a visionary as well, encouraging his children to broaden their horizons beyond what could be expected for a black person living in the rural south. So it was with his blessing that young Lula, then age 16, left the farm for Savannah, where she attended beauty school; an unusual accomplishment for any daughter of a farmer during that time, black or white. At 18, she broadened her horizons further, by moving to Chicago and later Akron, Ohio, where she lived for 50 years. She met and married her husband soon after her move north and raised a family while working as a beautician. “It was just time for me to retire and my mother needed me here,” she said of her move back to Georgia three years ago. Her mother passed away last November, and Mrs. Thompson has assumed the role of family historian. When she heard about the picture archives project at the Madison County library through an announcement at her church, she gladly presented some of her favorite photos to be copied into the archives computer file. “I’ve read all my life and been curious about the outside world,” she said. “The library can open the doors to that world. Children of every race should take a part in their local library, it’s such a needed facility.” HISTORY ON FILE According to library branch manager Suzie DeGrasse, the library received 100 photos from black families in the county during February as part of their celebration of Black History Month. Seventy-five of these are on display in the library meeting room, and DeGrasse plans to place copies of all of them in a permanent photo album once the display comes down. Also, all the photos are recorded with their information in the archives computerized files. Photos submitted for the archives are scanned into a computer and given back to the donor, unharmed. The picture archives project, dubbed Vanishing Madison County, is a joint project with local historian John Barton, Friends of the Madison County Library, the Board of Trustees, the Madison County Heritage Foundation and several other interested individuals. Those who would like to contribute pre-1945 photos of Madison Countians to this on-going project should contact library branch manager Suzie DeGrasse at 795-5597. ABOUT THE PHOTOS ON THE FRONT Pictured (left) is the boys' basketball team from Comer Colored High School, where Lenoir Tiller was coach and principal. Pictured (middle) is Bertha Carithers, the principal at Southside High School for 40 years. Both photos were submitted by R. Cedric Fortson. Pictured (right) is Mattie McElroy Powers in the early 1900s. The photo was submitted by Agnes Howard Appling.