2023 24 Black Pages FINAL 2 - Flipbook - Page 116
and communities.” Nice homes, solid work, and guaranteed income incentivized Black
business owners allowing one (self-sufficiency) to serve the other (shield).
From 1922 to the 1970’s Black institutions added to the landscape significantly. With
more disposable income, Black Maconites found themselves creating landmarks that would
leave a legacy. Some include the historic Douglass Theatre established in 1921 by Charles
Henry Douglass as an entertainment complex comprised of a theatre and hotel. The
Douglass became ground zero for the likes of Ma Rainey, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington,
and Lena Horne. It remains today as a fully operational artistic cultural icon.
George F. Muhammad a longtime advocate of the theatre often touts it as an
existing example of Macon’s Black community’s resilience. “The Douglass signifies our
commitment to self-determining successful endeavors. It remains a powerful reference for
Black people in Macon and a beacon of economic and cultural light,” he said.
The Homosophian Club, A Negro Chamber of Commerce was formed in Macon in
1926. Two Black hospitals, Lundy in 1925 and St. Luke in 1928 were now available as
healthcare platforms in the absence of Blacks being able to access White owned medical
facilities. And by the 1950’s Black owned florist Marlowe’s sprung up on Spring Street.
Women of color came into the forefront during this period also as renowned music
instructor Gladys Williams continued her success as a female band leader and Ruth Hartley
Mosley, a Savannah born nurse became the head of the Colored Section at the Georgia
State Sanitorium in Milledgeville. Hartley later began globetrotting as a self-made Macon
based socialite that focused on the advancement of women from her midsized mansion on
Orange Street. She would eventually become the owner of City Central Funeral Home.
Louis Hudson Persley
Wallace Agustus Rayfield
Black Maconites
had additional tangibles to
draw from. It was during
this period that two Macon
born architects Wallace
Augustus Rayfield and
Louis Hudson Persley of
the historic Pleasant Hill
neighborhood would
become internationally
known for their designing
capacity. Persley would
eventually co-establish the
country’s first Black
Architectural firm.
Rayfield’s craftsmanship of churches throughout the south is still viewable.
Unfortunately, the Pythian Temple, one of his masterpieces succumbed to development and
isn’t. It was something to see, however, as the state headquarters for the Knights of Pythia.
It housed professionals, restaurants, a hotel, a parking garage with two entrances leading to
Cotton Ave and New St. Duval says the work ethic of the Black community of this period is
to be studied. “One of the things we need young people especially to embrace is the dignity
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