History Program February 27th
All are invited to this special program presented by the N. Fulton historical societies of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell, and Milton.
HISTORY of BLACK EDUCATION in NORTH FULTON COUNTY
Sunday, February 27th
at 2:00 pm
at St. James United Methodist Church
3000 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta 30009
This program will focus on the the Bailey-Johnson school built on Kimball Road to provide elementary through high school education to North Fulton African-American children from 1950-1967. Originally named the "Alpharetta Colored School" when it first opened during segregation in 1950, the Bailey-Johnson school replaced small rural Black schools including one in Shakerag built on the Findley farm in the early 1930s.
Program will include:
- Brief history of the schools consolidated to form Bailey-Johnson
- A panel discussion by Bailey-Johnson alumns moderated by Karyn Greer, CBS-46 TV Anchor
- Developer's presentation of the plans for adaptive reuse of the building while retaining its history
Photo: Kathleen Moon Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center
Welcome Two New Board Members!
February 14, 2022: The Johns Creek Historical Society is pleased to announce the addition today of Katherine (Katie) Perrotta and Nicole Washington to our Board of Directors.
Katherine (Katie) Perrotta, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Middle Grades & Secondary Education (Social Studies) at Mercer University Tift College of Education, with degrees focused on education, social studies, and history. She has already worked with the historical society on several projects including creating social studies curriculum packets that meet state standards and are based on Johns Creek history from our archives. Many will recognize Katie as the project leader of the "They Were Here" Macedonia Cemetery student documentaries, a collaboration of Mercer University, Student Leadership Johns Creek, and the Johns Creek Historical Society. We welcome Katie's experience, energy, connections to experts in history and preservation, and Millennial's perspective she brings to the board.
Nicole Washington is a motivational speaker, published author and fortune 100 trainer, but may be best known in Johns Creek for her civic engagement. She has served on numerous boards of national, regional, and local organizations. At present, Nicole is focusing her skills to make a difference in the City with membership and leadership positions in a variety of organizations including the Johns Creek-North Rotary, Leadership Johns Creek, her HOA, Johns Creek Cricket Association, the Legacy Cultural Arts Center Task Force, Impact Johns Creek, among others. We welcome Nicole's business and nonprofit leadership experience and ability to create connections between the historical society and activities of other community groups.
Macedonia Documentaries Screened
January 27th and February 18th
A large crowd attended the premiere January 27th at Johns Creek High School
"They Were Here" Macedonia Cemetery Four-Part Documentary
February 19, 2022: Two screenings were recently held of the four short films created by Student Leadership Johns Creek students. Each film explores a topic related to the Macedonia Cemetery, a small historic African-American burial ground in Johns Creek, GA.
The Macedonia Cemetery documentaries were first shown January 27th at Johns Creek High School in front of a large audience that included over 2 dozen US, Georgia, county, and city elected officials and dignitaries. The second screening was held February 18th at Mercer University Cecil B. Day Campus to a smaller crowd, but included Mercer University Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, students from each film group, grant team members who guided the film production, and descendants of those buried at the cemetery.
This project was a collaboration with Mercer University Tift College of Education, Student Leadership Johns Creek, and the Johns Creek Historical Society and was funded through a $2500 Georgia Humanities grant.
If you missed the film screening events, below are links to the 4 videos on YouTube.
Film 1: https://youtu.be/roUVxIAA2IY "The History of the Macedonia African Methodist Cemetery during the 19th and 20th Centuries"
Film 2: https://youtu.be/DnrEnB1v0FY "The Diverse People of Johns Creek, Georgia"
Film 3: https://youtu.be/yRL60hGCC7E "April Waters and the Importance of Historical Research of the Macedonia African Methodist Cemetery"
Film 4: https://youtu.be/KWW-gNhaHSM "The Future of the Preservation and Commemoration of the Macedonia African Methodist Cemetery"
Read more about the team that collaborated to obtain the Georgia Humanities grant and guided the students in the production of the documentaries.
Read the Johns Creek Herald article covering the January 27 premiere.
What else has the Historical Society been doing?
Read about Charles Summerour's book which tracks his Summerour family through 10 generations, including stories of gold discoveries and their farms in the Warsaw community of Johns Creek
Macedonia Cemetery Update of activities and programs Sept-Dec 2021
Read about filming the "Taylor Sisters", descendants of the Rogers, Bells, and Taylor families, and view a video clip Johns Creek Traditions and History-Rogers Bridge
Neighborhood history - Country Club of the South
$2400 Funding from Commissioner Liz Hausmann
