A dedicated group of people in North Georgia’s Cornelia, home of the Big Apple and the Elvis Museum, is working on plans for a new regional African American history museum.

Some of the artifacts that will be in the museum are on display at the Cornelia Better Hometown office in the historic depot.

In 1955, in an effort to avoid desegregation, the counties of Habersham, White, Banks and Rabun combined to build a new “colored” school, called the Cornelia Regional Colored High School. African-American students from the four counties were bussed to the school.

Dr. Audrey Rosser-Milo, daughter of the last principal of the school, has written a book about her father’s experiences during that time, A Chance for Change. Exhibits on display include photos of some of the alumna from the school who have gone on to become musicians, artists and athletes.

In 1966, the federal government stepped in and the “separate-but-equal” school was closed. A newspaper account mentions the few African-American children who were integrated into the white schools. Rosser-Milo says the teachers from the Colored School were fired, and her father, 18 months from retirement, went to teach at the boys’ detention center in Alto.

“The interesting thing about it is that the paper trail has disappeared,” she says. “We don’t have the letter from the federal government. There was an effort some time back to delete everything that had the words “colored” and “Negro” on it.”

The group hopes to acquire the building that was the old school for the museum. It currently houses the Habersham County Schools technology department. The display at Cornelia Better Hometown will run through March 15, Tuesday – Friday, 8-4, Saturday and Sunday 1-5.

Cornelia also has a telephone history museum run by the Habersham County Historical Society, open the first Saturday of every month from 2 – 4. The town may be most famous for the Loudermilk Boardhouse, built in 1908 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which houses the Elvis Museum. Among the 30,000 pieces of Elvis Memorabilia, you’ll find an actual wart that the singer had removed and a “Maybe Elvis Toenail.” The museum keeps irregular hours and doesn’t have a website, but it’s located on Foreacre Street in Cornelia. See Cornelia’s website for other ideas of what to do in town.

Photos by Nancy Golden