Everyone comes from somewhere. It may not be the primary influence in one’s life, but no doubt, it is a significant influence. All the events which mold people into mature human beings happen with a backdrop that is “place.”

In Mineola there is a remarkable repository to capture that backdrop: the Mineola Historical Museum. Just a few steps inside the front door, across from the research desk, stands the collection of local Black History.

This February, as a part of Black History Month, a trip through the holdings is not only warranted, but rewarding.

Novada Bigham, long-time Mineola civic leader and chairperson of the museum board, guided the tour. 

She described the initial efforts to collect items for the museum.

“We each took responsibility for a section of the museum,” she said. “I was in charge of Black History. At first I thought how in the world would I ever fill the area, but after a short while, I realized we didn’t have room for everything we received.”

She recalled that a large collection of historical records perished when the McFarland School had burned. She reached out to a legend in the Mineola teaching circles, Mrs. Gwendolyn Hill. With that initial call, “It just all started to come together,” explained Bigham.  

What started as a blank canvas has become an exhibit of broad reach and considerable depth. The power of this exhibit – as with any effective historical presentation – is to bring a visitor into the lives of the people represented. It involves decisions of not only what to display, but how to display it – all while maintaining factual accuracy and building historical context.

The three school lockers which stand side-by-side on the east wall of the exhibit are an example of this proper balance between accuracy and context. Each identical locker is labeled with the history of Black education in Mineola: Colored 1871-1900, Southward 1900-1949 and McFarland 1950-1965. 

One cannot stand in front of those lockers without facing the reality that was racial segregation. 

Open each locker and one finds items representative of efforts at each of those schools. It is a perfect example of establishing fact and documenting people living within the context of the times. 

Schools are naturally great reservoirs of history. It is no wonder then that it was three local educators, Johnnie Bendy, Gwendolyn Hill and Earline “Pink” Wynn, who willingly shared from their personal collections in order to start the exhibit.   

Yes, there are a number of class photos and some school memorabilia – such as Rufus Jackson’s McFarland letterman jacket – but the Black History exhibit is so much more.

From early photos of the East Chapel C.M.E. Missionary Society to team photos of the Texas Black Spiders to biographical accounts of those who went on to some degree of fame, the exhibit draws one into the lives of others.  

Three of those personages are featured with extensive interviews. They are Willie Brown (politician, activist and author), R.C. Hickman (photographer) and James Tatum (musician and philanthropist). 

“That James Tatum is a real story-teller,” shared Bigham. She said that Tatum, now living in Detroit, had come back to Mineola for the dedication of the museum. An evening of his story-telling was a part of the special events surrounding the opening. At the end of the evening, she recounted, “No one wanted him to stop.” A return visit planned for last year was torpedoed by the pandemic.

If there is a centerpiece to the Black History exhibit, it is the tribute to the indomitable Blanche Harris. Harris, who spent most of her life as a barber in the South Ward offering haircuts in her small garage, was a community stalwart and much beloved for her service and wisdom. 

A long feature article from Discover magazine and a video interview of her by the Texas Reporter are centrally located. Her barber chair, tools and original sign for “Haircuts $2.00” prominently reside in the display.  

From the framed interview given by Harris, one begins to glimpse some of the wisdom which may have been dispensed in her shop.

“Treat people right, tell the truth, and don’t ever think you are better than someone else,” she is quoted. Yet again, she had stated, “Trust in God. Keep him first, talk to him. He’ll be there.”

“It was a different time,” amplified Bigham. “Everyone in the community could chastise your child if they needed. Everyone looked out after them, helped to raise them, loved them as their own.” She quietly shared, “Somehow we must get back to that.”

Bigham opined that children learn from family and from being close to their family.

“We need to bring closeness back to our children…eating together, playing together, just being together.”

Married to Johnny Paul Bigham for over 45 years, she can speak of family with experience. Bigham’s extended family is one of three African-American families who still hold large reunions periodically. The Sinches, led by the spirit of family matriarch and Bigham’s late mother Lila Sinches, the Tennysons and the Brinkleys are among those families who have had large reunions in or near Mineola. 

Bigham described quickly becoming a part of “the older generation.” She smiled and stated how she must try to explain the craziness of today’s world to her grandchildren.

She said, “You can’t right wrongs or wrong rights. You have to call it what it is. Then, if you want things to change, you have to reach their hearts.”

The museum was working its magic during this tour. It had facilitated a discussion about community and raising children and family. Blanche Harris must have been happy.