Glory Reitz
A resolution coming soon to the Newberry City Commission will spark the beginning of a historic society for Newberry, according to Mayor Jordan Marlowe.
Though the still-unformed society does not yet have defined tasks, Marlowe said it would work to preserve the town’s history in multiple ways, including words, pictures and buildings.
“In my mind, this is one part of a larger initiative,” Marlowe said. “To hold on to our past and our history, to keep our small town feel together, just to remind ourselves of where we came from, and how we got to where we are, and where we want to go together as a community. This isn’t an answer to all of those things, but it’s a part of the answer to all of those things.”
The mayor mentioned the resolution in his comments at the end of the commission’s Jan. 22 meeting. He said that new people moving into Newberry need to know the history so they can understand and respect the community’s heritage.
“I think it is beholden on us as a community to collect those stories and share that information with new folks,” Marlowe said in a phone interview. “They’ve chosen to join us, and we’re flattered by that. But we want to make sure that all of our children grow up knowing about the Newberry system, and we want to take the lead on it.”
The society would likely work on things like the restoration and preservation of historic buildings, as well as cataloging historic moments and impactful citizens. Marlowe, who is a teacher at Newberry High School, said he also hopes the committee will be able to put together mini-lesson plans for teachers to help impart the local history to their students.
The idea for the historic society as an official committee has been percolating for about a year, but it sprang from the five years of truth and reconciliation work Newberry has been doing, Marlowe said. In collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative, Newberry set out in 2018 to dig into its racial past and try to reconcile the wrongs done.
This quest for truth and reconciliation led to historical markers and a soil collection ceremony for lynching victims. It also created a space for conversations about the town’s history, and Marlowe said talking to artists and storytellers in Newberry made him want a formal historic society, with a designated purpose to preserve the town’s heritage.
Marlowe said he is also excited to convert the Little Red Schoolhouse by Newberry High School into a local museum.
The building is currently used to house some city offices, but Marlowe said the coming addition to City Hall will free up the schoolhouse in a few years. Marlowe said that timing should open up the schoolhouse around the same time the historic society wraps up some projects and initiatives to display.
Marlowe said he expects to have a draft of the resolution ready to bring before the commission within a month, but that the wording may change before it is finalized. He said he hopes to keep some definitions somewhat broad, allowing room for people of diverse backgrounds and skill sets on a board with some freedom to define its own responsibilities.
“I don’t want to gather people up and say, this is what you will spend your time doing,” Marlowe said. “I want to gather them up to say, you know, you guys are historians. Tell me what we should do, but here are some ideas.”
Marlowe said the historic society will need people of multiple talents to fill it, including writers, researchers, historians and others who care about Newberry’s history and can contribute.