Jack Hadley Black History Museum to feature local queens

Published 9:42 am Saturday, April 29, 2017

The Jack Hadley Black History Museum will feature a special exhibit though Sunday, April 30, on Thomasville’s first African-Americans selected as Rose Show queens, starting with Victoria Phillias Thompson Perry in 1978 and including Joy McCalla in 2005 and Candace Howard in 2008, along with other African American state and national queens. 

Displays include the gown Miss USA 1990 Carole Gist wore. Stephanie Hunt, Mrs. United States 2007, who modeled in Miss USA 1990, donated the gown to the museum and it is on exhibit in the museum. 

Douglass High School’s first Miss Douglass was Dorothy Monroe, who was was Miss Douglass in 1948-49. Magnolia High School’s first Miss Magnolia was Dorothy Anderson in 1960. Each school continued to select its queen and attendants as listed below until the Thomasville City school and Thomas County school systems integrated in 1970.

Miss Douglass High School by years were: 1948-49 — Dorothy Monroe; 1950 — Delano Hadley; 1951 — Jule Anderson; 1952 — No graduating class; 1953 — Doris Walton; 1954 — Shirley Franklin; 1955 — Agnes Hadley; 1956 — Lillie Mae Barnes; 1957 — Mae Frances Cone; 1958 — Mae Ester Fletch; 1959 — Jean Monroe; 1960 — Lilian Chester; 1961 — Sandra Revels; 1962 — Theresa Tillman; 1963 — Betty Jean Andrews; 1964 — Veronica Culler; 1965 — Joyce Ann Taylor; 1966 — Deloris Frutlin; 1967 — Joyce Monroe; 1968 — Lativia Ray; 1969 — Yvonne Buchanan; and 1970 — Patricia Dixon.

Miss Magnolia High School by years were: 1960 — Dorothy Anderson; 1961 — Agnes Woodruff; 1962 — Julia Nixon; 1963 — Susie Mae Howard; 1964 — Carolyn Hadley; 1965 — Georgia Glenn; 1966 — Janice Hill; 1967 — Gwendolyn Cain; 1968 — Dorothy McCray; 1969 — Jacquelyn Saunders;  1970 — Thelma Smith

The museum will feature other African-Americans queen and runners-up for Rose Show Queens: Jessica Dunbar Williams, crowned in 2001, the first African-American Miss Thomasville Outstanding Teen and first Martin Luther King, Jr. Queen; Kendra Centrell Bell, the First African American crowned homecoming queen at Brookwood School; Jordan Riles, crowned Miss Black Georgia USA in 2013, who held the title of Miss Ebony Fashion in 2008, Miss Sophomore 2009 and Miss Savannah State University 2010-11. All these queens are from this community or surrounding communities.

The museum will have on exhibit the first African-American float entry and Miss Black Soul Queens in the Annual Rose Show Parade from 1976-81, all designed and directed by  Joseph “Joe Soul” Thomas.

The museum will have on exhibit Joe Soul’s first car entry in the Thomasville Rose Show Parade in 1977. For several years, Joseph “Joe Soul” Thomas and his organization organized the South Georgia-North Florida Miss Black Soul Pageant. Joe Soul, a local DJ, founded the Miss Black Soul Pageant in 1975 as a showcase for the talented black young women in the area.The sixth annual South Georgia-North Florida Miss Black Soul Pageant Queen was Renita M. Sheffield of Tallahassee, Florida. 

These special exhibits will be available through May 16, 2017 at the museum. The museum’s hours of operation are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Group rates are available. Call (229) 226-5029 for more information.

The Jack Hadley Black History Museum is located on the campus of Douglass High School Alumni Complex in Thomasville’s Dewey City Historic District.