The March meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured a program by Michelle Dean about Pope’s Museum. Pictured left to right are Thomasville Chapter DAR Regent Charlotte Brown and Pope’s Museum Executive Director Michelle Dean.

The March meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured an interesting program by Michelle Dean about Pope’s Museum. Chapter Regent Charlotte Brown introduced the speaker. Michelle Dean is the Executive Director and Founder of Pope’s Museum Preservation. Dean is inspired daily by what she sees in both people and places. As a literature teacher and  public speaker, she knows that every person and place tells a story. Pope’s Museum is no exception. 

Dean said buying and restoring Pope’s Museum, the former home of Mrs. Laura Pope Forester has been an amazing journey for her family. She learned about the history of the Pope house from local citizens, by visiting an art exhibit at the Roddenbery Library in Cairo and from historical records in the Library of Congress. Dean contacted the Georgia Historic Preservation Office to inquire about the historical significance of the Pope house which was built in 1894. Dean received a favorable response which resulted in Pope’s Museum being placed on the National Register of Historic Places for art and women’s history by the United States Department of the Interior in April, 2022.

Laura Pope Forester was born in 1873 and died in 1953. She was an outsider artist which meant that she was never taught or officially trained and was not recognized by the art community during her lifetime. Now Laura Pope Forester is nationally known for her artistry and through the non-profit organization that Dean formed to restore Pope’s Museum. The museum and Laura Pope Forester have been recognized with several local, state and national awards. Last November, the Georgia State Society, NSDAR presented Pope’s Museum Preservation with the Historic Preservation Recognition Award. John Benning Chapter, NSDAR recognized Dean with the Excellence in Historic Preservation Award and Laura Pope Forester was added to the NSDAR register of Women in American History. Pope’s Museum also received an award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and Laura Pope Forester was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement.

Pope Forester created an iconic tourist attraction and her artwork reflects the core values which are family, honoring the military and equality of men and women. There is a large memorial to World War II for veterans that served in the war but didn’t return home. She used concrete and sand from the nearby creek to create sculptures that highlighted the sacrifices and accomplishments of the military and ordinary women. Pope Forester showcased the accomplishments of other women. The sculpture of a Red Cross nurse during World War I is a memorial dedicated to the women in the Red Cross who served beside our soldiers. Other sculptures include the Queen Mother, Cleopatra, Scarlett O’Hara, and the first female U.S. Senator. There is also a fifteen-foot bust of Martha Berry, the founder of Berry College, at Pope’s Museum. 

The architecture of the balcony at Pope’s Museum is amazingly made out of sewing machines and Model T wheels. Dean said this design creates a simple declaration that a woman in the 1930s worked in the textile mills in South Georgia. Pope Forester used these machines to prove that just as they were strong, beautiful, and versatile, so were women. She also sculpted on the walls and made murals created with paints made from things found on the property of her home. In the 1930s, there were 200 sculptures, wall to wall murals, historic gardens and more. When the museum closed in 1973, which was twenty years after Pope Forester’s death, one of the first owners of the property destroyed 180 of the sculptures. Some sculptures were also taken from the museum and many of the wall-to-wall murals were removed. Dean said that four of the statues and murals have since been returned to them.

Dean read a quote by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs which says, “While not recognized until after her death, it is today recognized as among the oldest documented self-taught art environments in Georgia and the southeast and is believed to rank among the oldest surviving such environments in the United States.” 

“Pope’s Museum is a national treasure that exemplifies the importance of the arts in women’s history, civic pride and historic preservation,” Dean said about the mission of the museum. Their vision is that “Pope’s Museum will be a core player in strengthening the community specifically targeting the areas of the arts, education and historic preservation.” Pope’s Museum is also a Bed and Breakfast and an event venue. They have hosted weddings and other events such as gospel concerts, Christmas festivals and Shakespeare festivals. They have good attendance at the events and guests from 29 states and five continents have visited Pope’s Museum.

Dean is enthusiastic about Pope’s Museum and she encourages everyone to visit the museum to see the artistry of Laura Pope Forester and to attend events held there. She ended her program with a quote from Laura Pope Forester, “Oftentimes as we grow older, we get threadbare, and think that life is a burden. Then we think of what God has done for us, and it gives us new life and new things to live for. We human beings must think life is worthwhile when we see so much nature. When the morning comes on a new day, we walk out and see God’s handiwork as the sun rises over the hilltops… the beautiful descending sunset. That is when I get busy… and think of a new picture I want to paint, or some face I want to bring out in memory of some person who has done his best and given his life for all.”  In showcasing what other people did and other success stories, Laura Pope Forester became one of America’s most inspirational success stories.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For more information about the Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit thomasville.georgiastatedar.org or facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR.