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community residents has been set up and tasked with honoring
Williams, at the site where the cabin currently sits, next to the
Smyrna History Museum.
“You cannot tell the story of Fanny Williams without speaking of
the cabin, because the cabin was an instrumental part of her story,”
said Maryline Blackburn, a former City Council member who leads
the Coalition to Save Aunt Fanny’s Cabin, on Wednesday.
After the restaurant went out of business, the city moved the
cabin to its current location. No foundation was built for the cabin,
however, and the city failed to maintain the structure over the past
quarter century. It was closed to the public last year after the city’s
building inspector determined it was too dangerous to remain open,
having suffered water damage. The estimated expense of repairing
the cabin was between $400,000 and $600,000, a cost the mayor
and council balked at.
The city refused to provide copies of the bids before the council
reviews them, but did provide a list of names of people who
submitted proposals.
Blackburn provided copies of the two proposals submitted by the
coalition. Shockley declined to share her proposal before the council
meeting. Ashley Limousin Farms could not be reached for comment.
One of the coalition’s proposals goes against the council’s
decision by proposing the cabin not be moved, but instead be
transferred to the coalition. In the proposal, the coalition writes that
it was “strongly advised that moving the cabin could be a detrimental
act,” citing an unnamed building mover.
The coalition could assume ownership of the cabin and lease
the land it sits upon from the city, the proposal says. The coalition
and “their non-profit partners” would renovate, operate and
maintain the cabin.
Under the coalition’s other proposal, the cabin would be moved to
an unspecified location in Smyrna’s Rose Garden Hills neighborhood.
A GoFundMe organized by coalition member Shaun Martin
has raised $4,000 for the cabin. Blackburn said the coalition has
commitments from other donors, but declined to share more
information.
The coalition’s proposal to move the cabin says “grants have
been identified and will be pursued upon the successful award of the
cabin,” and that partners would also provide in-kind donations.
n NEWS & NOTEWORTHY n
Fanny Williams was a Black woman
who worked as a housekeeper for
Smyrna’s prominent Campbell family,
which started the restaurant. She has
been credited as an early civil rights
figure in Cobb County, helping found
the Cobb Cooperative in Marietta,
the state’s first all-Black hospital, and
enduring intimidation from the Ku
Klux Klan for her efforts.
/parcatpiedmont.com