There are so many exciting things happening at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and Conference Center. In our 34 years we have anchored our programming in the legacy of Lucy Craft Laney: A transformational, once in a generation educator, administrator and social activist that devoted her entire life to training and preparing African American children. Her life and the institutions she created: The Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, the Lamar School of Nursing, and co-founder of the Augusta Branch of the NAACP, stand as a testament to her life’s work. She believed in hard work. She believed in education as the vehicle that could take the African American community to new heights. And despite legal segregation, Lucy Craft Laney created a climate that fostered excellence and success. Margaret Louise Laney, her niece and longtime English instructor, Rosa C. Tutt, piano prodigy, Dr. S.S. Johnson, doctor and pharmacist, Coach John M. Tutt, legendary math instructor and coach, Mable Ridley, Broadway star, and Dr. T.W. Josey, physician, insurance man, and community leader, are just a small sample size of the type of student Miss Laney produced.
The Lucy Craft Laney Museum is here because we stand on the shoulders of people like Lucy Craft Laney. It is our job to make sure that the future generations know of her accomplishments and the accomplishments of other African Americans that fought through the dark clouds of Jim Crow to achieve greatness.
With all of the great things happening at the Laney Museum this past year, the Laney Museum family is also saddened with the passing of our longtime Executive Director, Mrs. Christine Miller-Betts. Her tenure as Executive Director saw growth and expansion at the museum. Mrs. Betts’ love of art, history and educating young people in Augusta is a direct reflection of how Lucy Craft Laney approached her purpose in life. The Christine Miller-Betts Children’s Academy will be an ongoing testament and reminder to the work she did to advance the Laney Museum and to make it one of the great cultural institutions in the Greater Augusta Area. She is no longer with us physically, but her presence will continue to be felt at the Laney Museum and Augusta for generations to come!
