Located on Haynie Street, Jesse Jackson grew up in this house in Greenville, South Carolina. Born on October 8, 1941, Jackson graduated from Sterling High School. Known as a leader in high school, Jackson became known as one of the members of the “Greenville 8,” eight men and women who entered the Greenville public libraries to desegregate them.
Jackson’s mother, Helen Burns Jackson, lived in Greenville until she died in 2015.
Located in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Historic District, the Prince Hall Masonic Temple is a major site within the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park and one of the city’s most significant historic buildings. Built in 1937 with a 1941 addition, the Renaissance Revival–style building was funded by John Wesley Dobbs and designed by Charles Hopson and Ross Howard as a meeting place for the Prince Hall Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star.
In 1957, the building became the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. following the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. King’s office and the SCLC operated on the first floor, with staff including Ella Baker, Andrew Young, and Dorothy Cotton. After Dr. King’s assassination, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy continued SCLC leadership here. The second floor housed WERD, the nation’s first Black-owned radio station.
Fully restored by Lord Aeck Sargent, the building continues to serve the SCLC. It has been renovated into approximately 16,000 square feet of multi-use space, with the National Park Service sharing educational exhibits on the first floor. Local businesses will occupy the upper levels while the Masons will continue to use the space on the 3rd Floor.
Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly (1978–2013) was one half of the legendary ’90s rap duo Kris Kross, known for their 1992 hit “Jump.” Discovered by Jermaine Dupri at the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, Georgia, Chris Kelly and Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith became instant icons with their signature backward clothes. At the time, they were the youngest duo to break into hip-hop.
Unfortunately, his life was cut short in 2013 due to drug overdose. His final resting place is in Westview Cemetery.
The black-and-white image is courtesy of Wikipedia.
Thank you for joining me in my travels around the South. It’s been a great year of wandering backroads and a few main ones. If I learned anything, it is that people love abandoned houses, buildings with unexpected histories, and (in)famous graves.
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter’s pen name was O. Henry. A prolific short story writer, his most famous story is “The Gift of the Magi,” a story about a husband and wife who struggle to afford Christmas gifts and their determination to buy the perfect gift for each other.
Buried in Asheville’s Riverside Cemetery, visitors frequently leave $1.87 on his grave, the amount Della possessed in savings at the story’s beginning, and hair clips.
If you’ve never read the story or want to reread it, you can read it for free on Google Play Books.
Billy (1946-1979) and Benny (1946-2001) McCrary were born in 1946 in Hendersonville, North Carolina. At the age of 4, they contracted rubella, which caused permanent damage to their pituitary glands.
Their large size led them to have jobs at Circus Circus Las Vegas, where they road minibikes. They also wrestled in Japan under the name of the McGuire Twins.
They were inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1978. At the time, they weighed over 700 lbs.
Billy McCrary died in 1979 in a motorcycle accident in Niagara Falls. Benny lived until 2001. They are buried in Crab Creek Baptist Church Cemetery outside Hendersonville, North Carolina.
