City leaders unveiled new markers on Columbia’s African-American Heritage Trail at a ceremony Tuesday. The markers commemorate African-American history in the city at Douglass Pool, the Original Russell Chapel and the Annie Fisher House. Vicki Russell played a part in researching for the project.
“This unveiling is our fifth marker since we started at Sharp End,” Russell said. “We have 12 to 14 more markers in the works. In combination with those markers and ones that already exist that were put in place by other entities, we will have over 20 markers eventually.”
The Sharp End marker was placed in 2015. Mayor Brian Treece and Councilmember Clyde Ruffin were among the speakers at the event. City Manager Mike Matthes was also in attendance, as well as a representative from the Claire McCaskill campaign.
“Today, as we stand in this spot, I am reminded that the bulldozers of urban renewal removed the monuments of our history, removed those testimonies of African-American achievement and life and love and liberty and challenges and what the previous generations had to overcome as they battled discrimination, segregation and all the other things that came to keep them limited and confined,” Ruffin said at the ceremony.
“But, because of the African-American history trail, the city of Columbia has set itself apart from cities both large and small. Not only to acknowledge our collective history as citizens of this community, but to celebrate the African-American history which has been hidden and untold. Although those monuments are no longer with us, the fact that we are able to establish these plaques in prominent locations will allow the generations coming after us, for many, many years, to know that the history is no longer hidden. The voices are no longer silent.”
The Douglass Family Aquatic Center was built in 1939 in the First Ward, which Ruffin calls “the heart and soul of this community.” The Aquatic Center remains operating today. In the 1950s, Douglass Park was built right next to the pool. The Russell Chapel Church, built in 1927, was torn down to make room for the park. The church relocated to a new building at Second and Ash Street in the 1960s.
Annie Fisher was known as a successful businesswoman and an incredible cook. The daughter of former slaves, Fisher’s “Beaten Biscuits” were praised by many. Fisher’s plaque says that at the time of her death in 1938, she was one of the richest women in America. Fisher is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery.