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Monday, November 9, 2026Nov 9

Recommending a walk-through of redesigned Bessie Smith Center

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers perform on stage. The Bessie Smith Cultural Center hosts Big 9 Roots Festival, a two-day music festival, on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers perform on stage. The Bessie Smith Cultural Center hosts Big 9 Roots Festival, a two-day music festival, on Saturday, April 15, 2023. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Rick Rushing & The Blues Strangers perform on stage. The Bessie Smith Cultural Center hosts Big 9 Roots Festival, a two-day music festival, on Saturday, April 15, 2023.

I recently attended the WTCI Gratitude Gathering at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center and was absolutely blown away by the quality of that small museum.

Staff and volunteers utilized pandemic downtime to completely redesign the entire building. Artifacts, videos, old photographs and life stories, modern displays, a large meeting room … it is a joy.

I urge everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, to experience this extremely well done walk through our history. Bessie would be proud!

Jo Coke