HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — FOX54 is celebrating black history all month long, and The Resemble Exhibit located at the Richard Showers Recreation Center in Huntsville is doing the same honoring past and present African American history makers in the Rocket City and beyond. The Resemble Exhibit is also the first Black history exhibit in Huntsville.
Richard Showers Recreation Center Director Kent Ballard said it all started with one idea. "This being the first and definitely not the last, we wanted to make sure that we honored as many people as we possibly could. The thought process behind this exhibit really stemmed from the idea that there are so many stories that we have specifically about Huntsville and specifically about the Black history in Huntsville."
So let's start from the beginning with how this exhibit was named. "So the exhibit is entitled resemble and we wanted from children as young as two and three years old to be able to come in and see some of the pictures of these Huntsville heroes and really see their resemblance in them."
There are well over 100 honorees in the museum this year with different areas to represent the individuals. One location is dedicated to athletes. "There's no way that we could not identify the lady running Rebels from S.R. Butler High School. So these young ladies were amazing and many of them are still in Huntsville."
Another key component are the artifacts. "Ms. Opal Lee, the godmother, the grandmother of the Juneteenth movement or Juneteenth holiday itself, was able to come to Huntsville and actually sign one of the flags that represents Juneteenth. So the amazing thing is we have an opportunity to post that here so that men and women can actually come and see that."
With at least nine different sections of the exhibit, Ballard explained, unfortunately, they still just could not capture everything in one space. "So we came up with the idea of creating what we call a time machine. And that time machine has pictures from the early 1600s all the way to the recent 2020 through 2024."
The exhibit is free and open to the public. "We've agreed to really run this through the end of march, maybe even beyond. We want to make sure that as many people can get here as possible to really take in the truth of our history. So it is open every day, seven days a week, Monday through Friday. We're open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and then Saturday from 9 to 1, Sunday from 1 to 5. So please make it a family event. Bring children."