LOCAL

Friday, September 1, 2006

By Brad Barnes
Staff Writer

Children from the Fourth Street Baptist Church Day Care Center led the Pledge of Allegiance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of the Ma Rainey Museum of the Blues on Thursday. The museum is inside the house that the blues legend built and died in, which is across from the day care. "Hopefully some of those children there might see a role model in Ma Rainey," said former Columbus Mayor Frank Martin, speaking to a crowd of about 100. In 1991, Martin broke a tie vote in City Council over whether to spend $90,000 to save the house from demolition.

U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Columbus, second from left, and State Rep. Calvin Smyre cut the ribbon Thursday morning at the Ma Rainey Museum of the Blues. Others attending include Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff, far left, and Florence Calvin-Dawkins, center, chairwoman of The Friends of Ma Rainey Museum of the Blues Inc.

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