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Johnson Homes ~ Southside of Dublin, GA
5/8/2016 8:01:41 PM
Susie Dasher Elementary
Picture
This photo hung on the wall at Susie Dasher Elementary when it was operating on the south-side of Dublin, Ga. In the community of Johnson Homes.

I attended this school, walking distance from 306-B, Johnson Homes.


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Laurens County African American ~ History, Georgia ~ USA
5/8/2016 8:10:52 PM

LAUGHING BEN ELLINGTON
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE
The Story of Laughing Ben Ellington

Ernest Camp, editor of "The Dublin Times", penned his
thoughts about Ben Ellington is this poetic obituary:


LAUGHIN' BEN ELLINGTON

He laughed down here in Laurens an' he laughed
throughout the state,
An' jes' everywhere he traveled he would
laugh an' imitate;
He laughed from sunny Dixie to the deep
Pacific shore,
But never in this country will be ha-ha any
more!

He laughed sometimes for money an' he
sometimes laughed for fun,
He would laugh in bleakest weather and
then laugh beneath the sun,
He would laugh in such a manner as you
you never saw before,
But never in this country will be ha-ha any
more!

He would laugh for any person an' he'd
laugh at any place,
There was allers laughter runnin' down each
wrinkle on his face,
He would oftimes laugh at nothing till his
very sides were sore,
But never in this country will be ha-ha any
more!

He laughed because he liked it - ne'er a
shadow out for him,
An' he often carried sunshine where the hope
was growin' slim,
But he laughed his way to glory, far beyond
this mortal shore,
But never in this country will be ha-ha any more!

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Laurens County African American ~ History, Georgia ~ USA
5/8/2016 8:15:47 PM

DUBLIN'S FIRST COLLEGE -

The first mention of an vocational education school for the Colored students of Laurens County appeared in an advertisement in an 1886 issue of The Dublin Post. A.S. Dickson, President of the Dickson Institute, invited all of Dublin to join with him and Vice President Pinkney Hughes in a meeting to solicit funds for the school. In December of 1905, the Congregational Methodist Episcopal Church purchased an acre of land. Bishop L. H. Holsey appointed Rev. W.A. Dinkins as President of the Dublin Normal and Industrial School. Rev. Dinkins was a graduate of Paine Institute in Augusta. The school was located in a small wooden building at 292 East Jackson Street at its intersection with Decatur Street. School officials planned to model the school after Booker T. Washington's school in Tuskeegee, Alabama. Poplar Springs Industrial School was established later in that same year of 1906. The Poplar Springs school was sponsored for the most part by the members of Poplar Springs North Baptist Church.
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RE: Laurens County African American ~ History, Georgia ~ USA
5/8/2016 8:23:28 PM


"Sugar Ray" Robinson, a world champion boxer whose real name was Walker Smith, Jr., called many places home. Montgomery County, Wheeler County and Laurens County along with New York and California were all home to Ray at different times during his lifetime. Many people don't realize that he was a native of Georgia. As a result, Robinson is not a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Ray's parents, Walker Smith and Lula Hurst, lived in Laurens County and were married here on February 20, 1916. His father was born near Rentz and grew up on the Peterson place south of Ailey. His mother's family roots were on the Hurst plantation in Washington County.
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RE: Laurens County African American ~ History, Georgia ~ USA
5/8/2016 8:29:00 PM
William Lafayette Hughes

PROFESSOR WILLIAM L. HUGHES
A Renaissance Man


William T. Hughes was a man of all things to his native hometown of Dublin. A man of humble beginnings, Professor Hughes was one the Emerald City’s most dedicated and respected citizens during the golden age of the city.

William Lafayette Hughes was born in Dublin, Georgia on May 8, 1873. His father, Pinkney Hughes, was a farmer and an adult slave at the beginning of the Civil War. His mother, Annie McLendon Hughes, was also born in 1842. William’s older siblings were Betsy, Susann, Fred, Laura and Eva. On his paternal side, William’s grandparents were the Rev. Allen and Mrs. Charlotte Hughes.

Little William attended the meager schools in the Dublin area. His parents were dirt poor, like many others, so William and his entire family had to work hard just to survive. By the late 1880s, William made it his life’s goal to attend college. In order to save enough money for tuition, the young man worked as much as he could. An intelligent student, William was hired as a teacher in the Dublin City School system in 1889, the first year of the separate city system. He was only sixteen years old.
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