Dent “Wildman” Myers, the longtime owner of a Confederate and Jim Crow-era memorabilia shop in Kennesaw, died at his home early Sunday morning.
He was 90, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.
Myers owned Wildman’s Civil War Shop since 1971, bringing him a loyal following from Old South collectors and angering many others, who objected to the racist souvenirs on display at his downtown shop.
Myers viewed his shop as a museum, telling the AJC in 2020, “it’s all history, regardless what you think about it.”
But the protest groups who have sought its closure over the years saw the store as a celebration of racism. Along with Ku Klux Klan outfits and Confederate flags, the store features artifacts from Nazi Germany and dolls of African American children with racist caricatures. Some items were displayed on shelves labeled with a racial slur.
In a post announcing Myers’ death, his shop’s Facebook page wrote that his dedication to his shop “was just a fraction of the life he lived,” describing him as a historian, poet, war reenactor and artist as well as a business owner.
“To say he will be missed is an understatement,” the post read. A public memorial will be announced at a later date, it said.
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