Decatur resident Beate Sass spent around four years documenting the history of Decatur’s United Methodist Children’s Home (UMCH) with photographs and oral stories from former residents, staff members and volunteers.
Later this month, the DeKalb History Center will debut a new exhibit about the children’s home that was located in Decatur for 144 years. The exhibit opens on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Sass’ interest in the UMCH’s history began when she learned that Wellroot (formerly UMCH) would sell the property to the city of Decatur in 2017 before moving to a new space in Tucker. The UMCH had been located in Decatur since 1873. Originally serving as a congregate home for Civil War orphans, its function evolved over the years as best practices in the child welfare system changed.
After former UMCH administrator Beverly Cochran joined in 1969, he worked to expand the home’s focus to offer foster care services and an increased emphasis on family preservation, all while continuing to provide congregate care as a group home until 2010, according to Sass’ manuscript.
For several years afterward, the UMCH (now Wellroot) grew its foster care services while assisting families out of multiple district offices with “financial aid services, parent education and counseling,” according to a Wellroot spokesperson. On Decatur’s UMCH campus, the Family Housing program and Transitional Living program were still in operation, but the campus was underused and required repairs.
Sass was determined to photograph the buildings before anything could change. When Decatur took ownership of the UMCH and changed the name to Legacy Park, they allowed her access to photograph the property. She also interviewed 16 individuals, including former residents who lived in the home as children.
“I thought these stories, they were moving, they were poignant.” Sass said. “I think they mirrored the history of the time.”
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
Sass compiled the stories and images into a 114 page manuscript. She approached the DeKalb History Center about curating an exhibit based on the information she had gathered. Rebecca Selem, the museum’s exhibits and communications coordinator, thought it would be a great story to tell.
“It’s still history, but it’s living history, and I think that’s cool for the people who are in this exhibit to come and kind of share their history,” Selem said.
Several of the people Sass interviewed still live in Decatur.
Dorsey Nobles is the current facility manager for Legacy Park. He lived in the UMCH as a child from 1971 to 1982. He left for a few years, but returned in 1990 to ask Cochran, the UMCH’s kind-hearted administrator, for a job. Cochran told him to leave a resume behind and he would try to find something for him.
Soon after, he offered Nobles a job at UMCH in the maintenance department. He promised Cochran he’d stay on for at least two years, which eventually turned into 33.
“The children’s home has meant so much to so many people, and it’s changed so many people’s lives,” Nobles said. “In my case, you know, it saved us.”
Learning that Wellroot was selling the property was a difficult adjustment for many former residents. Nobles said he was “pretty down” after hearing the news and expected to lose his job soon after, but the city hired him as the facility manager, mostly because he was so familiar with the property. Nobles said he felt “pretty fortunate, pretty blessed that I got to stay somewhere that I dearly love.”
Mike Haynie of Decatur was another UMCH resident Beate interviewed. He lived in the children’s home from 1971 to 1981 and was one of the first Black residents. He said living at UMCH was good for him; it provided him with structure, it kept him busy and out of trouble and the children received ample community support from nearby colleges and organizations.
When Haynie learned that the property would be sold, he said it was a “hurtful, painful experience.”
“We are the legacy, you know,” Haynie said. “We got that blueprint written within us. So much community support has been poured into us.”
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett was elected in 2016, right around when the city purchased the property. She said they wanted to do their best to ensure Legacy Park was a place people could still enjoy, especially children.
The city has retained many of the historic buildings including the dairy barn, which they renovated into an event space. Several other original buildings are being used to host nonprofit meetings and offices. More recently, they built an inclusive playground, and they’re in the process of building track and field facilities. In the future, they have plans to develop affordable housing on the property.
For Garrett, the UMCH history is an important piece in Decatur’s legacy.
“I think it is amazing that Beate has done this and has put this together,” Garrett said. “We can all go back and look at how that property was used and what it meant to the people that grew up there.”
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
Credit: Courtesy of Beate Sass
The exhibit will consist mostly of Sass’ photographs, Selem said, with QR codes visitors can scan that will take them to audio recordings of the interviews. Each section of the exhibit will focus on one of the interviewees.
Nobles is planning to attend the exhibit’s opening, but he doesn’t know how to feel about having his image on display. He struggles with it, especially knowing how many children have gone through the UMCH and could have been a part of the exhibition.
Working at the UMCH and now Decatur for so long has made him quite a recognizable figure in the city, he said, but he wants people to know that he’s just Dorsey Nobles. He isn’t trying to become Beverly Cochran; he’s creating his own legacy.
“A lot of the [people] in the city make me feel bigger than life sometimes, and I just tell them it’s not true,” Nobles said. “It’s just very humbling.”
EXHIBIT PREVIEW
“Home: The United Methodist Children’s Home”
Opening reception 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31. The exhibit can also be viewed during regular hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Free. DeKalb History Center (first floor of the Historic DeKalb Courthouse), 101 E. Court Square, Decatur. 404-373-1088, dekalbhistory.org.
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