Wiley J Strickland

Wiley built a life of honest work and deep family roots, guiding his large family from Georgia far into Michigan’s industrial heart.

Professor "Fess" Strickland

She wasn’t just Professor in name. She was a teacher, a guide, a leader, and a protector… the Mayor of Birch Street.

Bob Eberhart

Sarah F Pye

Essex Suggs

Born into the shadows of slavery, Essex Suggs spent his life working Mississippi’s cotton fields, raising nine children through the trials of Jim Crow and sharecropping. He lived long enough to witness the dawn of civil rights, leaving behind a legacy rooted in endurance and quiet strength.

Holly Falkner

Holly Falkner weathered the storms of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and widowhood while raising 17 children in rural Mississippi. A pillar of perseverance, she turned a life of hardship into a legacy of strength, family, and survival.

Tye Goolsby

Adeline Murphy