OCHLOCKNEE, Ga. — Pope’s Museum Preservation, Inc., the non-profit that restores and maintains Pope’s Museum, a historic and artistic gem of Southwest Georgia, will receive the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Recognition Award at a special ceremony at the museum on Nov. 19, 2022. The museum was nominated for this recognition by the Georgia State Society NSDAR, Betty Brown Harrah, state regent, who will present the award.

The Historic Preservation Recognition Award recognizes and honors an individual or group that has done recent remarkable volunteer work at the community level. According to Barbara H. Chesney, national vice chair for the DAR Historic Preservation Recognition Award, “This was an outstanding application for an amazing project. The museum is significant for the local community, the state of Georgia, and the nation!”

The State Society recognizes that over the past several years, the museum’s Board of Directors has provided continued care of, and commitment to, the high-quality preservation and careful rehabilitation of this architecturally and historically significant property, according to a press release from the John Benning Chapter, NSDAR, of Moultrie.

In addition, the John Benning Chapter nominated the museum’s founder, artist Laura Pope Forester (1873-1953), for inclusion in the NSDAR register of Women in American History.

“We are beyond ecstatic about both of these honors,” said Michelle Dean, executive director of Pope’s Museum. “To have others recognize the work of Mrs. Forester and the work of our board makes all of our efforts worthwhile.”

In the early 20th century, using common concrete, sand from the local creek and other locally sourced materials, Forester created more than 200 sculptures and dozens of murals, according to the press release.

Subjects included the Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth’s mother), a World War I Red Cross nurse, Gold Star mothers and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, among other notables of the time. Honoring veterans from World Wars I and II was a common theme for her work.

Her art portrayed a message that was rarely heard in the early 20th century – that women provided a vital role in society.

After nearly 50 years of being closed and used as rental property, the museum reopened in 2018 following months of extensive research and hard work, the press release said.

The museum was named to the National Register of Historic Places in early 2022 and was recognized by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in the spring of 2022, receiving one of only two awards given for Excellence in Restoration.

The awards will be presented during a ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the museum located at 192 Pope’s Store Road in Ochlocknee, , just off Ga. Hwy. 111 between Meigs and Cairo. Forester’s outside works and architecture will be available for viewing following the ceremony.

For more information on Pope’s Museum, visit their website at www.popesmuseum.org or follow them on Facebook.

For more information about the ceremony, contact MoultrieDAR@gmail.com.