On Feb.13, the Dallas County Health Department named its community room after Vera Jenkins Booker. Booker was a trailblazing nurse in the Selma community who broke racial barriers, being one of the first African American nurses hired by the Dallas County Health Department. | Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information Just a day before valentine’s day, the Dallas County Health Department named its community room after Vera Jenkins Booker. Booker was a trailblazing nurse in the Selma community who broke racial barriers, being one of the first African American nurses hired by the Dallas County Health Department. Prior to Booker joining the Dallas County Health Department , she was employed at Good Samaritan Hospital that was located on the corner of Washington Street and Voeglin Avenue in Selma. In 1965, Booker was the nurse supervisor on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift when civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson was brought to the hospital after being shot during a voting rights protest in Marion, Alabama. Booker helped care for Jackson before he succumbed to his gunshot wounds eight days later, according to the Vera Jenkins Booker Community Room dedication program. The program said that Booker dedicated her entire career to improving the health and well-being of all residents in Dallas County, especially during times when access to healthcare for African Americans were severely limited. On Feb. 13, The Dallas County Health Department County Administrator Sarina Stewart joined Senator Robert Stewart alongside Dr. Constance Smith Hendricks and many others in welcoming the public to the dedication and renaming ceremony of the Dallas County Health Department's community room in honor of Vera Jenkins Booker.

On Thursday, Arabella's Business Development Director Sarah Averette (left), spoke to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information about Arabella Health and Wellness of Selma and the services it provides to the Selma community. During the talk, Averette was joined by the facility’s administrator, Carolyn Davison (right), and Director of Nursing, Latechia Bell ( middle) . | The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information On Thursday, The Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information spent the morning learning about the Arabella Health and Wellness of Selma nursing home and the services it provides to the Selma community. Arabella’s Business Development Director Sarah Averette spoke to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and several community partners about the different sectors of the nursing home, starting with their inpatient rehab unit. “So, we basically use this [unit] for our short-term patients who come out and need services after having any type of orthopedic surgeries and we also offer rehab for stoke patients as well,” Averette said. “We also work with cardiac patients, and we offer dialysis transportation if there is a patient that needs short term or long-term rehab, they live out in the community and need transportation.” Averette said the nursing facility also has a van to help take patients back and forth to dialysis appointments and regular doctor visits as well. “Because, of course, [patients] are going to have follow up appointments after they have a surgery and when they do, they will come back to Arabella and stay with us,” Averette said. “Usually, we try to get everybody in their own private room back here [in this unit] because it’s kind of like a hotel stay when they come.” Averette also spoke about the facility’s new and upcoming upgrades to the Chamber, saying that the facility plans to continue renovations, and she said it does not stop at the inpatient rehab unit. “We are working on getting the whole building renovated,” Averette said. “Whenever Arabella took over, that was their main focus to renovate this facility because a long time ago, this whole back unit used to be rehab facility full of patients when it was Warren Manor.” The facility also offers respite stays for family members taking care of hospice patients, according to Averette to provide them with a moment of peace. “Sometimes people just a need a break from home,” Averette said. “Sometimes they just have to get their minds clear or maybe take a mini break and we offer that respite stay for those caregivers as well. This is mainly focused on short-term stays because our goal is for short-term patients to be able to return back to the community and share their perspective on Arabella and our thorough care. As you know, we offer 24/7 care and we have a rehab unit located on the west wing so it’s good access.” The last pillar of Averette’s talk with the Chamber consisted of her speaking about the activity department that they have for its residents. “We have about four ladies who work in the activities department,” Averette said. “The activities’ department help the long-term and short-term patients stay active while they continuously get their care from our rehab department.” As Averette continued talking, the facility’s administrator Carolyn Davison walked into the facility’s dining room alongside the Director of Nursing Latechia Bell to greet the members of the Chamber and its community partners, welcoming them to Arabella. At the end of Averette’s talk, she opened the dialogue up for questions and allowed everyone who attended the meeting to tour the facility, showcasing Arabella’s new and improved inpatient rehab rooms. Averette said if there is anyone interested in a tour of the Arabella Health and Wellness nursing home that they are always open to do a tour. Residents interested can call 334-874-7425 for more information.

Jawana Jackson stood before the crowd in the community room of the Selma-Dallas County Public Library and shared the story of her childhood home in Selma, where her parents, Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, lived many years ago. | Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information By Faith Callens Special to the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information On Thursday, the Selma- Dallas County Public Library welcomed Selma native Jawana Jackson home. Not only did Jackson return home, but she also brought with her the memories, the legacy, and the story of her childhood home in Selma where her parents, Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, once lived. During the luncheon, Library director Becky Nichols started the event off with a prayer which led to the introduction of Amber Mitchell, Founding Curator of Black History at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Heather Bruegl, Curator of Political and Civic Engagement at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation as well. “They are the curators of the museum where the [Jackson] House is currently residing,” Nichols said. “I laughed and I said, “What is it like to curate a house? Catalogue a house?” “They have gotten quite the challenge, and I want to thank them for the slideshow today that gives you, kind of an idea of how this amazing journey has taken place.” Nichols also recognized several community leaders during the luncheon such as Selma Mayor Johnny Moss, III, Dallas County Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn, Representative for U.S. Congresswoman Terri Sewell Byron Evans, and the Selma and Dallas County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Information Director Sheryl Smedley. There were also several others recognized at the event including members of the Selma City Council. As Jackson came up to the front of the library’s community room, she was welcomed with a big hug from Nichols and a round of applause from a room full of community members that calls the city of Selma their home. “I want to thank each and every one of you for coming,” Jackson said. “To my better half, James Richie, who has been with me on this journey, every step of the way; to the library; Becky Nichols, who is a wonderful, wonderful friend of my mother’s and my family; and to the Henry Ford Museum, who are now the stewards of the Jackson home— if the walls of that house could talk, what would they say?” Jackson said the house would tell a story— a journey of a family here in Selma, Alabama that was rooted and committed to love, peace, justice and community. It also includes the story of several organizational clubs in Selma that impacted her upbringing, like the Chesterfield Club that was established in the city over 90 years ago. “Making sure I made it to school on time,” Jackson said. “Everything that we know is community, right here in Selma. My family actually goes back to the late 1800s and matter fact, I just left— before I came here—the other family home, the Burwell home, which is right around the corner. I could never leave Selma, never ever.” Jackson went on to talk about the Burwell home that was built in 1897 by Dr. Lincoln Laconia Burwell. “You had Dr. Burwell, Dr. R.B. Hudson, who were brother-in- laws by the way and they married my great-grandfather’s sisters both, so a foundation was laid for my parents to open their home to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. many, many years later.” Jackson went on to answer the question, “Why Selma?” “Well, we sit on a major waterway,” Jackson said. “We sit in the Blackbelt, which I don’t know how many of you realize but at one point in history of this country, the Blackbelt was the largest economic engine in America. So, during those years, you had a Dr. L.L. Burwell, a R.B. Hudson and a P.L. Lindsey and all of these people that came together to talk about education, economic sustainability and how to create and maintain community. Then, one day you had a Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, who married and decided to give their lives to Selma and the community. Then I come along at Good Samaritan Hospital which still stands as a beacon of the rich history that we have here in Selma”. Jackson went on to talk about the history of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Selma. “We sit on major waterway and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. comes into Selma, sees that bridge, sees the vision for America on voting rights, sees Montgomery, a stone’s throw away from Selma and plans a major march on voting rights and democracy for America here in Selma, in my parent’s home with me at four and five years old.” Jackson said King did all the planning of the march with people from all around the world that came into the Jackson home. She said he did that on the footprint of the Burwells and the Hudsons and the people that came into Selma to make it a community that was thriving. “You know, I think about the civil rights history,” Jackson said. “That was made in the Jackson home. I was so very young but somehow, I understood the meaning of now. The urgency of now, then. The importance of democracy in America and what my parents tried to, in their small way, give of themselves in this house to ensure that our country will always be a democratic society. Here are we are, 60 years later; we are still fighting for democracy.” Jackson said to the audience that fighting for democracy is not something they should do but an action that must be done. “And Selma is a place that those ideas, feelings and lessons can be learned,” Jackson said. “When I made the decision for the Jackson House to go to the Henry Ford [museum], it was easy because I knew that house deserved millions of people to be able to touch and see the story.” Jackson said allowing the Henry Ford Museum to curate the house also allowed her to bridge a gap between the North and South because many of the ancestors back then left the South to go up North for a better life. Jackson said when the opportunity came to curate the home, she knew it was a no-brainer and considered it a “win-win” because the Jackson home will stand now for generations to come. Nearing the end of the event, Jackson and the Henry Ford Museum gave away free copies of her mother’s book, The House by the Side of the Road along with a bookmark and a postcard to commemorate the celebration of the Jackson Home. The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan will publicly display the original frameworks of the Jackson Home that was once in Selma in June in its Greenfield Village. For more information about the Jackson Home, visit https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/greenfield-village/jackson-home/.