The Holbrook Building
An ongoing project of mine is to try and document places across the South that were part of The Negro Motorist Green Book. Unfortunately, I didn’t start the project soon enough, and got to Meridian a few years too late. The E.F. Young Hotel was in the Green Book. The Rev. Martin Luther King once stayed there, but all that is left is the (really cool) sign in the first picture. But, efforts are being made to restore the Holbrook Building, which housed the Holbrook Benevolent Association (HBA) that was essential in helping black folks receive medical care, legal help, and decent burials, among other things. According to the Visit Meridian website (accessed 06.30.24), Jackie Robinson once spoke at an NAACP event held in the Auditorium to raise funds for a statue to memorialize Civil Rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman. I was lucky enough to meet the owner of the building, Mr. Otis Gowdy (who is a super nice guy and let me in to take some photographs) who shared that the H.B.A. also held concerts, workshops, dinners and educational programs for the black community and played a major role in the formation of the African American Business District in Meridian. If you have a moment, you can see Mr. Gowdy’s efforts here- https://holbrookms.com/ or on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/HolbrookMeridian/
