“Coloreds Only” signs and other historic artifacts were part of a temporary Black History Month display at Redan Recreation Center Feb. 4-7.

Matthew Walker brought his Children’s Collectible Mobile Museum to the recreation center to display signs from the civil rights era, including stamps, old irons, kitchen utensils and other items.

Walker, who often plays cards at the recreation center, said he wanted to bring items he has collected over the past three years to the center for African-American students to see and touch.

“It first started as a hobby and then it came more than just a hobby,” he said. “People started liking some of the stuff that I had. I would share with friends and family and they told me to take it out to the community.

“I go to thrift stores, yard sales and antique estate sales,” Walker said. “I visit Florida a lot and Tennessee, so I [make] stops [along the way] and hit the antique shows.”

Students from East DeKalb Boys & Girls Club, which is located within the rec center, we invited to the display. The club’s executive director, Brandon Riley, said the museum gives students an opportunity to see and touch history that they often read about in books.

“It’s important that they understand and appreciate how far we’ve come as a generation, especially when they see the ‘For Coloreds Only’ signs and slave auction signs,” Riley said. “It’s important for them to see the history, let them be able to touch it, feel it and appreciate it, [rather] than just read about it. This has just really been a blessing to have this museum here for the week.”

The museum also has bullets from the Civil War, foreign currencies, old magazines, dolls, seashells and toys.

“I wanted to make it a fun experience, another learning tool for education,” Walker said. “I hope [students] learn a little bit about the history. I have signs from segregation and military uniforms for coloreds. There is stuff that they haven’t yet seen. They think they know everything; they think they’ve seen everything, but I give them a chance to come in here and touch and see.”

Portia Perry, Redan Recreation Center director, said the response to the museum has been good.

“We’ve been having a lot of visitors,” she said. “We have basketball games in the evenings, and we get a lot of traffic and everybody has been really interested in it. [There are] a lot of interesting things in the museum.”

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Purpose

1. To allow all generations to experience things we had in the past first hand before they are all gone.

     2) To provide another creative learning tool for students and teachers in elementary and middle schools.

     3) A cost effective way of bring a quality mini-museum to local schools where schools don’t have to worry about transportation and security issues for their students and staff.

     4) A place where college students can do an internship in the future and gain experience in the following fields: Business, Archeology, Finance,  Management, Industrial Psychology, Research, Art, Botany, Zoology, Communication, Education, Marketing, History, Security, Safety, IT, Human Resources and many others.

     5) Later to help support non profit organizations in and around the community with financial contributions such as Senior Center, Battered Women Shelter, Homeless Shelter, Jobs for teens during the summer and Food Banks.

   6) To inspirator and  motivated future inventors, educators, collectors, and dreamers.

   7) Create a job for myself that would challenge me, be fun doing, make a difference, and continue to grow and get better each year.

  8) Most of all to create a fun and educational learning experience for students, teachers and staff for that one day.

   9) To bring community to work together and share their experience with students.

The Children’s Antique & Collectible Mobile Museum will be the first of its kind. Instead of the schools coming to the museum the museum will come to the schools or community centers. We will set up in the school's’ library or gym. We will stay one to three days so students, teachers and staff can view, touch and discuss items they liked in their classes that interested them. This mobile museum will consist of the following: 

1)   Sea shell collection consisting of: starfish, sand dollars, black murex, whelks, seahorses, snails, conch, coral, sea urchin, spider conch, and more.

2)   Rock and mineral collection consist of: amethyst, rose quartz,  and geode

3)   Toys and Game Collections 

   Doll collection,  Smurf collection, Board Game collection, Spongebob collection, Vintage 

toy collection, Lego collection, Disney collection, Beanie Baby collection and Wrestling collection

4)   Iron collection

5)   Political pin collection

6)   M&M collection

7)   Bank collection

8)   Tin collection

9)   Camera collection

10) Foreign and US money collection

11) Military Items collection

Patches, Badges, Uniform ,Ribbon, Medals, Rations and Miscellaneous military items

12) Glass and jar collection

Soda bottle collection, movies and cartoon collection

13) Black Americana collection

Stamps, Pickaninny Post cards, Segregation signs

14) Vintage Kitchen items

15) Vintage Lady  items

Hats, Purses ,Belts, Gloves, Costume Jewelry and Miscellaneous items

16) Sports items

Baseball cards, Football Sport figures ,Bobble Head collection ,Photos

Pins, team flags and Miscellaneous items

17) Coca Cola collection and soda bottles

18)  Vintage Tools

19)  Famous People Collection

20) Olympic items

21) Avon collection

22) Stamp collection

23)  Instruments of Measurement

24) Medical and Dental items

25) Urban Art

26) Telephones

27) Nature Items

28)  Butterfly collection 

29) Cartoon and movie glasses and mugs

30) Fossils

31) Old jars and bottles

32) Transformers

The Ten Most Asked Questions by Students and Teachers

1. Where did you get all this stuff from? I buy stuff at yard sales, estate sales, antique shops, the Internet, thrift stores, flea markets, auction houses and some people want to donate items.
2. How do you determine what to buy at those places? It depends on how much money I can spare at the time. I look for things to add to the collection I have first. I then tell people I am buying for my children's museum and then they ask me what I am looking for. Next I see if I can get a good price on something I really like. Sometimes the sellers suggest items and sometimes I just ask the students what would they like to see be added to the museum.
3. How many items do you have in your museum? I don’t truly know, maybe about 5,000 items maybe more. My original idea was to get 10,000 pieces before I start. Right now I am in the process of inventory.
4. What do the students like the best? It really depends on the age and grade of the student. The younger students from K-3rd grade like the M&M collection, Toys,  and Sea shell collection. Fourth through Fifth grade classes like the Seashells  The top three things the students like are: 1) Sea shells, 2) the fossils and rock collection and 3) the M&M collection. The teachers and adults like Black Americana section the best.
5. How long have you been collecting? About 4 years now.
6. Where do you show your museum at?  Right now, when my church has an event, during the summer at summer school and at family reunions. I am trying to get a contract with the Board of Education to show it in all elementary schools and middle schools in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
7. What is the best things you like about doing your Children's Museum? I like seeing the face of the students and teachers. They love it. I like finding out what they would like me to do to improve my museum. I like being my own boss setting my own hours to work. I get to wear many different hats such as being a buyer, going to different place in the country looking for items for my museum, plus you never know what you will find. I like the research side and the stories people tell you about the items. I love when people donate items they think the student maybe are interested in. I like the business part of it getting paid for something you really enjoy. I like that it keeps growing larger and larger. 
8. What don’t you like about your museum? Packaging up, students not handling the material with care and going into a places that don’t have enough room to properly display items. 
9. How do you determine what you’re going to collect and display? That’s easy. It depends on the price of the items, if I think students and teachers will like it and it’s interesting.
10. What do you want us to take away from this experience? I want all to dream, write down their visions and put them into action. Knowing  all things are possible. Do the research and have fun learning. Education is a very important part of our culture.  Math, science, reading, English, history, the arts and now computer science/technology are the basics. Enjoy what you do and excel in it.