PEOPLE & PLACES
1 Maurice Taylor, Francine Small Taylor, Robin Small, Ay’leigha Lucas, 6, Ay’siah Lucas, 5, Annie Small, Ella Mae P. Small, David Earl Small, Joanne Small James, Claire Alexandre and Aysha Small.
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2 Chatham Ciderworks owners Maureen Ahmad, James Crawford and Elise Crawford. 3 Roxie’s great-granddaughters Ay’leigha Lucas, 6 and Ay’siah Lucas, 5. 4 Muralist Claire Alexandre. 2
Chatham Remembers Roxie Dark Small
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BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA
Four generations of the late Roxie Dark Small’s family gathered at Chatham Ciderworks on Feb. 13 to dedicate a new mural featuring the Pittsboro civil rights activist and matriarch who lived from 1899 to 1965. The 9-by-12-foot vinyl canvas is now the first mural visitors see when they arrive at The Plant on Lorax Lane. Owners of Chatham Ciderworks – Elise Crawford and her parents, Maureen Ahmad and James Crawford – commissioned Graham-based artist Claire Alexandre to paint the piece titled “What We Have.” It shows a bespectacled Roxie balancing a basket of fruits and vegetables on her head with a lantern bringing light to the abundance of the harvest. “We have a whole community here of people who work with their hands, make the most of what they have and really go out of their way to share it with the world,” Maureen said of the small-business community that celebrates the legacy of an extraordinary native. According to family members who spoke at the event, Roxie was a dynamo as a wife, mother, grandmother and caregiver. Among numerous accomplishments, Roxie ran a nursing home for Black older adults and was PTA president of Horton High School (now known as George Moses Horton Middle School) on and off for 23 years, a cofounder of the Chatham County Agricultural Fair and one of the founders of the Chatham Community Branch #5377 of the NAACP. CM
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
APRIL / MAY 2022
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