Recently, while cleaning the Taborian Hall, home of FlagandBanner.com (FAB), we came across a bunch of old photo albums. It was like getting one of those Memories on your phone that say, “7 years ago” or “Trip to France” only this album had no title. Luckily, there are plenty of us old timers around and collectively we pieced the past together.
Party with a Purpose
It was a 9th Street block party funded by FAB for the black community. There were pictures of young ladies performing dance routines in the street, food trucks, bands, and a Temple of Dreams book signing by author Berna J. Love. Along with having fun we were also collecting oral histories from people who lived on “The Line.” This was Berna Love’s passion.
Being a teacher, author, and historian, Berna understood these memories were fleeting and so with my blessing and money she arranged a videographer to set up a booth for anyone with a story to tell. Later these recordings would all be archived and given free of charge to PBS for the documentary Dream Land: Little Rock’s 9th Street.
I am so grateful for Berna Love’s insight. As for me at the time, I was focused on growing my small business, raising my four children, renovating the building, and funding Berna’s worthy project.
Now over 30 years later those people, all but one, “L.T.” are gone. L.T. and I stay in touch, barely. He loves me. He’s in the documentary. And he’s one of my biggest cheerleaders because he was there, he remembers: The Taborian Hall was six months from the wrecking ball when I “saved” it; the oral historians were passing at an alarming rate and I was the unsung hero.
What You Don’t Know
People often think I bought the building because of its history. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I bought the building for the architecture. Nothing more. I simply love old buildings.
It wasn’t until I moved in that I learned of its colorful history. It was Mr. Max Honeycutt, proprietor of the Honeycutt Hotel, who paid me a visit one day and cordially walked me down the sidewalk of Ninth Street telling me in great detail about all the buildings, places and people. This is when I realized the breadth of my responsibility to tell the Taborian Hall story and reached out to Berna Love for help.
Labor of Love
The upkeep and restoration of the building has always been a labor of love. It is literally a line item expense, next to labor expense, on FAB’s income statement. A novel idea for sure but not a sound business practice. That’s because in the lean years (and every small business has them) I wonder about my business prowess for indulging in such extravagant philanthropy.
What’s been almost harder, though, are the comments from people who don’t really know me, how a business operates, or what it actually took to get here. They probably weren’t alive when we had the block party, don’t remember I was once an unsung hero, or know the work of L.T., Berna Love, Kathleen King, Constance Sarto and so many others who gave their time, energy, and money to get where we are today.
So, when I see people on social media say, “I should give the building to the Black Community” I find myself asking, “What does that even mean? Who exactly would that be? The City? Funded by your tax dollars?”
We’ve seen this before with the Mosaic Templars building. No one wanted it. These buildings don’t fit today’s business mode of operation. Because of pressure from the black community, and John Bush, our sister building too was saved. It is now owned and operated by the City of Little Rock.
Why Me
I often say I didn’t pick my building, “She” picked me. She knew on some celestial plane that only a woman with the heart of a mother could have listened, seen the potential in that dilapidated shell of a building, and have spent over 30 years incrementally nurturing her back to life to tell another story. Maybe this time, a woman’s story.
About the Author
Kerry McCoy founded FlagandBanner.com in 1975 with just $400 and a dream, building it from door-to-door flag sales into a multi-million dollar enterprise. With over five decades in the American flag and banner business, her insights into patriotic trends and flag sales patterns come from serving customers nationwide during times of celebration, crisis, and everything in between.
Kerry is also the host of “Up in Your Business with Kerry McCoy” radio show and continues expanding her business empire through Kerry McCoy Enterprises while sharing the entrepreneurial wisdom gained from decades of building the American dream.
