The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, or CCBA, celebrated its historical marker on Friday May 19, honoring its place as the oldest Chinese association in the Augusta area.
A crowd of the association’s members and local leaders — including Mayor Garnett Johnson — congregated outside the CCBA headquarters on Walker Street for the marker’s unveiling.
Dr. Raymond Rufo, CCBA board member and the association’s historian, spoke on its history and that of the headquarters’ building, a former Evangelical Lutheran Church building constructed in 1860.
He mentioned the philanthropy of Henry Parsons Crowell, founder of the Quaker Oats Company credited with coordinating the Augusta National’s floral arrangement in the early 1930s, and his wife, Susan Coleman Crowell, for contributing $700 to the CCBA toward the purchase of its current building in 1939.
“The history of this building is almost like a godsend,” Rufo said. “Because of so many gifts, coming from all directions, that made this possible.”
Justice Carla Wong McMillian, the first Asian American to serve on Georgia’s Supreme Court, was also a speaker at the ceremony.
McMillian spoke on her family’s connection to Augusta and the CCBA, including her grandfather’s arrival in the city in the 1910s, her family’s grocery store next to the 13th Street Bridge, and her aunt, Dr. Margaret Wong Mola, being the first Asian woman to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia.
“It was just such a great place to grow up,” said McMillian about the organization. She recalled potlucks and family fun nights, Chinese language classes and playing sports in the Dragon Club, the CCBA’s youth group. “It was a place that really has made a tremendous impact on the history of the city… It’s especially fitting that we are here today to honor those who established the CCPA and those who have contributed to its long-standing position in our community.”
Before the marker was unveiled, Breana James, coordinator for the Historical Marker program of the Georgia Historical Society, acknowledged the CCBA as not only the oldest Chinese organization in Augusta, but also the longest-running Chinese organization in Georgia.
“I think that not only speaks to what you have been doing in the community, but how long you’ve been doing that,” said James. “This marker gives us an opportunity to look at Georgia’s past — not only the good, but the bad and the in between, and it helps us to have a greater understanding of the ongoing significance of the past in our lives today.”
Gary Tom, president of the CCBA, offered special thanks to the community, including Corey Rogers, historian at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, for encouraging him to pursue the historical marker.
Finally, the unveiling was blessed with a traditional Chinese Lion Dance by performers with the Chien Hong School of Kung Fu, based in Atlanta. Against a musical accompaniment of drums and cymbals, two players enacted the ritual to bring good fortune and prosperity.
“Don’t be offended,” said Tom, humorously assuring the audience, noting that the lion — powered by the two performers controlling its head and tail — may spit out lettuce at onlookers. “That green represents wealth, and is part of the ceremony. If you get hit by the lettuce, that’s good.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
