After her death in 1953 , Dean said that a local women ’ s organization in Pelham kept the museum open until it was sold into private hands in 1973 , whereupon it fell into disrepair over the ensuing years .
“ Interestingly enough , after her death in 1953 , the Pelham Business Chamber Women ’ s Organization kept the business open until it was sold into private hands ,” she said .
Finding the national treasure , Dean said , was a stroke of luck on Zillow and she and her husband had no idea what they were buying beyond an abandoned farm house .
“ We stumbled on it on Zillow , believe it or not , we thought we were getting an abandoned farm house ,” she said . “ It ’ s been abandoned for years , didn ’ t know it was a national treasure . Because it had been abandoned , it was in very bad shape .”
Learning from the local community that there were over 300 files on the Pope Museum in the Library Congress and that it had even been the focus of an article in the Smithsonian magazine , Dean realized that they were sitting on something far more important .
“ It was like a puzzle . People would stop me on the streets , and say , ‘ hey , you ’ re the one that bought the Pope ’ s place .’ I didn ’ t know anything ,” she said .
Writing to the Georgia Historic Preservation , Dean said , she found out that the museum was certainly worthy of note , beginning a journey of restoration , with the Pope ’ s Museum eventually entering the National Registry for Historic Places for Art and Women ’ s History , amongst other honors .
Forester , herself , has been no stranger to further acknowledgements and awards as restoration and recovery efforts continue to rebuild what she spent her life working on .
“ Laura was inducted into the Georgia Hall , the Georgia Women of Achievement , which was started by first lady Rosalynn Carter , so last April we went to Wesleyan College for her official ceremony . She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Georgia Women of Achievement . And then , last November , the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution inducted her into the United States Hall of Fame .”
The oldest piece on the site , Dean said , was Forester ’ s memorial statue to the efforts of the Red Cross nurses of World War I , which the director said she was inspired to create when she discovered there was , at the time , no memorial to them .
“ In 1917 , Laura found out that the Red Cross nurses served the men in World War I and , according to what she found out , there was no memorial to them in the world ,” Dean said . “ So she , in 1920 , made a life-sized statue of a Red Cross nurse right down to the uniform , the hat and the leather straps . The nurse is picking up a veil where she hand carved the men from Grady County that didn ’ t come home . It ’ s the oldest piece on the site .”
Additionally , Dean said that one of her favorite facets of the museum was the balcony that Forester had sculpted using globs of concrete and sewing machine legs and how it symbolized the strength and beauty of women .
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