NEWS BRIEF: Smyrna’s racist ‘Aunt Fanny’s Cabin’ finally demolished

A dilapidated building in Smyrna that once housed a restaurant with racist themes has been torn down. Aunt Fanny’s Cabin, which closed 30 years ago, began operating in the 1940s and thrived on “casual racism that characterized much of the restaurant’s décor and operation,” according to the history website Tomitronics. It featured “African-American waiters with sign boards hung around their necks to announce the menu” while dancing on milk crates. GPB reports that old advertisements for slaves adorned the walls, and the likes of Clark Gable and Liberace patronized the place.

The restaurant’s namesake was Fanny Williams, a Black caretaker and cook employed by a white family named the Campbells, owners of the business. In a recent announcement, Smyrna city officials said Williams “endured the Ku Klux Klan attempting to burn a cross to intimidate her over her activities which included being one of the major fundraisers for Marietta’s Negro Hospital.” Williams died in 1949, before the restaurant fully implemented its “Old South” concept. Details: 11alive.com