"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : LILLER MADDOX MARBLES

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept" - Angela Davis It was a grand ole affair, the President of Grambling University and the Carroll High School Choir were there. The members of the advisory committee included, Mrs. Henrietta Carroll, Morris Henry Carroll, Rev. P.C. Keal, B.D. Robinson , Mrs. R.E. Bose , and H.H. Marbles. Well, in case you all were wondering, the event that I am speaking of is the Dedication Program for the Liller Maddox Marbles Recreation Center on Renwick Street in Monroe Louisiana that was held on Sunday May 20, 1962. Today, approximately 62 years later, The Liller Maddox Marbles Recreation Center is still in existence, and being used in different capacities to help carryout various programs, events, and recreational activities within the Black Community. Additionally, the recreational center just happens to be named for This Week's Black Pioneer, Mrs. Liller Maddox Marbles. She was born in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, Morehouse Parish, on November 24, 1891. Sometime before 1901, her family made the move to Monroe,Louisiana. As far as her early schooling goes, Liller attended the Wisner School for Colored children. Also, in 1903, she joined the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Monroe. After meeting the love of her life, Herman Henry Marbles, the couple decided to get married on April 30, 1908. In 1927, during the Great Flood in Monroe and West Monroe, Liller jumped in and helped take care of all of the displaced people that were housed in the old Masonic building on Washington Street in Monroe. In addition to her church work, her obligations as a wife, and taking care of her 3 children, Liller was a faithful member of The Morning Star Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star Organization. Although I never got the opportunity to meet Liller Maddox Marbles, I think that she was made in the mold of Angela Davis and Fannie Lou Hammer. You see, Liller was sick and tired of being sick and tired, tired of accepting the things that she couldn't change, and she was all about changing the things she couldn't accept!!! Sadly in 1943, Liller Maddox Marbles, the mother of three and loving wife of the man of her life, went home to be with the Lord.