Tornado damage closes African American military museum

Rick Taylor, executive director of Hattiesburg's Convention and Tourism commissions, which oversee the museum, tells The Hattiesburg American roof damage caused damage to the museum.

Museum manager Latoya Norman said rainwater soaked many of the items in the museum, both those that were on display and those that were in the archives.

“It's heartbreaking,” she said. “It was devastating. I'm thankful it happened on a day when no one was at work and my coworkers and their families are OK.”

Norman said war medals, documents, uniforms, photographs, memorial flags, mannequins and newspaper clippings all got wet.

The museum's exhibits and artifacts were located in the historic USO Club – the only surviving USO built exclusively for African-American soldiers. In 2003, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Hattiesburg Convention Commission worked with various partners to restore the USO Club and opened it as a museum in May 2009.The museum's exhibits and artifacts were located in the historic USO Club – the only surviving USO built exclusively for African-American soldiers. In 2003, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We lost a fairly significant section of roof,” Taylor said. “The museum's main hall is open to the weather. The building is now in worse condition from a construction standpoint than when we took it on to make it into a museum.

“The building is definitely recoverable,” he said. “It is a one-of-a-kind building in the United States, and we were concerned that it might have been lost totally.”

The items from the museum will be put in storage until the USO Club can be rebuilt, Taylor said.

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Information from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com

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