The embrace of a community: Little Richard’s legacy

Little Richard Penniman would have turned 93 last week, Dec. 5.  

The rock icon and member of the inaugural class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame died five years ago at age 87.  

The staff at the Little Richard House and Resource Center were busy the week before his birthday, readying the place with new photos and memorabilia for a celebration that also marked a renewal of the house and its purpose.  

They put up new artwork, photos, replicas of gold records, ticket stubs, handwritten notes and signatures, offering a glimpse into the acknowledged Architect of Rock and Roll’s decades of impact and influence.

They also prepared a portion of the house highlighting Little Richard’s childhood neighborhood of Pleasant Hill, along with a short documentary on the house’s history and transition from a derelict structure on Fifth Street to its relocation and repair at 416 Craft St.  

The house’s blighted years were largely due to Interstate 75 cutting through the middle of Pleasant Hill, separating half of the historic, close-knit neighborhood from the other half, effectively dividing friends, families, schools and businesses while destroying about 200 homes.  

Other dwellings were left isolated on blocks whose roads now dead end into the interstate.  

That was the case with Little Richard’s childhood home. Again threatened by recent upgrades to Interstate 75 and Interstate 16, it was moved and restored on Craft Street five years ago as part of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s disruption mitigation plan. The plan is now required by law but was not around when the interstate initially bulldozed through Macon.  

Even after the home’s renewal, it faced difficulties, and headlines reported its indefinite closure due to its then-management’s failure to file budget reports to the city as required.

Now, the Little Richard House and Resource Center is under the management of the Macon-Bibb County Parks and Recreation Department. In July, the department’s community engagement director and 18-year employee, Chris Austin, became manager of the house.

He and two other staff members have worked diligently to give the house its own upgrade worthy of Little Richard and to welcome local and international music tourists during regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tours can also be scheduled on Saturdays.  

“It’s come back to life with amazing support from the Pleasant Hill community,” Austin said. “This is an important place for them, just as it is for all of Macon. We want to make sure everything is done right and that the house is run in the right way. 

“I’ve seen people from Pleasant Hill come in and be so happy about what’s going on and people from places like England come in excited because they understand this is the house Little Richard grew up in and the neighborhood he came from.”

Friday was deemed a success, with high-spirited crowds filling the resource center and museum for hours in celebration of Little Richard and the house’s revival.  

Rudolph Penniman, Little Richard’s younger cousin, attended the event. He knew Little Richard growing up and, from age 18, toured with him as caretaker, friend and confidant. He served in the same way during Little Richard’s latter years and declining health. He continues working to honor his cousin’s legacy.  

“From my late teens, he took me with him across America and to Europe,” Penniman said. “It’s so good to see so many things here that reflect his career and its different eras. 

“He had such an impact on music. He’s known for talking about being from Macon everywhere he went, but he also loved Pleasant Hill and all the people here.”  

Though his younger years were troubled by poverty, prejudice and attitudes toward what was then considered his outrageous music and lifestyle, Little Richard’s love for Macon and his Pleasant Hill roots never waned.  

Pleasant Hill advocate, activist and friend to Little Richard, Peter Givens, was also at the birthday celebration.

“The sign out front says it’s the Little Richard House and Resource Center, and that’s what he wanted it to be: a resource center,” Givens said. “Richard was a native son and we discussed this many times… He obviously had a rough childhood, but he still grew up in the embrace of a community so he always came back to visit.  

The resource center provides a place to preserve the community’s history, he said, and recognize a cohesive village that raised its children and took care of its own.

“Pleasant Hill was literally that for me and others who grew up here. A place where every corner you turned, you found another set of parents — surrogate parents — who were looking out for you,” Givens added. “People wanted to see you do well.”  

Givens, who had a career as an engineer, grew up in pre-interstate Pleasant Hill and saw the devastation the interstate brought. 

But, he said, “We’re still a community always looking to try to help somebody here. The house honors Little Richard but goes deeper than that. It’s here to help and to bring eyes to Pleasant Hill.”  

The Little Richard House not only carries the history of Pleasant Hill, but offers programs to help the community, especially young people. One program, spearheaded by Thomas Duval, involves teaching young people computer animation and is awaiting computers to get underway.

“What I want to do is motivate and inspire these kids to want to learn and, specifically, to learn to read,” Duval said. “Little Richard will help capture their interest and they will learn animation, but the goal is to get them reading at grade level. This will help them in so many ways and help solve so many problems.”

The project will first involve elementary school students identified by Austin for a pilot program, then develop into an after-school program at L.H. Williams Elementary. It will feature community, place-based education in Pleasant Hill and it will be adjustable to other place-based education as the program expands.  

So happy birthday, Little Richard. A community thanks you for the gift you’ve left us.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.