Margaret’s Grocery and MarketReverend Herman D. Dennis (1916 - 2012), Margaret Dennis (1916 - 2009)
Threatened
4535 North Washington Street, Vicksburg, 39183, United States
1984 to 2011
Preservation of the site is currently managed by the Mississippi Folk Art Foundation, founded by Suzi Altman. The site is closed for repairs, but you can contact Altman to schedule a tour at 601-668-9611 or suzisnaps@aol.com.
About the Artist/Site
Margaret and her first husband ran a rural grocery outside Vicksburg on old Highway 61. Following his fatal shooting by a neighborhood kid during a robbery, she met Reverend Dennis through the ladies at church, and they married in 1979. Subsequently, the Reverend began to fix up the grocery to attract attention and to enable him to share the word of God more widely. He began to paint the building red and white, with some blue, and Margaret added the crowning touches of pink and yellow. During WWII, the Reverend had been trained as a bricklayer, and he said the pinks, yellows, and reds should remind people that "you can't have a bouquet of flowers without different colors. We're all God's children."
Reverend and Margaret Dennis had bequeathed the Grocery to the Church prior to their deaths, but it has been allowed to fall into disrepair. Painted plywood signs are missing, and those still there are warped, splintered and peeling. The painted cinder blocks that remain are peeling and crumbling. Reverend Dennis' famed school bus pulpit is padlocked and rusting. It had been one of the premier art environments of the South.
~Kelly Ludwig
Update: The Mississippi Folk Art Foundation (501c3) has been the steward of Margaret's Grocery since 2013. The site is currently closed for repairs, but if you would like a tour or more information, please visit the Mississippi Folk Art Foundation Facebook page or contact Suzi Altman at suzisnaps@aol.com or call (601) 668-9611.
Contributors
Materials
bricks, cinder blocks, found objects, beads, paint, concrete
SPACES Archives Holdings
1 folder: clippings
Related Documents
Media
Home of the Double Headed Eagle
The home of the Double-Headed Eagle is a kaleidoscopic work of visionary architecture created by the Reverend H. D. Dennis and his wife, Margaret Dennis. A 2006 film made by folklore graduate student Ali Colleen Neff and filmmaker Brian Graves.
Map & Site Information
4535 North Washington Street, 39183
us
Latitude/Longitude: 32.4109419 / -90.8421813
Nearby Environments
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