RAHM to host Sunday brunch fundraiser
The event will be held at the childhood home of first lady Ellen Axson Wilson
The Rome Area History Museum will pay tribute to former first lady Ellen Axson Wilson Sunday with a champagne and roses brunch, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 304 E. Fourth Ave. in Rome’s Between the Rivers Historic District.
The house was the childhood home of the former first lady more than a century ago.
RAHM Executive Director Leigh Barba said the “roses” half of the events name pays homage to the fact the former first lady is credited for developing the rose garden at the White House in Washington.
The home was built in 1867 and the front façade along with most of the interior are still very much intact.
Tickets for the brunch are $60 for an individual, $100 for a couple and are available in advance at the museum, 305 Broad St., or at the door Sunday.
Barba said it takes approximately $10,000 a month to keep the Broad Street museum running and contributions have slowed in recent months. Barba believes some people are under the mistaken opinion the city is financing the museum since it moved a branch of the convention
and visitors bureau to a nook in the back of the building and helped pay for the new awning after the old awning collapsed.
The city of Rome owns the building but leases it to the museum. Barba said corporate assistance helps provide free admission to the museum for school groups and others.
“The last year we were open all the time, we had more than 14,000 visitors,
which wears on the museum,” Barba said. “There are constant repairs that need to be made. We’re still a private 501c3 non profit and we really need financial assistance.”
Barba said aside from the financial challenges the number of visitors in the museum is going up and requests for research are up. “We’re working really hard to keep it open,” Barba said.