Aunt Fanny's Cabin, a restaurant near Stone Mountain, Georgia, once drew Georgians from Smyrna and Atlanta, as well as visitors from all over the country and the world.
According to an oft-told tale, the restaurant’s core building was a relic of the Civil War era and the home of a former slave, Fanny Williams, who spent her last years sitting on the restaurant’s front porch telling of the war and its aftermath. At her death in 1949 legend had it that she was very old, her age ranging from somewhere in the 90s to much older.
Let's delve into the history of this establishment, exploring its origins, the legends surrounding it, and the controversies it faced.
The Legend of Aunt Fanny
Indeed there was a real Afro-American woman named Fanny Williams. However it was revealed after the restaurant closed in the 1990s that she was born after the Civil War and had never lived in the cabin, which itself dated from the 1890s. Far from an ancient rural yokel, she was about 81 when she died, a city dweller in Atlanta, and active in raising funds for her church there.
Fanny Williams was a servant to a wealthy Atlanta family named Campbell. She was in service to socialite Isoline Campbell McKenna in 1941 when McKenna opened a tea room-style eating place on family property near their summer home. She named it Aunt Fanny’s Cabin, hosting ladies’ luncheons, bridge clubs, and bridal showers.
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Evolution and Controversy
She leased the business in 1947, selling it to lessees Harvey Hester and Marjorie Bowman in 1954. They elaborated the Aunt Fanny legend, enacted in what are known as “Blacks in Blackface” scenes where cheerful servers sang, danced, and even joined patrons in singing “Dixie,” the anthem of the ante-bellum South.
Harvey Hester [pictured above instructing his employees]
The restaurant’s third owner, George “Pongo” Poole, continued the song and dance tradition into the 1980s, although when a cabaret tax was demanded, dancing by the Black boys stopped.
It was a tour bus stop, and a favorite of President Jimmy Carter and conventioneers such as members of the American Bar Association. It became standard procedure when reporting on the restaurant to quote Poole about how his staff loved working there and was part of a big happy family. When interviewed, Black women servers would invariably attest to their love of the job and how they never felt insulted.
A 1964 survey by Wayne State University researchers showed that most Black respondents found terms such as Sambo, Aunt Jemima, auntie, mammy, spook, and darkie offensive. Many white people, especially in the South, did not understand this, and thought that calling an elderly Black man or woman Uncle or Aunt/ie was a mark of respect.
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As for “mammy,” despite the affection many Southerners felt for the Black women who had cared for them when they were children, it had been rejected by many Americans long before the 1960s. In the 1920s the National Organization of Colored Women’s Clubs mobilized massive opposition to a Washington, D.C. memorial to mammies proposed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
After the death of owner George Poole, Aunt Fanny’s Cabin struggled and subsequent owners could not revive it. It closed for the last time in 1994, sometimes recalled as partly a victim of “political correctness.”
Based on the understanding that the original portion of the restaurant’s building had been a slave cabin, the city of Smyrna proposed to move it downtown to be used as a visitors’ center.
The Legacy of Aunt Fanny's Cabin
So, what’s the story? Did the degree of tolerance or even liking that some Black people expressed for Aunt Fanny’s Cabin mean that it held no offense to people of color? Did it mean that those who complained were thin-skinned trouble makers with an elevated sense of their own dignity who couldn’t take a joke?
I cannot be absolutely certain that there has never been a Black-owned restaurant that celebrated plantations, “pickaninnies,” and “mammies” of the Old South, but all the mammy restaurants I know of, mostly in business from the 1930s to the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, were white-owned.
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Nothing goes better with a good meal than good music -- or a heaping side of Southern music stories. From greasy spoons to vegan bowls, Georgia plates are full of folklore from some of music's finest. So, loosen those belt buckles and take a tour around the state for a mouthful of music's deep-fried ties to food.
Other iconic Georgia food locations:
- Weaver D’s (Athens): Established in 1986, Weaver D’s became a favorite for R.E.M., and in 1992, the band named its eighth studio album after the slogan.
- H&H Restaurant (Macon): An essential stop on a Southern rock pilgrimage. Mama Louise Hudson has fed thousands more -- some seeking her legendary fried chicken and sweet tea, others seeking her gracious blessing as the Patron Saint of Soul Food.
- Eddie's Attic (Decatur): One of Georgia’s most cherished live music landmarks, music has lived in the upstairs listening room since 1991.
- J.R. Crickets (Midtown Atlanta): Since 1982, “The Original” J.R. Crickets has been slinging wings in Midtown Atlanta.
- TBonz (Augusta): Mr. Brown came in often, sometimes with his entire band after rehearsals, and memorabilia from those visits continue to dot the restaurant walls.
- Downtown Grill (Macon): Today, the Downtown Grill is one of Central Georgia’s most classic upscale steakhouses.
- The Slutty Vegan (Atlanta): Heavy on flavor, Slutty Vegan uses herbs and spices and the founder’s secret sauce on its Impossible Patty.
The remaining Aunt Fanny’s Cabin is going to be torn down!
