Rubye Miller is a wealth of knowledge, and it shows as you tour her home, going room by room through her Black History exhibit, while maintaining the charm and uniqueness of her 113-year-old stone home – appropriately named “The Heritage House.”
The home, situated on a hill across the railroad tracks in Vaiden near Shongalo Baptist Church, has a unique heritage of its own. The home is still in pristine condition. The three-story home -- complete with a skyline, a small kitchenette, a tea room, formal living room, den, and several rooms -- takes you back into time.
Miller, a retired educator, grew up in Winona. Her mother and father were both educators, and Miller followed in their footsteps. She attended Mississippi Valley State University, where she received her degree in education. She worked in the Carroll County School District and in Holly Springs for years serving as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and a school board member.
“I’ve been a little of everything,” she said.
Miller said when she first purchased the Heritage House, it operated as a bed and breakfast, where she hosted many events and still host many events. But, she moved to Duck Hill in 2017 to care for a friend and placed the house for sale.
Miller said when no one purchased the house, she returned to Vaiden and turned it into a Black History museum. Each room has its own name -- a heritage telling the story of another heritage. A home built in a time where blacks weren’t seen as people, but still made strides in building America to what it is today.
From inventions, to renowned surgeons, to Fredrick Douglass, each room in Heritage House represents a rich history of people who influenced the times and made a difference in a house that is standing in its 2nd century in Vaiden, as much as part of Vaiden’s history as Miller is.
The home was built by Louis Herring and Ida Heggie-Herring who were from Birmingham, Ala. and owned the Vaiden brick yard. According to a story written by Miriam Dockery, “Slaves took several years to build the house which was completed in 1910.”
According to Dockery’s story, the home was the first one in Vaiden to be wired for electric lights and the first to be piped with water. Completed with seven fireplaces, in their original condition, a servant’s quarter, a skylight, and balcony, the home is a beauty to take in, while taking in the strides, innovations and progressions that blacks have made over the centuries and even some of Miller’s own heritage.
“I have enough house for two houses,” Miller said laughing.
Before getting into the tour, you take in how breathtaking the outside of her home is with a pond in the back of it; it’s refreshing to just sit, look and take in nature.
In the tea room, which is set to entertain, she has a collections of historically black colleges and universities memorabilia from Mississippi Valley State University where she attended and is a member of the Montgomery-Carroll Alumni Chapter.
Her formal dining room, also known as the Mississippi room, spotlights Mississippians who have made a difference and highlights two of Carroll County’s own -- Vaiden Mayor Mel Hawthorne and Percy Norwood.
“You recognize anyone?” Miller asked.
The foyer houses a collection of Crossroads Today magazines, each marked with stories of those in the community -- her continued salute to the local community.
The tour only shows a small piece of Miller’s collection. The original wood and woodwork of the home, makes you take a step back and take it all in. It comes full circle, from the slaves that built the home to the owner, an educated black woman who now gives tours of black culture and local heritage in the same home.
Her rooms are not packed with pieces, even though they could be. They’re spacious each with its own places. From actual Kente cloth, sculptures and fabrics from her trips to Africa to books and books filled with her own heritage.
“I still have some stuff to put up, but I want to make a tour of not just Black History, but of spirituality, motivation and inspiration,” Miller said.
Miller’s faith is just as important to her as her history and her heritage.
In her prayer room, which she said her granddaughter calls her “Jesus” room, there’s a picture on the wall that says “When you can’t stand, kneel.”
“I started with that picture,” she said.
The room, complete with a prayer altar, pictures of Jesus in various stages of his life and scripture, contrasted by shiplap on the walls and a fireplace with marble tile in the face of it, there is a serene and pureness to the room.
The Serenity prayer hangs on the wall of the room, so no one can exit without first seeing the words.
The tour then went upstairs where prominent black citizens were featured -- Rosa Parks, Ida B. Wells, Muhammad Ali, Joe Lewis, Jackie Robinson, Malcolm X, President Barack Obama.
The third floor has pieces from the life of Martin L. King Jr., quotes from Carter G. Woodson and pictorials of what life used to be in the Delta.
Downstairs, is her own heritage, pictures, awards, and moments from Miller’s life. Pictures of her son, grandchildren, as well as her own life are on display. Miller said she and her family used to pick cotton and she keeps a piece to remind her of where she came from and the strides that she’s taken to get to where she is in life.
One of the most remarkable pieces is Miller’s bedroom furniture, which 200 years old, still in mint condition.
“When we lived in Winona, we lived beside a woman and we would go to her house. And, I was 13 when I saw this bed and I remember saying ‘I have to have this bed.’ I claimed it.” She said the bed would pass hands and she saw it one day at an estate sale.
“I asked her ‘Are you selling this bed?’ And she said yes. ‘I’m moving to Jackson and I have no room for it.’ And I told her ‘No, you can’t sell that.’”
Miller said she walked out of the estate sale three times and each time something told her to go back. She said she didn’t know how she was going to pay for it, but she negotiated with the lady for the bed and got it.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen to it. My son isn’t big on antiques like I am or my grandchildren. So, I have no idea,” she said.
There’s not a part of Miller’s home that doesn’t show the heritage of not only herself, but of African-Americans as a whole and even Vaiden. You can find a bit of heritage in the Heritage House.
Miller gives tours for a nominal fee, before coming please give her a call first. 662-458-3150.
