VALDOSTA – The Valdosta Westside Archives honored Ella Mae Scriven Blue as the 2020-21 Timbuktu Bi-Annual Celebration Grandparent and with the 2021 Epic Award. 

She was born June 7, 1921, in Nassau County, Fla., to Paul Scriven and Annie Johnson Scriven, organizers said. They gave birth to four daughters and one son. Blue was the eldest child. The family moved to Thomas County. Mr. Scriven worked in the Forest-Dippen Turpentint. Mrs. Scriven was a stay-at-home/domestic worker. 

“Sometime, the children enjoyed walking the long dusty and muddy clay roads to the county school,” organizers said. “Mrs. Blue’s favorite teacher was Mrs. Mattie McGriff.” 

“She was a pretty lady with a kind heart,” Blue said. 

On Dec. 23, 1956, Ella Mae Scriven and Luther Blue married and gave birth to a son, Luther Jr. 

Mrs. Blue worked at South Georgia Medical Center for more than 40 years. She has been a member of St. John AME Church on West Magnolia Street for 66 years. 

The Valdosta Westside Archives sponsored the 2021 Epic plaque. The Real-Realty sponsored four rose bushes, organizers said. 

The Valdosta Westside Archives is located at 511 W. Magnolia St. The building was completed in 1897 and is known as “The Big House on the Hill.”