Finally, the private photo collections and yearbook photos from E.E. Butler High School that Allen accumulated will come to life. A slide show of the artifacts, "Sights and Sounds of Gainesville — From Past to Present," will be shown Wednesday at the downtown branch of the Hall County Library System on Main Street.

In celebration of Black History Month, the slide show will be shown at noon, 1, 3 and 6 p.m. Wednesday at the library. The slide show will also have viewings at 1:30 and 3 p.m. on Friday in the Blackshear Place library branch meeting room.

The slide show will feature photographs of the former black business area along E.E. Butler Parkway that dates back to the 1950s and 1960s, as well as images taken from once predominately black schools in Hall County, including the all-black Fair Street School that Allen said was destroyed in the tornado of 1936.

Allen said he also included still shots of the Northwestern School and Summer Hills Elementary School in the slide show, both of which are no longer standing.

Allen said his slide show attempts to illustrate the past of Gainesville’s black community, from the Kool Kone hamburger joint that once stood where Church’s Chicken now stands on E.E. Butler Parkway to the summer marching band performances that paraded down Green Street in the 1960s.

And it’s that music from the glorious sweltering summers of the 1960s that Allen said he uses to bring back memories of Gainesville’s black history.

"That was the big thing for me — (the E.E. Butler High School Marching Band) really put it on," Allen said. "They’d put on the dog, is what we called it. They put on a show. They could really play ... they’d really show out," Allen recalled.

Allen said music was the key to bringing the community, both white and black, together in the ’60s. He said he hopes the music will tie the community together once again upon the showing of his film, which aims to illustrate that positive past of Gainesville’s black community as well as the progress the community has made since public schools were integrated in the 1960s.

"I thought if the music was the medium to bring people together in a peaceful manner then, then the pictures and the music could still do it," Allen said. "Both blacks and whites could always get up and enjoy the music. There was no fussin’ or fightin’."

Marion Hunter, events coordinator for the Hall County Library, said the film shows a broad spectrum of photographs from Gainesville’s history.

It made sense to show the film as part of a celebration of Black History Month, she said.

"It’s just very interesting to see the changes that have occurred from the 1900s until now," she said.

Allen said he hopes the photographs and music from the 1950s and ’60s will trigger memories from the band members and cheerleaders who led the parades through downtown Gainesville.

The historian added that he would like the youth of Gainesville — both black and white — to view the film and get a glimpse of their heritage, and of the past in which their parents and grandparents played a part.

"I think it’s good for the young kids to know that their grandparents did something like that," Allen said. "A lot of young kids think it’s always been East Hall, West Hall and Gainesville High. They can’t conceive going to a school where everyone was just one race."

A book signing will follow the 3 p.m. showings of the film. Local authors Ella Jean Smith and Linda Hutchens will sign copies of their book, "Black America Series: Hall County Georgia," which was published a few years ago.

Hunter said the book covers the same time frame as the film, and includes pictures along with stories.

Allen said he was born and raised in the Newtown neighborhood and attended E.E. Butler High School in the early 1960s. He said he recalls the days when the black community was tight-knit — black teachers, preachers and parents all mingled together and kept youth mischief to a minimum. He said it’s that culture he aims to recreate in his slide show.

"It’s just good to remember the past and where you came from," Allen said. "To me, it’s something to be proud of."