As we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Samuel Allen wants to remind everyone the importance of remembering the past. That's why he helped create the Carver-Hill Museum, though he says his wife Caroline deserves much of the credit.

"She saw that this would be something that is gonna help, gonna reflect back and she's hoping that the total community and the county would be proud of it," says Samuel.

As you can see, there's much to be proud of. After starting in a small building on McClelland Street the museum moved next door to a new facility in 2001. The museum started out as a way to preserve artifacts from the all-black Carver Hill school closed in 1969, but it has since evolved into not just a look a black history, but the history of Crestview and Okaloosa County.

Typewriters and record players serve as reminders of a not so distant past, but the museum still focuses on a much ignored part of history, that of African-Americans. Here visitors can learn about Marcus Davis, Okaloosa County’s first black principal, and Marcelette Harris, the first black woman general of the Air Force.

Mr. Allen says there's a message in all this stuff.

"The things that we have to offer we feel that it is something that people need to see because it shows them the integration of things from the past to the present."

Much like the message of Dr. King, the museum reminds us of the past, present and future we all share. The museum is located at 895 McClelland St. in Crestview.