About BHEC
A committee built on memory, faith, and community.
Our Story
The OHC Black Heritage Committee — known as BHEC — has grown over the past 32 years into a steady voice for African American heritage in Waycross, Georgia. Operating as a 501(c)(3) organization under the Okefenokee Heritage Center Museum, the committee has organized exhibitions, recorded local history, preserved sacred ground, and lifted up the names of those who shaped this community.
BHEC was organized and established at OHC through the vision and persistence of Mr. Willie Character, a music teacher in the Waycross public school system whose love for his community became its institutional memory.
After three decades of stewardship under OHC, BHEC is now seeking independence — to expand its mission, deepen its work, and carry forward the stories that belong to this place.
Current Members
The people behind BHEC
Bob Brown
Artist / Designer
Dr. Yolanda Rivers
Co-Chair
Dr. Crystal Singleton
Vice Chair
Yavonda Stephenson
Secretary
Phyllis Perry
Treasurer
Diane Brown
Membership Chair
Rosa Douglas
Historian
Dr. J. Vern Cromartie
Advisor / Historian
Dr. David Sheffler
Advisor
Dr. Felicia Bevel
Advisor
Yvonne Funnye
Member at Large
Carla Cornett
OHC Executive Director
Biographies available upon request.
Acknowledgment
Thank you to our partners
BHEC extends its heartfelt thanks to the two institutions whose partnership has made our work possible.
Okefenokee Heritage Center
For more than three decades, BHEC has received tremendous support from The Okefenokee Heritage Center. As our home and parent institution, OHC has provided the space, resources, and partnership that made our exhibitions, research, and community programming possible.
Okefenokee Heritage Center | experience our heritageUniversity of North Florida
BHEC is grateful to the University of North Florida (UNF) for its scholarly partnership and support of our preservation, research, and historical documentation work in Waycross and Ware County.
In Memoriam
Honoring those who built the foundation
Mr. Willie Character
A music teacher in the Waycross public school system and the driving force behind BHEC's founding and establishment at OHC.
Rev. Frank Hazzard
Memorialized at Hazzard Hill Cemetery — a faithful servant whose legacy continues to bless the Waycross community.