Rosetta Zellars
Rosetta Zellars was a woman who witnessed almost the entire twentieth century, born around 1921 growing up on a farm to Sam Lyles and Lester Harris, a family that was most likely sharecroppers. Rosetta had at least eight siblings, five brothers and two sisters, but her family would expand even further when she lived through three known marriages, the first to Eddie Finley. For a reason unbeknownst to us to us they got divorced before they could have any children. In her second marriage, however, to George Zellars, they would have a child named Mary. George would be her husband until his death in 1968, leaving Rosetta with George’s stepson Clarence, and Mary. Rosetta was a hard working woman who acted as a maid in a private home in 1950. Beyond just that, she worked as a plasterer and even committed to service work. It can be assumed that she took up a job as result of George going to serve in WWII. He was inducted at Fort Benning, now Fort Moore, and served for just under three years. Unfortunately, he had been discharged with a a certificate of disability. During the war times, women, including Rosetta, would take over work in industries, factories, and businesses overall as a result of the men leaving to go fight in the war that captivated Europe. Stunningly, even after the war ended, Rosetta was one of the few women who decided to stay in the workforce, even after the war ended no doubt out of necessity. This left the determined Rosetta to look after her family in the work force as her age dwindled. Eventually, she would succumb to old age before dying and being buried in the honored Baptist Hill Cemetery in Auburn Alabama during the year of 1993.
Contributed by Jackson and Charles from Auburn High School