Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum Executive Director Carolyn Harbin is hanging up her spurs after decades in service of promoting the Everett Colborn rodeo and Dublin rich rodeo history and ties to the national Madison Square Garden rodeo circuit.
Feb. 7 will officially be her last day.
“I’ve been here for the last 10 years but I started 30 years ago,” Harbin said.
A native of the Alexander community, Harbin got married shortly after graduating from Dublin High School and they moved as they raised two children.
Harbin came back to Dublin while her daughter was still of school age. Throughout her career, Harbin worked in national customer service, as a florist, for multiple Dollar General locations and TSO. Her first job was at Winn’s Variety Store in Dublin and she returned to it after moving back. When Winn’s closed after 49 years, Harbin was asked to manage the Mott’s five and dime that was established.
It was around this time that Harbin was approached by Librarian Carolyn (Colborn) Holden about volunteering for the library.
Holden told Harbin about her dad, Everett Colborn, working with Gene Autry on the renowned Dublin rodeo.
“I thought, “Why isn’t there a museum?,” Harbin remembered. “I thought at the time that Dublin needs something and why couldn’t it be something with a movie star in it?”
When Holden got sick a couple of years later, they discussed the possibility of a museum.
“She had all this stuff in her house,” Harbin reported. “I thought if we don’t do something now, we’re going to lose all that history.”
The Dublin community responded as work began on the museum, starting a cycle of community support that Harbin says the museum has enjoyed through today with annual fundraisers that pay for utilities and necessities.
Billy Kloster at (then) Dublin Dr Pepper offered support and Harry Bradberry offered a room at Bradberry’s Mini-Mall to start showcasing Dublin’s rodeo roots.
The next step in the museum’s growth came when Dr. Vernon Williams of Abilene Christian University came to town. Williams had a friend from Dublin who told him of the Colborn rodeo and he discussed it with Mary Ann Mayfield Stephen.
After this visit, Harbin and Williams got into contact and he was able to offer her experience on getting a full museum off the ground.
“This museum wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t here, but he would say it wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t here,” Harbin said.
Rodeo board members approached the city about the former downtown site of Higginbotham’s which was donated to Dublin when they opened the current location towards Proctor. The city offered the site for a discounted fee which was dropped to a single dollar later on.
Workdays were formed to build up the museum with community members and ACU students strengthening walls for exhibits and restructuring it for the best impact. Williams also helped produce videos and photos for all the exhibits and the walk and branding wall were formed offering a way for local families to leave their mark while supporting the museum Although Harbin and Williams left for a few years, they returned and continually offered support and hard work into keeping the mainstay alive.
Harbin said this retirement will allow her more time with her family including her seven grandchildren.
“A lot of the time I miss out on family baseball games or things like that,” she said, citing her schedule. “Christmas at my house is crazy because I never have time to decorate.”
Harbin said she is very appreciative of the support Dublin has given the museum, especially in recent years as they dealt with struggles like the pandemic.
This support will help keep all the legacies at the Rodeo Heritage Museum alive as someone else takes the reins, allowing even more visitors to learn about part of Dublin’s story that could have been lost to time.
The Dublin Rodeo Heritage Museum is located at 118 W. Blackjack and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.