By Tim Cable
Anchor / WJHL
Published: August 2, 2007

Rozetta Mowery reminisces. As she rambles the grounds of Holston Home for Children, she remembers..a dozen years of her childhood spent here in the 1950’s and 60’s.

“I do not know what would have happened, I shutter to think what would have happened to me and my siblings had it not been for the Holston Home”, Rozetta says tearfully.

Her foundation here helped her build her life..and certainly helped her go on to write this book: “Tragedy in Tin Can Holler”.

“The tragedy was the murder, vicious murder of my Mother, Eliza Mae Robinson Mowery was her name”, says Rozetta. “She had struggled and endured years and years of domestic violence and abuse at the hands of my Father, who threatened to kill her many, many times during their marriage and he eventually did”.

The murder occurred in Athens, Tennessee in a neighborhood called Tin Can Holler. Rozetta was only seven at the time.

“All my life I had been haunted by the death of my Mother”, she says. “No one would ever give me a direct answer would never tell me what caused my Father to murder my Mother. This was a deep, dark secret that had been hidden for decades”.

There were hidden answers Rozetta says she just had to find.

“When my youngest son turned 21 last year, living in Florida, I knew it was time for me to come to Tennessee and do what I had always wanted to do my entire life”, she explains. “And so I came to Tennessee to pursue the truth about my Mother”.

And in her research, she uncovered some startling truths. Decades..even generations of domestic violence and abuse in her Father’s family history. She found out her Grandmother was a schizophrenic serial killer during the Great Depression.

“The sexual abuse by the hands of her Father created a monster so she killed a lot of men”, Rozetta shockingly explains. “And this is not something to be proud of but at least now I know why things happened”.

And now, she’s telling her story..vividly, openly, honestly in the pages of her book.

“It was therapy for me it helped me to release the hate that I had carried in my entire life for my Father”, says Rozetta. “His past made him who he was”.

She says she knows her Mother’s spirit was with her, guiding her as she wrote this book.

“I think I’ve gone full circle from Tin Can Holler back to Tin Can Holler in a 48 year span”, she says.

Reverend Charles Hutchins, who was involved in Rozetta’s case and has been associated with Holston Home since 1958, says she’s a shining example of a Holston Home success story.

“We’re very proud of her and I see great strength in her”, says Charles with a smile. “It’s the most compelling book on abuse I’ve ever read and..she’s been faithful in the things that we tried to teach her here”.

No doubt, her book helped her. Now she’s just hoping it helps others.

“My life is an open book I wanted to stress the dangers of domestic violence”, Rozetta says. “Women need to take control of the situation don’t be afraid. There’s shelters in every city in America, a woman does not have to be abused.This is very traumatic for children and they never forget it. If I could just help one person absolutely that’s listening to me now..and you’re being abused daily. Please, please..people are there willing to help you today if you’ll just ask for the help. I now know where I want to go from this point forward, I want to help people”.

For more information about Rozetta’s book or information on how to purchase a copy, go to her website at http://www.tragedyintincanholler.com

The Domestic Abuse Hotline number is 1-800-799-7233. The Child Abuse Hotline is 1-800-422-4453.