At the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum in Thomasville, Deborah Rankins Tunstall is a librarian, a curator and a people validator.

Kathryn Tucker Windham wrote about a ghost named Jeffrey. Jeffrey may have moved from Selma to Thomasville.

At Alabama Southern Community College in Thomasville, the childhood hometown of Windham, the celebrated author and storyteller, Deborah Rankins Tunstall is keeping the legacy of Windham alive. Tunstall is in charge of the museum and the assistant director of Library Services.

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“I love doing programs for kids and adults, like our poetry anthology which we print every year,” she says. “Another is the Christmas program where faculty members and students come together and read and sing The Twelve Days of Christmas. And Kids College, which is an opportunity for kids to tour the college and be introduced to storytelling and folklore – like Count Buzzards and Stamp Gray mules and Bedazzled!”

As if the museum and reading and books and poetry were not enough, one summer she created a dinosaur dig soliciting bones from the University of Alabama. Tunstall is always looking for the next cool thing to do with the students and the community.

“I love people. When I see their smiles, my whole being is ecstatic. I love doing it for them. My reward is not the pat on the back, but it is the enjoyment they get,” Tunstall says.

Tunstall was the 12^th child out of 14. So, needless to say, she never got much attention in her hometown of Fultan, Alabama. As an adult, she traveled from Ohio to Missouri to Indiana to California, then ended up 10 miles north of where she grew up.

Now she now lives to offer self-worth to her students and everyone she meets.

“I am not here to only work in the library and the museum, I am here to make everyone I come in contact with feel they matter.”

Tunstall is very clear on her purpose.

“At the museum we have two goals: keep the legacy of Kathryn Tucker Windham alive and to serve the students. Kathryn was so kind to me. One day she thanked me for working hard to fan the flame of storytelling. I loved that woman.”

Occasionally, Tunstall has to act as more than a librarian and a museum curator.

“I have students who want to give up, and I give them jobs to encourage them. Being on the DHR board, I look after the single mothers who can use support. A little while ago, one who was abused failed nursing twice and was ready to give up. I kept encouraging her to persevere. Eventually she passed. I love my job.”

Having lived in several large cities, Tunstall has learned to create what Thomasville does not offer in comparison. She has also learned to persevere despite many personal pitfalls.

“There is a quote from Mandela: ‘Don’t judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.’ Life can tear you up, but you’ve got to keep going.”

If you go to the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum and take a tour, you will run into a rocking chair with a sign that says “Jeffrey’s Chair.”

Smile and wave. You never know who is watching.

Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning photojournalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions, on people to profile at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.