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NATCHEZ — “Yesterday is history. Today is a present. Tomorrow is a mystery. And education is the way up.”

That was the theme of the 85th commemoration of the deadly fire at the Rhythm Night Club at 5 Saint Catherine Street on Saturday.

The Rhythm Night Club Museum, built on the site where the former night club burned down on April 23, 1940. Over 200 people died when they became trapped inside the building, a tragedy that is among the deadliest assembly fires in the nation’s history and has contributed to today’s fire codes.

Keynote speaker, Natchez Adams School District Superintendent Zandra McDonald, described how this tragedy shaped today.

“That night reminds us that every single breath we take is a gift paid for by those who came before us,” McDonald said. “Today, as we reflect, we recognize that education is not merely about books and tests. It’s not merely about a score. It’s not just about a rating. Education is really about freedom. It’s the kind of freedom that allows a child to dream beyond their circumstances, to envision a life untouched by tragedy and limited only by the size of their imagination. Today is proof that the seeds of progress planted generations ago are still growing and that from the ashes and sorrow, hope can rise.”

During the festivities, Octavius “TJ” Saul II was awarded a $1,000 scholarship.

Saul is a member of the African American Culture Club, and as part of the club’s activities, spent several hours at the Rhythm Night Club museum, said Betty Sago, the co-owner and operator of the museum alongside her husband, Monroe Sago.

Saul plans to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge and enjoys photography, Sago said.

“He’s interested in learning history,” she said. “… I noted on Octavius’s application that he wants to do photography. That’s a very good thing. Because you cannot go far if you don’t know where you’ve come from.”

At present, McDonald said Natchez Adams School District rises and falls together and only rises when united on common ground.

“We are going to rise together with a common desire, a common goal and a common vision or we’re going to fall if we allow our divisions and our differences to separate us,” she said. “Sometimes we look at people and see their limitations. But true educators, people who are truly committed to children, see opportunity.”

McDonald said as she looked out at the crowd, recognizing former students of hers and their offspring, it ignites her passion to teach children, for they are the future.

“The Rhythm Night Club took so much from us, from this community, but it could not break the spirit of this community,” she said. “It could not take the hope of this community and it could not take the future of this community. Yesterday shook us. Today strengthens us. And tomorrow awaits us. And education — education is the way we climb.”