CLAYTON COUNTY, GA (CBS ATL/WAOK) – Clayton County honored First Lady Michelle Obama’s great-great-great grandmother with a memorial dedication ceremony today.

Melvina Shields came to Rex as a slave from South Carolina when she was 8 years old. Upon her owner’s death, Melvina was “given” to his daughter and son-in-law, Christian P. and Henry W. Shields. Melvina spent the next 30 years in what is considered Rex, in Clayton County, Georgia.

Those against the memorial said they don’t want their tax dollars spent on the project.

The ceremony, was made possible through a grant from the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Here is more on the First Lady’s Georgia roots