NEWS & CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Historic New Hope Cemetery continues to emerge with the continuing work to rehabilitate the only remnants of what was once an African-American church and school in the Tusculum community.

The cemetery now looks very different and a database has been created about the individuals buried in the cemetery due to the recent efforts of a service-learning class at Tusculum College. The class was taught by Robin Fife, assistant professor of social science.

Located near the intersection of Oak Grove and Old Shiloh roads in what is now a residential area, the cemetery was at the site of what had been the New Hope Presbyterian Church and an affiliated school, established by former slaves following the Civil War. When students learned that the focus of the course would be the rehabilitation of the cemetery, some said they were surprised and doubtful that they would be able to do much of significance.

Discovering how much can be done through a focused effort in a short amount of time is one of the lessons students in the class say they learned from their experiences.  The students were able to accomplish a great deal from beautifying the cemetery to creating a database of individuals buried in the cemetery that will aid in genealogical and historic research. The students also created a grid of the cemetery, mapping out and recording the location of the tombstones and other features of the cemetery. One group created family trees for some of the individuals buried in the cemetery, while another researched the best practices for preserving the tombstones and then put them into practice in cleaning lichen from the markers.

One group sought donations for the rehabilitation process and made recommendations of how the New Hope Cemetery Committee can possibly raise funds for the cemetery’s continued rehabilitation and its maintenance in the future. Another group recorded the progress of the class and made sure that the groups were communicating to ensure efforts were coordinated. The class members gave a presentation about their efforts Wednesday, April 6, which was attended by a number of community members, including members of the New Hope Cemetery Committee.

The class members divided into small groups to take on individual projects that involved their interests and talents. Class member Tom Salinas, from Brownsville, Texas, said that the students were not presented with a specific project to complete. “We had a problem, and we came up with our own projects and solutions,” he said. “Overall, it was a really wonderful experience.”

Clare McBeth of Martin said she learned that a small group can make a difference. “When we all got together and worked hard, we saw things can be changed.”

Other students spoke of the challenging nature of the project and a sense of accomplishment that came after a project was completed. “I like challenges,” said Donayle Watson of Elizabethton. “We had a challenge, and it was doing something to help the community.”

Charles Shrewsbury of Stanton, Va., recalled visiting cemeteries as he accompanied his father on family genealogical searches and said it was rewarding to be able to do something to help family members of those buried in the New Hope Cemetery have access to the cemetery.  “Family relationships are important,” he said. “No one should be forgotten.”

The group that undertook the cleaning of the cemetery did plenty of that type of work, such as raking up leaves that filled 13 large trash bags. But, they also worked to make the cemetery a more attractive place for visitors by refinishing and repainting three benches that are now providing a place to sit and reflect in the cemetery. The benches were donated to the cemetery through one of the students in the class. The students also built a bridge over the deep ditch between the edge of the road and the entrance into the cemetery.

This group also made some discoveries as they worked. The students uncovered a set of steps at the back of the cemetery that may have led to either the church or the school.

The plotting and mapping group created a grid of the cemetery, using string and stakes to divide the cemetery into four foot by four foot squares. The group then recorded everything located in the squares to create a blueprint and map of the cemetery.

A related group researched the best practices in conserving the tombstones and compiled a list of “do’s and don’ts” for those who would be working in the cemetery in the future.  The group put what they learned into practice, beginning the process of cleaning lichen from some of the markers.

Another group recorded the names of those found on the tombstones, which began their research into who was buried in the cemetery. Researching death certificates, cemetery lists and other information, the students were able to compile a database of individuals buried in the cemetery, listing names, birth and death dates, occupations and causes of death as possible. In their research, the students found the names of 54 persons who may be buried at the cemetery. The students said based on the information they found,  they are almost certain 43 of the 54 are buried in the cemetery, thirty of which are in marked graves and 13 in unmarked.

The group found one person with a Tusculum College connection - Aaron Gudger who was a janitor at the college prior to his death as a result of a car accident.

Another group researched various families whose members are buried in the cemetery and created family trees for those families. The students researched census, birth, death and other records and contacted family members to learn more about the families.

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“What are you going to be when you grow up?”

Local high school students were given information to help them answer that question and how to get there during the Junior Conference at Tusculum College on Thursday.

Eleventh graders from all five high schools in Greeneville and Greene County attended the second annual event at Tusculum, hosted by the College’s Office of Admission and the Alumni Executive Board.

Welcoming the high school students to campus, Tusculum President Nancy B. Moody encouraged the juniors to pursue education following graduation whether it is at a technical school, a community college, a state university or a private college.

Keynote speaker for the opening session of the conference was Nathan Honeycutt, an owner of Honeycutt Architecture who has been the lead designer on many architectural and master planning projects in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and China.

Honeycutt told the students that he was fortunate in that he knew he wanted to be an architect at an early age, and encouraged them to begin to think about their future. “Today would be a good day to begin,” he said. “What will your story be?”

Those who may be exploring that question of a career should look at what they enjoy doing and even consider the television shows, movies and other activities they enjoy. Honeycutt also told the students to not be afraid of failure, but to persist in pursuing their goals.

Following the opening session, the students attended two sessions from the more than 20 college track, vocational track and career track sessions offered.

The career/professional and vocational tracks included such areas as sport management, nursing, education, athletic training, business, law, pharmacy, speech therapy, medical technology respiratory therapy and real estate.

Representatives from Mountain States Health Alliance, Laughlin Memorial Hospital, Wal-Mart Distribution Center, Coffman Oil Company, Parrish Property Management, the Tennessee Technology Center, the Greeneville School System and the Greeneville Astros volunteered their time to lead the sessions.

In the sessions, students learned first-hand about the educational requirements for various careers and positions, income levels and the daily tasks of individuals in those careers and positions.

The College Track sessions, led by Tusculum College staff members, involved sharing information about college admission test preparation, college interviews, financial aid and admission processes and college life.

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Fashions of the 1940s will be celebrated April 19 during a benefit for Greene County Habitat for Humanity.

“Vintage Chic Love Affair” is the theme for a fashion show coordinated by the Tusculum College Bonner Leader student service organization and Center for Civic Advancement to benefit Greene County Habitat for Humanity. The fashion show will begin at 6 p.m. on the terrace at the General Morgan Inn.

The fashion show will feature about 30 Tusculum students, some children and community members modeling vintage fashions from the Greene County Habitat’s ReStore. Bonnie Weston, student life coordinator for multicultural affairs, and Tusculum student Trevor Long will be the master of ceremonies for the event.

“This is Habitat’s fourth year working with the Tusculum Bonner Leaders,” said Vicki Culbertson, executive director of Greene County Habitat for Humanity. “We’re excited about this year’s Fashion Show…it just gets better and more entertaining every year!  It is such a pleasure to watch the Bonner Leaders plan, organize, and work toward the ‘big event’.  They take pride in their community involvement and in helping Habitat’s mission to provide decent, safe, affordable housing to families in need.”

Sponsors for the event are Andrew Johnson Bank, Blackburn, Childers & Steagall PLLC, Bob’s Factory Outlet, Tusculum College Center for Civic Advancement and the college’s Student Government Association.

Refreshments will be served during the event.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and children. The fashions modeled will be available for purchase following the show. Tickets are available from the Center for Civic Advancement by calling 423.636.7372 and will be available at the door.

All the proceeds will benefit Greene County Habitat for Humanity in its efforts to help families achieve the dream of homeownership by providing decent, safe, affordable housing with a no interest mortgage. Habitat is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian ministry that provides homes to people in need regardless or race or religion and welcomes volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds.

The Habitat ReStore, in a new location on the 11E Bypass across from the Lighthouse Assembly of God Church, provides funds to Habitat from its sales of donated clothes, collectibles, household items, furniture and other items, and those funds are used in Habitat’s efforts to provide affordable housing for residents of Greene County.

The ReStore accepts donations of clothing and accessories and those who may have some items they may want to give are encouraged to do so prior to the event so their fashions may be used. Donations of clothing can be used as part of charitable giving for tax purposes.

Celebrating its 18^th birthday in May, Habitat has placed families in 26 houses throughout Greene County.  The organization is currently planning a house dedication/celebration for the house donated by John Deere Power Products and has started work on a build project, partnering with Cross Roads Missions and Wal-Mart Distribution Center to construct the 27^th home.

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A mystery with a twist, “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” will be coming to the stage April 14-17 at Tusculum College.

Revelry Repertory Theatre will premier the original mystery with performances at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14-Saturday, April 16 and a 2 p.m. matinee, Sunday, April 17. All performances will be in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on the Tusculum College campus. The play is part of Tusculum College Arts Outreach’s 2010-11 performance and lecture series.

“Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” written and directed by respected local actor Doug Presley, explores the notorious, unsolved 19^th century serial murders of prostitutes in the White Chapel section of London.

However, audiences should not expect a definite answer to the mystery of the identity of Jack the Ripper as each performance will have a different ending presenting one of four separate possible suspects as the murderer. Presley describes two of the suspects as probable candidates as the murderer and the other two as interesting suspects. Each performance’s ending will be a surprise to all but the stage manager, crew and the actor playing the Jack the Ripper suspect for that evening.

Presley first began to research Jack the Ripper as he was searching for a topic on which to base a scary play to be staged at Halloween. But, the deeper he researched about the murders, Presley said he realized he needed to tell the story of the victims of the crimes and their struggles to survive in the poorest section of London, which was the most prosperous city in the world at the time.

One of the victims was a widow, whose husband had died two years prior to her murder on Christmas Day, and with the low wages in jobs for women, had to resort to prostitution to provide for her family, Presley noted.

Another of the victims, Mary Kelly, was a woman of higher means than the other victims, an artist who was part of a brothel in the prosperous West End of London, Presley said, which prompts the question of what she was doing in White Chapel. An answer to that question is proposed in one of the endings.

In telling the stories of the victims, the play does not lose the edginess and scariness in depicting the vicious murders and the desperation and destitution of life in White Chapel. The play’s characters, some colorful and others unsavory, are expertly brought to life by a talented cast of actors, who include some local favorites including Wess duBrisk, Chris Greene, Seth Holt, Sandy Nienaber, Robbie Poteete and Brian Ricker. Due to a medical emergency of a cast member, Presley will also be appearing in the play. The cast also includes a number of Tusculum College students such as Jade Bussell, Anney Cox, Zackery Elliott, Valerie Harrell, Allison Harris, Andrew Herzig, Josh Hickson, Billie Jennings, Kayla Jones and Jeffrey Peck.

Accentuating the poverty of White Chapel and the gruesome crime scenes are the sets, expertly designed for the play by Frank Mengel, technical director and stage manager of Tusculum College Arts Outreach. The revolving sets also include the insides of the homes of the suspects, providing more clues into the mindset of those who may have been Jack the Ripper.

Period attire for the actors is being provided by Barbara Holt, costume director for Arts Outreach.

The playwright and director also received assistance in keeping the dialogue period-appropriate from one of the cast, Wess duBrisk and his wife, Marilyn, who is artist-in-resident at Tusculum College and director of its Arts Outreach program.

Presley is a veteran of many of the Arts Outreach theatrical programs under duBrisk’s direction and first appeared on stage at age nine in the Annie Hogan Byrd auditorium. “I never dreamed that a play I wrote and directed would be performed on the same stage where I started,” he said.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors (60 years of age and older). With the nature of the story, the violent murder of prostitutes, no children’s tickets will be sold. To reserve tickets, please call 423.798.1620 or e-mail jhollowell@tusculum.edu.

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Experiencing a different culture, interacting with other college students from a variety of backgrounds and discussing global issues helped make traveling to Salzburg, Austria, a life-changing trip for three Tusculum College students.

Mitchell Taylor, Sam Underwood and Altoine Wilson attended the Salzburg Global Seminar as representatives of Tusculum in January. All three students, who were selected for the seminar based on nominations from faculty, are sophomores. Taylor, from Kodak, Tenn., and Sam Underwood, from Muncie, Ind., are business majors. Wilson, who is from Covington, Ga., is a film and broadcasting major. The session that the Tusculum students attended was the “Mellon Fellow Community Initiative Student Seminar on Global Citizenship: America and the World.”

In a presentation about their trip on Monday, March 28, Underwood encouraged her fellow students to travel internationally if they get the opportunity. “After this trip, we were truly changed people,” she said. “It changes your mindset.”

While the seminar is designed to introduce a variety of viewpoints to its participants and broaden their perspectives, Underwood noted international travel for pleasure can also have a changing affect in immersing individuals into different cultures.

Wilson said the three “didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it would be a chance of a lifetime and it was.” It was the first time for travel outside of the country for Wilson and Underwood. Taylor had taken an earlier trip to South America.

The trip was focused on learning, Wilson said, and the participants addressed many controversial subjects, as well as how Americans view the rest of the world and how the rest of the world views the United States. The students described one activity in which they acted out Plato’s allegory of a cave to illustrate how people sometimes live in a bubble and how painful it can be to be forced out of that comfort zone to look at what is happening in the world.

Taylor said that one of the most important opportunities of the trip was getting to know and make friends with the other seminar participants who came from a variety of backgrounds. Participants came from a number of Appalachian region colleges as well as universities across the nation.

“I was impressed by others’ passion for various issues and their desire to make a difference in the world,” he said.

The Salzburg Global Seminars are held at the Schloss Leopoldskron, a regal, 18^th century castle surrounded by immaculate grounds with breathtaking views of the adjoining lake and the Alps.

“Our living conditions were really nice,” Taylor said. “The whole place was very beautiful.” The students’ living quarters were at the Meierhof, about 200 yards from Schloss Leopoldskron. There, students had access to a computer library, where they could stay in touch with their families, and a lounge area where seminar participants could relax at the end of the day.

The students took many photos of the palace’s ornate architectural features and the gardens and sculptures surrounding the palace. After the seminar sessions, students would gather for continuing discussion of issues raised in various rooms in the palace, Taylor said.

The Austrian cuisine served at the Schloss Leopoldskron reflected the surroundings. “There was amazing food at the Schloss,” Underwood said. “We were fed like royalty.”

Austrian food was similar to German cuisine, she continued, and all their meals featured quality meats and fresh vegetables. “All of the food seemed healthier and tasted better.”

Although most of the students’ time was spent at the seminar, the participants took a day trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany, touring what remains of the camp and visiting the museum and memorial at the site. “I can’t describe in words what it felt like,” Underwood said.

Seminar participants also had a couple days to explore Salzburg. In the older part of the town, “there was a ton of beautiful Gothic architecture,” Taylor said. “We also saw lots of street performers, but they weren’t like the guitarists you see on streets here. They were playing the harp and violin.”

Tusculum is currently planning international trips for the upcoming 2011-12 academic year. The current academic year has been the best for the college for international study as more students have participated in short-term study abroad trips than ever before, said Dr. Geir Bergvin, director of the Tusculum’s Center for Global Studies. Students have recently returned from trips to Central America and Europe.

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The Museums of Tusculum College were recently honored with two awards from the Tennessee Association of Museums.

The awards were presented during the Tennessee Association of Museums annual conference, held his year in Johnson City.

The Museums of Tusculum received an Award of Excellence for its monthly email newsletter, which was accepted by Dollie Boyd, interim director of the museums. The monthly newsletter is an attractive, full-color informational electronic publication that features the latest news and upcoming events of the two museums on the Tusculum College campus, the Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library.

Featured in the newsletter are historic tidbits about Tusculum College. For example, the March newsletter contained a feature about the college’s history of women’s education in celebration of Women’s History Month and an article about Julia Doak, who in 1879 became the first female graduate of Tusculum College.

A monthly feature in the newsletter, “Receipts from Mrs. Doak’s Kitchen” provides recipes and other cooking and housekeeping tips from the 19^th century.

Also recognized was “Pickin’ at the Doaks,” the museums’ monthly free traditional music jam session, which earned the Museums’ an Award of Commendation. Leah Walker, site manager for the museums who created the program, accepted the award.

“Pickin’ at the Doaks” began last summer as musicians were invited to come to the museums for a jam session of traditional music and the public was invited to come and listen to music enjoyed in this region for years.  The jam session, which takes place on the fourth Friday of each month, has attracted a number of musicians and growing number of appreciative listeners.

Most of the performances during the summer and fall were held on the lawn at the Doak House Museum, except in cases of inclement weather when they were held inside the museum.  Taking a break for the holidays, the program resumed earlier this year at the Doak House Museum and is being held indoors until the weather warms.

The two museums on campus are operated by the Department of Museum Program and Studies. The Doak House Museum is the 19^th century home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of Tusculum College, and hosts thousands of school children from the region for a variety of educational programs related to the 19^th century as well as other community programs.

The President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library houses a special collection of items relating to the 17^th president, the college’s archives, special themed exhibits and volumes from the institution’s original library.

The two museums are also part of the National Historic District on the Tusculum College campus. Follow the museums on Facebook and Twitter to learn the latest news and upcoming events or visit its Web site at www.tusculum.edu/museums to learn more about the variety of programs offered at the museums.

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Tusculum College students have spent the past three weeks working to landscape the historic African-American New Hope Cemetery, mapping the cemetery and researching the stories of the people who are buried there.

The students will make a presentation about what they have done and learned at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, in Room 101 of the Charles Oliver Gray Annex. The students are part of a Service-Learning in Northeast Tennessee course taught by Robin Fife, assistant professor of social science.

The presentation is open to the public.

The students have worked to landscape the cemetery, located near the intersection of New Hope and Old Shiloh roads.  The class members have also been mapping the cemetery to record the location of the headstones and the information on each one. The students have been doing research to discover more information about the individuals and their lives. Creation of a web site to include photos of the headstones and the information they have discovered about the individuals there is another project the students have undertaken.

Following the presentation, the public is invited to visit the cemetery to see the work of the students. Some members of the Pioneer Band will play at the cemetery as well.

The cemetery is all that remains of an African-American congregation’s church that once stood nearby, the New Hope Presbyterian Church.

The church also has ties to Tusculum College. In 1869, the Rev. William Stephenson Doak was appointed by the Holston Presbytery to serve as an itinerant missionary in Greene County and as such, preached to a group of African-Americans meeting for worship in a school house near Holley Creek.  At the time, Doak was serving as president of Tusculum College.

The group decided to form a church, which became New Hope, and requested affiliation with the Holston Presbytery, a governing body of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that includes churches in 12 Northeast Tennessee counties and one in Southwest Virginia.  Tusculum College also has a covenant agreement with the Holston Presbytery.

Tusculum students have been involved in the clean-up and rehabilitation of the cemetery since it was rediscovered about eight years ago.

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A plastic bucket of water and a bowl of rice were waiting as dinner for a majority of the participants of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet Wednesday (March 23) at Tusculum College.

Representing the food resources of roughly half of the world’s population, the meager amount of food was shared by Tusculum students who sat on the floor and had no utensils to use other than plastic cups.

Coordinated by the Tusculum Bonner Leader student service organization, the Oxfam Hunger Banquet is designed to give participants, through their experience, an understanding of how the world’s food resources are distributed among the world population and some of the issues faced by people living at each level.

As they entered, each participant in the Hunger Banquet received a ticket that indicated in which economic group (low, middle, or high) he or she was assigned. The ticket also described the life of a specific individual in that economic group. Some tickets described two individuals, one in the economic group in a third world country and another one in the United States who had been helped by one of Oxfam’s programs to assist people in becoming self-sufficient.

Bonner Leader Kalie Smith served as the master of ceremonies, sharing statistics about each of the income groups.  The majority of the students and staff who attended were in the low-income group, representing about 50 percent of the world’s population. Smith told the group about a widow in Ethiopia struggling to raise seven children, a family that typically eats one small meal a day.

A smaller group was designated as the middle-income group, representing about 35 percent of the world’s population. This group fared a bit better as they were able to sit on chairs for their meal of rice and beans. This group did have plastic forks and plates to use during their meal.  Smith noted that this group often lives paycheck to paycheck and a loss of a job, a bad growing season or some other factor over which they usually have no control can result in dropping down into the low-income group.

Four people received “high-income” cards and were seated at a table set with silverware and glass tableware to be served a meal of pasta and salad. Smith noted that the high-income group represented about 15 percent of the world’s population, those earning $12,000 per year and up who can afford nutritious meals each day.

Smith also shared information from Oxfam about the causes of hunger, noting it is not an issue of a lack of food production but an unequal distribution of resources.

Participants were encouraged to learn more about hunger and its root causes, to share that information with others and to become involved with a group like Oxfam America that works to find solutions to poverty, hunger and injustice.

Oxfam America is a part of Oxfam International, a confederation of 14 Oxfams working in 98 countries. Together with individuals and local groups in these countries, Oxfam works to feed the hungry, help people overcome poverty and fight for social justice.

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The Thomas J. Garland Library Lobby at Tusculum College will be filled with the sounds of one of the most popular periods of jazz music on Thursday, April 14.

The Smooth Sounds of Route 66 will perform favorite songs from jazz’s swing era at 6 p.m. in the lobby of the library on the Tusculum campus. Admission is free and the public is welcome. The swing era was the most popular form of music in the country from the 1930s and the 1940s. Some of the most well-known swing musicians include Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong.

The musical duo of Marsha Griffith, public services librarian at Tusculum, and locally known artist Amy Saxonmeyer are the Smooth Sounds of Route 66. The duo plays a repertoire of jazz and standards as easy on the ear as its name suggests.

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Tusculum College’s Bonner Leader student service organization will hold a “Tag Sale” on Saturday, April 16, to benefit the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

The Bonner Tag Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Pioneer Gym in the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum campus. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the American Red Cross’s Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief fund.

A car wash to collect donations will also take place at the same time as the tag sale.

Donations such as clothing and household items for the tag sale are being accepted by the college’s Center for Civic Advancement through Monday, April 11. Please call (423) 636-7327 for more information about making donations.

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