Black History program examine “Where do we go from here”

Cynthia Bond Hopson

 “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?” This question from Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1967 book of the same title will be the theme for the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center’s Black History Month program, Saturday, February 7, at 2 p.m.  Noted author, Haywood County native and cultural historian, Cynthia Bond Hopson, will speak and facilitate a panel of local leaders.

Panelists will include Haywood County’s first elected African American Sheriff, Melvin Bond; Brownsville’s first African American Mayor W. D. Rawls Jr.; Fred Silverstein Jr., Chair of the Human Rights Commission; Douglass Community organizer and educator Johnetta Walker Neal; Brownsville Alderman and former housing administrator Carolyn B. Flagg; County Mayor Franklin Smith; and activist and business owner, Cynthia Rawls Bond. 

“This chaos or community topic was Dr. King’s examination of American race relations and the movement after a decade of U.S. civil rights struggles. It offers a perfect opportunity to reflect, renew and recommit to building bridges of love and hope,” says Bond Hopson, whose books on Haywood County include The Women of Haywood: Their Lives, Our Legacy, Wiggle Tales and Times of Challenge and Controversy.

According to Bond Hopson, “When Dr. King wrote ‘somewhere somebody must have some sense. People must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love,’ he wanted us to understand we have the power to change the world through lives of service and deliberate action. Our distinguished panelists have done just that.”

Following the program, Bond Hopson will sign copies of her books.  This is a free event. 

New Exhibit Premiers at Center

Below is an article written by our local reporter, Calvin Carter, of the Brownsville States Graphic. Thanks Calvin, for letting us share it with our friends.

Photo by Calvin Carter, Brownsville States Graphic

By CALVIN CARTER ccarter@statesgraphic.com

Approximately 50 years ago, Nashville college students from Fish University, A&I, and American Baptist Theological Seminary began a sit-in campaign with religious leader Kelly Miller Smith and James Lawson during the Civil Rights fight against segregation.

The non-violent protest emerged in the form of massive sit-ins at downtown lunch counter.

The incident would serve as the spark and guide for many others throughout Tennessee, including those in the Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis areas.

Until January 22, 2012, residents will have the opportunity to learn much about the sit-ins at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center thanks to the traveling exhibit We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins.

The free exhibit made its premiere at the center last Friday, December 9, pulling a pretty strong crowd.

Through its immense collection of pictures, signage, stories and even letters from protestors, the exhibit explains the thoughts and motivations of a generation forced to fight violent reactions to their protests with non-violence and steady resolve.

Brownsville States-Graphic Reporter Calvin Carter (second from right) speaks with Tennessee State Museum Curator of Social History Graham Perry (far right) and West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center Director Sonia Outlaw-Clark (far left) during the opening reception of "We Shall Not Be Moved" Friday, December 9, 2011.

What’s perhaps incredible about the exhibit is that while it offers a lot, it’s a significantly scaled down version of the original, noted Tennessee State Curator Graham Perry.

“We had a lot of visuals, for example like hundreds of photos. And there was also a replica lunch counter we couldn’t include for the mobile version,” Perry said. “We had to choose the most visual, or the ones that told the best parts of the story.”

While the exhibit has been “from one end of Tennessee to literally the other,” Perry said, it will conclude its journey in February 2013, before settling at the University Of Tennessee at Martin in 2014.

Perry stated that he learned so much while helping to put the exhibit together, including how the national sit-ins reflected locally.

“I learned a lot about the sit-ins. Despite the fact that the Civil Rights Movements was happening nationwide, it was really a thinly veiled version of what was happening locally. It was the spark,” Perry said.

The exhibit also received a new surprise in the form of a noteworthy addition.

Jim Ruth drove the first group of Freedom Riders from Nashville to Jackson, Miss., in 1961. He was 21 years old and drove for Trailways. Mr. Ruth greeted visitors as they arrived to see the new exhibit.

In 1961, a Chester County resident by the name of Jim Ruth, served as a bus driver for Trailways.

At 21-years-old, and with the promise of $19 and half pay per day for the trip, Ruth would drive a group that many of his other co-workers had refused from either fear or hate of the group.

“One professor in that group told me that, ‘Mr. Ruth you don’t know what you’re doing. You could get hurt or worse from this,” Ruth recalled. “’I said, I’m doing something that I’m suppose to do. If I’m going to die, then my bags are packed.’”

But Ruth took the Nashville group to their destination in Jackson, Miss., and unknowingly would immerse himself as a part of history.

Ruth would drive a group that would become known as the Freedom Riders, and while there was potential opposition, he noted the group arrived safely to their destination.

“They were the best group of people I’ve ever hauled,” Ruth said. “This makes me feel good that I’ve done something for someone.”

Ruth, who was recently honored by the NAACP in Nashville, heard about the exhibit at the West Heritage Delta Center on the news, and decided to see if he could offer any items from the incident for display.

His items will be one display until the exhibit makes it exit. But along with Ruth’s addition, the hopes of what the exhibit will do for the latest generation remains the same.

“I hope that young people will come in and see that young people are capable of causing change,” Perry said.

Trick or Treat at the Museum

Each year the Brownsville Business Association sponsors Trick or Treat with Me... a fun event that gives kids a traditional trick or treating experience with the added safety of visiting merchants instead of going to stranger's doors. This is the second year that the Delta Heritage Center has participated and it just keeps getting more and more fun. This year our entire staff decided to dress up and have fun with the kids. Here are just a few of the more than 80 kids who stopped by between 4-7 Halloween evening. I think you'll agree that some of them had some very unique costumes.

This is Katie pictured with the Center staff. Katie was our first Trick or Treater for the evening. She's standing with Peggy Bat, Polly Panda (aka Janet), Zoo Keeper Kathy and Gangster Mary.

Polly even went outside and meet with some kids who were having a picnic.

Hoofbeats in the Heartland opens August 24

 A cavalry and military commander in the war, Nathan Bedford Forrest is one of the war's most unusual figures. He was one of the few officers in either army to enlist as a private and be promoted to general officer and division commander by the end of the war.

 The traveling exhibition “Hoofbeats in the Heartland: Civil War Cavalry in Tennessee” will open at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, in Brownsville, Tenn., Wednesday, August 24. The exhibit is organized by the Tennessee State Museum and funded in part by a grant from the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area.

Hoofbeats in the Heartland will look at how Tennessee’s strategic location would make it a major battleground of the Western Theater. As both sides maneuvered, raided, fought, and occupied the state, nearly every community experienced the heavy hand of war. While few communities witnessed large battles, nearly every community experienced soldiers on horseback as part of a raiding force, occupying army, or as members of the numerous guerilla or partisan bands. 

The exhibition Hoofbeats in the Heartland will introduce the soldiers and the evolution of cavalry tactics in the Civil War. Visitors to the exhibit will meet the leaders such as Nathan Bedford Forrest and John Wilder and learn how their personalities affected the mounted warfare. Learn about the typical cavalry trooper, the nearly one million horses and mules that died during the Civil War and the mounted spies and scouts used to gain intelligence about the opposition.

Throughout the state both sides dealt with small bands of guerilla or partisan fighters mounted on horseback. These groups, some holding legitimate commissions from their respective governments, manifested in nearly every Tennessee county.

Visitors will also learn how the homefront sometimes became the frontlines and the role of the African-American troops. Significant battles will also be discussed including Fort Pillow in West Tennessee.

Hoofbeats in the Heartland will remain on display at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center until October 31. The Center is a tourist information center and three regional museums located off of Interstate 40 at Exit 56 in Brownsville. The Center is open seven days a week and is free to the public. For more information, call 731-779-9000 or visit www.westtnheritage.com.

“Journey Stories” comes to Mercer

Kathryn and Ray Dixon were among several Brownsville residents who toured the Smithsonian exhibit “Journey Stories” Sunday, February 27, in Mercer, Tenn.

"Journey Stories,” a Smithsonian traveling exhibit, is the tales of how we came to America. From Native Americans to new American citizens, our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything – families and possessions – to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.

The Big Black Creek Historical Association (BBCHA) in Mercer, Tenn., is one of only six Tennessee museums, and the smallest venue according to the Smithsonian's staff, to be awarded the privilege of displaying this exhibit.

Journey Stories opened Sunday, February 27, at the Pennington Building, and will be on display Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Sundays 2 - 5 p.m., through April 3. The exhibit can also be viewed by appointment weekdays and evenings by calling 731-427-7897 or 731-234-3497.

Several weekend events are planned as compliments to the exhibit beginning with the showing of the movie “Gone with the Wind” Saturday, March 5, at the Ebenezer Church building. For more information about this, the exhibit and other activities, visit: www.bigblackcreekhistorical.com.

Delta Heritage Center to join Haslam Inaugural Celebration

In honor of Bill Haslam’s inauguration as the state’s 49th governor, the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center is joining with cultural and historical attractions across the state to stay open and offer free admission on Saturday, January 15, 2011.

The theme of the inaugural celebration is “Tennesseans: Working Together, Moving Forward.” In the spirit of this theme, the governor-elect has asked that cultural establishments, tourist attractions, museums and other points of interest open their doors on Inauguration Day at no charge to the public.

“We’d like to offer this day as a time for Tennesseans across the state to come together in the celebration – wherever they are in the state - and take part in our culture, inventions, history and heritage, as a collective people,” says Kim Kaegi, director of the Haslam inaugural team.

Home of Blues Pioneer Sleepy John Estes.

The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, located at 121 Sunny Hill Cove behind McDonald’s, will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Delta Heritage Center is home to three museums that explore the early history of cotton production in West Tennessee, music greats who were born and called West Tennessee home and the scenic Hatchie River, the last wild river of the lower Mississippi. Also located ont he grounds of the Delta Heritage Center is the last home of blues pioneer Sleepy John Estes.

All Tennesseans are encouraged to be a part of this historical event by visiting their local museums. Other museums in Brownsville and Stanton will also participate and include the Haywood County Museum, Haywood County Sports Museum, Felsenthal Lincoln Collection, Dunbar-Carver Museum and the Stanton Welcome Center and Lending Library.

The Haywood County Museum, located at the College Hill Center, 127 North Grand, will be open from 1-3 p.m. The Haywood County Sports Museum and the Felsenthal Lincoln Collection, housed at the Center, will also be available for viewing during this time. College Hill was originally established as the Brownsville Baptist Women's College in 1851 and later became the Haywood County High School.

Dunbar-Carver Museum will extend their hours and will open at 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. They are located at

709 East Jefferson Street

. The Dunbar-Carver Museum tells the story of African American life in Haywood County through events associated with the one hundred plus year existence of the Dunbar-Haywood County Training-Carver High School.

The Stanton Welcome Center and Lending Library will also open. The Center is located at 49 Main Street in Stanton, and serves as an archive for history and memorabilia for the Town of Stanton, family histories of Stantonians, and digitizes historical photos and stories.

To find other attractions across the state who are paritcipating, visit http://www.billhaslam.net/