Flagg Grove School, childhood school of Tina Turner, to be saved and moved to the WT Delta Heritage Center

Owner Joe Stephens stands in front of the Flagg Grove School that will soon be moved to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville. Plans for the school includes interpretive exhibits about African-American education as well as a Tina Turner exhibit.

We are so excited to announce that the Flagg Grove School, in the Nutbush community, will be saved and moved to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center. Brownsville Mayor and Aldermen have voted to fund Phase 1 of the project that includes moving the school. Once at the Center, the school will be restored and become a part of the Center's permanent exhibits.

The one room school  is one of only a few remaining African-American schoolhouses in Haywood County which gives it significant historical value ... and it can be tied directly to Tina Turner's ancestry. The land for the school was bought from Benjamin Flagg in 1889. Flagg was a former slave who came from North Carolina after the Civil War. He was also the brother of George Flagg, Turner's great-grandfather. Tina Turner attended this school while growing up in Nutbush.

The building, along with other artifacts found in the school, is being donated to the Center by local restaurateurs Pam and Joe Stephens. "Pam and I wanted to save the building," says Stephens. "It's an important piece of Haywood County history." The building has been owned by the Stephens family since the late 60s.

Regarding the efforts to save the school and open it to the public, Tina Turner commented: " I'm pleased to know that children from around the world, who stop at the Visitor's Center in Brownsville, will be able to visualize what it was like growing up during the era of my childhood."

While the City will fund the initial move, the preservation work will continue through fundraising ­­efforts of the Friends of the Delta Heritage Center; a non-profit group who supports the work of the Center. Anyone wishing to help with these efforts can contact the Center at 731-779-9000, or donations can be made payable to the Friends of the Center, 121 Sunny Hill Cove, Brownsville, TN 38012.

Sonnets to Orpheus opens April 13

Lendon Noe

"Sonnets to Orpheus" is the name of the latest exhibit to be presented April 13 - June 2, at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, Tenn. The collection of mixed media art is the work of Jackson, Tenn., native Lendon Noe and explores a series of poems written by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke depicting the Greek mythical musician, Orpheus.

"Rilke’s sonnets are filled with beautiful metaphors that to me are breathtakingly visual," says Noe. "While I don’t seek to illustrate his work, I have been immeasurably inspired by it."

Noe is the former Professor of Art at Lambuth University where she taught for 28 years. She has recently opened a studio and gallery at DCA/DCPR in Jackson and is a partner and instructor with Silver Creek Workshops.

"My work hovers between realism and pure abstraction and I am attracted to many different media and techniques."

Noe began as an oil painter but explains that she now does a lot of drawing, incorporating acrylics and inks, collage and image transfers. Inspired by nature, many of the works in the Orpheus collection depicts trees and nature.

" I look for poetic references and metaphors involving all kinds of plant life and birds."

The public is invited to a special exhibit opening and reception Friday evening, April 13, 6-8 p.m., to meet the artist and learn about her inspiration and interpretation of the sonnets.

Lincoln exhibit looks at Civil War era political cartoons

Interpretive panels look at Lincoln and the issue of slavery through the political cartoons of the Civil War era and particularly the 1860 presidential election.

The national traveling exhibition Looking at Lincoln: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era will be on display at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, Tenn., now through March 30. Included in the exhibit is select editorial cartoons from the local Felsenthal Lincoln Collection. The exhibit is free and opens to the public Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sunday 1-5 p.m.

A special program on Abraham Lincoln will be presented Sunday, March 25, from 2-4 p.m. The program will include Lincoln's second inaugural address delivered by Ken Jones, Associate Professor of Biology at Dyersburg State College. Jones is widely known for his one-man portrayals of the sixteenth president.

Ken Jones, professor at Dyersburg State, will present his portrayal of Lincoln in a one-main show featuring Lincoln's second inaugural address Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m..

The exhibit, developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, explores images, especially cartoons, as a way of investigating Lincoln in the context of his times. These cartoons are vividly biting; they invite us to put aside twenty-first century assumptions and look at events through the eyes of people living in the era. Among the highlights are: a California printing of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln and political cartoons relating to the election of 1860.

The theme of the exhibition explores the Civil War and issues of slavery from the standpoint of political cartoons. These cartoons appeared in newspapers and were sold individually. Artists and citizens who created these images lived in a century in which racism was deeply ingrained in American life.

As a companion, the exhibit also includes editorial cartoons from the Felsenthal Lincoln Collection. These cartoons from the 1950s and 60s use Lincoln as comparison for current events of the day. Believed to be the largest individually owned collection of Lincoln memorabilia in the Southeast, the collection was donated to the citizens of Haywood County by Morton Felsenthal upon his death in 1983. Felsenthal spent his lifetime collecting books and memorabilia concerning Lincoln. Many of the original cartoons on display were signed by the artist and include personal notes to Felsenthal.

The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center is a tourist information center and home to three regional museums located at Exit 56 off of Interstate 40 in Brownsville. For more information about the Center, visit www.westtnheritage.com or call 731-779-9000.

Volunteers honored at annual banquet

Volunteers and members of the community who have made significant contributions to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center during 2011, were honored at a banquet Friday, January 13. Last year was a very significant year for the Center, with an increase in visitors, hosting 3 traveling exhibits, many field trips and tours, 5 Concerts on the Porch and the 1st Exit 56 Blues Fest. 

Thank you to those pictured above, those not pictured and everyone who has helped make it a great year. We're looking forward to what 2012 will bring. It's going to be great!

Crafters invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Exit 56 Blues Fest

A Cut Above's Joe Adams won the Most Creative Item Award for his scroll saw wood puzzles at the 2010 Exit 56 Blues Fest.

Calling all outside arts and crafters. The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center is seeking do-it-yourselfers and traditional and non-traditional crafters who create high quality, one-of-kind items to take part in the Exit 56 Blues Fest Arts and Crafts Show May 26, in Brownsville, Tenn.

Cookbook author Pamela Whinnery, talks about her Tennessee celebrity cookbook with a festival attendee at the 2010 Exit 56 Blues Fest in Brownsville, Tenn.

The show will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is limited to the first 50 applicants. Application deadline is May 1. The location, just off of Interstate 40 at Exit 56, offers crafters a unique opportunity to showcase their talents and wares to visitors traveling through West Tennessee, as well as residents of the region.

This is a non-juried event, but special care will be taken to ensure that a good selection is available without an over abundance of any one particular items.

"The Blues Fest is planned for Memorial Day weekend, which is the first big travel weekend of the year," says center director Sonia Outlaw-Clark.

The event attracted more than 400 attendees in its first year and is expected to grow substantially over the next few years, according to Clark. Planners are already working on how they can increase the festival area to accommodate more activities.

In addition to the Arts and Crafts show, live Blues music will be performed from the porch of the Sleepy John Estes home from 1-9 p.m. A car cruise-in, special exhibits inside the Center, festival foods and a kid's area are also planned for the event.

Crafters may download an application by visiting the Center's website at www.WestTNHeritage.com and click on the Exit 56 logo. For more information or questions, email info@westtnheritage.com, or call the Center at 731-779-9000.

Welcome 2012

Jeremy and Jessica, of McComb, Miss., were our first visitors of 2012. Their reward - a Brownsville birdhouse.

We've started 2012 with a bang and ended 2011 with a record year for attendance. Over 20,500 visitors walked through our doors last year and we loved meeting and sharing our West Tennessee culture with each and every one.

Now it's time to welcome new guests as we continue to greet old friends. It's was a little of both when we greeted our first visitors for 2012. Jeremy had stopped in before. On this trip, he made a special stop to show his friend Jessica our museums. It's the ultimate compliment when our visitors come back, and especially when they bring others to share the experience.

Happy New Year! May it be filled with all you could possibly hope for!!

It pays to Shop Brownsville!

Winners of the Shop Brownsville First - Big Prize Giveaway with their prizes.
Pictured  (from left) are Julie Taylor, Lori Hatcher and Santia Taylor. 

We had a fun time last Friday preparing to give away three great prizes from the Brownsville Business Association (BBA). This was the second year the BBA has sponsored a give-a-way and this year it got a lot bigger and included his and her Citizen watches, a 7-inch E-reader and a 40" flat screen TV.

Look at all the tickets that were entered in the giveaway!

Kenny Ellington  was on hand to give the box a good shaking before the drawing.

And you always need a child around to do the drawing .... 

Thanks to the BBA for choosing us as the drawing location and congratulations to the winners. I think it was a very successful event with 20 merchants participating. We're looking forward to next year already!

Remember it pays to Shop Brownsville First!