Meeting Participants: Willa, David, Dan, Fatimah, Oralene, Les, Scott, Richard, Lauren; Pam, April (Western Carolina Univ.)
WCU HERITAGE MUSEUM I-26 Welcome Center Exhibit:
The mission of the WCU Heritage Museum is centered around Connecting People with Local History. The approach is 3-pronged: build bridges between the college and the community, rooted in community and serve as a cultural resource for community.
The museum is working on a project with Anne Wofford, author of All God’s Children. WCU staff visited TMHARS with Les and are thinking about new topics for the I-26 exhibit. Recently did the “Lift every voice” project in Haywood Co. Studied segregated schools like the Pigeon Center and the Reynolds School (in Canton) and heard them referred to as “sacred spaces.” It is important to preserve the remaining buildings because few are left standing.
For the I-26 welcome center exhibit, they are looking for items that speak and are connected to TMHARS. An example may be a teacher’s bell. Items will be displayed on a large case, which would be good for showing pictures. The exhibit will last from Nov 3-Mar 31. Approx. 250k people pass through the visitors center annual so there will be a lot of visibility. Willa offered to share booklets, a desk, window weights/wood, pictures from before 2010 (before restoration work started), maybe Sarah Hart’s report cards.
Discussion about the Brevard School came up. April has a grad student who conducted research on the original school, which burnt down. She will share the documentation with us.
ALUMNI RELATIONS: no update
BUDGET REVIEW
Contributions to date: $108,219.29
Expenditures to date: $88,045.64
There are two upcoming bills: $250 annual fee for National Trust membership and $35 for Chamber of Commerce membership
FUNDRAISING
There was insufficient time to work on the National Park Service grant. Willa requested that we schedule a working session to research grant opportunities for the project.
CONSTRUCTION
Scott’s in-kind architectural services are $23k to date.
Group discussed paint/stain for exterior doors. Will be a white exterior and gray interior. Dan has been coordinating with Jennifer Cathey. Jennifer decided doors were never painted on outside based on photos. She like the Cordovan Brown semi-transparent stain. Dan had to use 3x’s the pigment to get the color Jennifer wanted. One coat is needed and should last 3-4 years. The interior door will be white. On the walls, a dark color came up 3ft from the floor; this can be seen near the exterior door with steps. Green baseboards came later; the base color looks gray. Jennifer is wondering if the window frame was also gray. Dan found evidence that this may be the case.
Madison Co. Schools is ready to set up the technology plan. We need to complete the rough in for wiring before they can start.
HISTORY
No new updates. Mars Hill University has erected a new kiosk for Founders Day at the Joe Anderson memorial. There are two metal boxes – one for the university and another for TMHARS. Need to get the school’s new brochures to place in one of the kiosks.
A preliminary National Register form was emailed to Willa. State Historic Preservation Office will complete its review by Nov 1.
HOMECOMING
Dan recommended we establish an event planning committee. Names offered: Oralene, Sarah Hart, Omar, Fatimah, Les, and Richard. Will decide on program times/activities during the Nov meeting. Preliminary recommendations:
- Fri, Aug 31: evening, opening event/ceremony
- Sat, Sept 1: Alumni only special event
- Sun, Sept 2: open house
It was recommended that we contact Rosenwald’s daughter to speak.
GENERAL
Dr. Cosby (Madison Co. Schools Superintendent) had bypass surgery recently. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Everyone should start keeping track of in-kind services spent on the project.
The OLLI program went well. There was a great audience. The room did not open until 11:40. Barbara told Les it was one of the best programs they had. TMHARS will participate in the OLLI Appalachian sampler on Nov 14 or 16. There could be a group of up to 27 that sign up. An agenda needs to be submitted to Simone.