Nov 1, 2016 - Union’s Delta-Psi chapter of Phi Alpha Theta led the way in organizing and carrying out a Phi Alpha Theta/History Department community service project at Salem Cemetery Civil War Battlefield on November 1, 2016, as part of the university’s annual “Campus and Community: A Day of Remembrance” service day. Twenty-two people, including six full-time faculty members, 13 students, a set of parents, and a Union University photographer, traveled to the cemetery in Beech Bluff to hear about the Civil War battle and to work. The Rutledge Honorary History Club also participated in the project.
Malcom Wilcox, president of the cemetery battlefield association, made a presentation about the battle that took place on December 19, 1862, and involved Union soldiers under Colonel Adolf Engelmann and Confederate forces led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In the battle, the Confederates forced the Union troops to withdraw to Jackson, and the Southern fighters pulled back toward Humboldt.
The project participants performed a variety tasks. A number of people raked and bagged leaves, several more cleaned gravestones and battlefield signs, and still others straightened leaning tombstones. Another two students picked up trash along the road adjoining the cemetery, while two participants painted the cemetery’s entry gate. Dr. Stephen Carls, who organized the event, handed out tools, distributed bottles of water and candy bars, and assisted with some of the work assignments. The history group was back on Union’s campus by noon.
Student participants in the Phi Alpha Theta/History Department community service project on November 1, 2016, wait in the Jones Suite for the project to begin. They are (left to right) Beth Adams, Emily Littleton (wearing Union Bulldogs shirt) Ali Renckens, and Kathryn Mitchell.
Gideon Ragland (center) stands with his parents in the Jones Suite before leaving on the history department's community service project at the Salem Cemetery Civil War Battlefield on November 1, 2016.
Participants at the Salem Cemetery community service project on November 1, 2016, take time for a group photo. They are: (front row, left to right) Jordan Sellers, Kathryn Mitchell, Devin Dean, Beth Adams, Emily Littleton, Ali Renckens, Joanna Butcher, Katherine Cheshire, Gideon Ragland, Malcom Wilcox, Jacob Carroll, and Nic Linn; (back row, left to right) Ed Smith, Dr. Keith Bates, Dr. David Thomas, Seth Reid, Dr. Henry Allen, Dr. Stephen Carls, Luke Adkins, Dr. Terry Lindley, Dr. Kelvin Moore, David Ragland, and Debbie Ragland.
Malcom Wilcox, president of the Salem Cemetery Battlefield Association, talks about the two-hour battle that took place at the cemetery in 1862 during the Phi Alpha Theta/History Department community service project on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Malcom Wilcox (right) has Union community service project participants look at a photo of him in a book about the Civil War on November 1, 2016. Those looking at the photo are (starting at the left front and going clockwise) Beth Adams, Dr. Keith Bates (gloves in back pocket), Katherine Cheshire, and Emily Littleton. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Participants in the history department's community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016, get their work assignments and tools. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Joanna Butcher rakes leaves at Salem Cemetery as a part of the Phi Alpha Theta/History Department community service project on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Seth Reid straightens out a gravestone at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Dr. Kelvin Moore (right) and Beth Adams prepare a pump sprayer to clean tombstones at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Emily Littleton looks on with interest. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Participants in the Phi Alpha Theta/History Department community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016, rake leaves and paint the cemetery entry gate (on the right). Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Dr. David Thomas (facing camera) talks to Debbie Ragland (back to camera) and her son Gideon (right) during the history department's community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Beth Adams cleans a tombstone as a part of the Phi Alpha Theta community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Dr. Henry Allen rakes leaves at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016, as a part of Union's "Campus and Community: A Day of Remembrance" community service day. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Dr. Keith Bates and Katherine Cheshire straighten a tombstone at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Dr. Terry Lindley (right) talks with Ed Smith, Executive Director of the Madison County Parks and Recreation Department, during the history department's community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
History major Luke Adkins rakes leaves at the Phi Alpha Theta community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Jacob Carroll shows off a rake that broke during the history department's community service project at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Kathryn Mitchell (right) watches Katherine Cheshire work on straightening a tombstone at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
David Ragland paints the entry gate at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016, as a part of the history department's 13th annual community service project to help maintain historic sites in West Tennessee. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Devin Dean (left) and Gideon Ragland (center) smile as they help put leaves in plastic bags at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016, while Dr. David Thomas (back to camera) looks at the beauty of the cemetery's trees. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
A Civil War cannon sits among the trees at Salem Cemetery on November 1, 2016. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
Participants in the Phi Alpha Theta community service project take a brief rest before returning to Union's campus at the end of the morning of November 1, 2016. Bags of raked leaves are in the foreground. Photo by Elizabeth Wilson
A cleaned history sign at Salem Cemetery announces the Civil War battlefield site to visitors on November 1, 2016.