Nov 6, 2016 - The Delta-Psi chapter of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society played an active role in the 2016 Great War Symposium that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored in West Tennessee on November 4-6, 2016. Phi Alpha Theta members Beth Adams, Katherine Cheshire, and Kathryn Mitchell ushered for a Great War commemoration program at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, and chapter advisor Dr. Stephen Carls served as the official photographer at all of the weekend’s events.
The Great War commemoration program on November 4 featured a number of distinguished guests. These included: Retired United States Marine Lieutenant General John Castellaw who led attendees in the pledge of allegiance; Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, who spoke about his office’s role in overseeing the digitization of World War I records in Tennessee; and Louis de Corail, the Consul Général de France in Atlanta, who recognized those in Madison County who fought for the Allies in World War I. Many-Bears Grinder, the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner, honored Mrs. Katie B. Cobb, the 106-year-old widow of a World War I American veteran, as did Tennessee State Representative Johnny and Madison County NAACP President Harrell Carter. State Senator Ed Jackson, Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist, and Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris also paid tribute to Cobb and those who served in the Great War from Madison County. In another ceremony, Gist presented Consul Général Corail with a key to the City of Jackson and a pair of cufflinks containing the seal of the City of Jackson. Some 125 people attended the ceremony, and many stayed afterward for an outdoor carillon concert and a reception in First Presbyterian’s Memorial Hall.
The symposium continued on November 5 at the Casey Jones Railroad Museum and the Bemis Auditorium/Theater with the theme “Feeding, Clothing, Arming, and Transporting the Troops: The Home Front in Tennessee.” The morning sessions at the railroad museum included: internationally acclaimed historian George Nash who spoke about “Herbert Hoover, the US Food Administration, and Dr. J. A. H. Morgan;” Dr. Tara Mitchell Mielnik whose topic was “Building Powder City: Old Hickory Tennessee;” and Professor Linda Wynn who spoke on “Black Communities in Tennessee.” In addition, State Senator Ed Jackson presented a Tennessee Senate Proclamation to Dr. Charles Crawford of the University of Memphis for his outstanding work as the director of the school’s Oral History Research Office and his career of excellence as a teacher and scholar of Tennessee history. During the lunch hour, attendees had the opportunity of viewing: a special train exhibit that Tennessee Great War Commissioner Richard Gonzales created; an exhibit of World War I posters, weapons, and other items provided by Great War Commissioner Andy Pouncey; and a living history exhibit about the First World War led by Tim Poole, Manager of Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park. In the afternoon, Dr. Nancy Parrish spoke at the Bemis auditorium about “The Bemis Mill in the Great War” and Linda Higgins introduced a list of the men from Bemis who participated in World War I.
The Great War events ended with a “Living History Performance” in Dresden, Tennessee, on November 6. General Sessions Court Judge Tommy Moore presided over the program that paid special tribute to Army Second Lieutenant Herbert Jones of Dresden, who was killed in action in France in July, 1918. Well over 100 people attended the event.
Bagpiper Dennis Dudley, followed by the Liberty Magnet High School Junior ROTC Color Guard, plays "America the Beautiful" while marching to the front of the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, 2016, as part of a Tennessee Great War Commission-sponsored World War I commemoration ceremony.
Retired US Marine Lieutenant General John Castellaw leads attendees at the World War I commemoration ceremony in the Pledge of Allegiance at First Presbyterian Church on November 4, 2016. Others in the photo are Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris (left) and Tennessee Great War Commissioner Andy Pouncey (right).
Tennessee Great War Commission Chair Michael Birdwell welcomes guests to the World War I commemoration ceremony at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, 2016.
Consul Général de France Louis de Corail pays tribute to the Great War soldiers from Madison County at a World War I commemoration ceremony at Jackson's First Presbyterian Church on November 4, 2016.
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett talks on November 4, 2016, about his office's involvement in the digitization of World War I documents in Tennessee.
Many-Bears Grinder (right), the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner, presents a certificate of appreciation to Mrs. Katie Cobb, one of the few remaining widows of World War I veterans living in the United States, during a World War I commemoration program that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, 2016.
Harrell Carter, President of the Madison County NAACP, congratulates Mrs. Katie Cobb as the widow of a World War I veteran during a special ceremony at the Great War commemoration program at Jackson's First Presbyterian Church on November 4, 2016. Standing behind him are Tennessee Department of Veterans Services Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder and Tennessee State Representative Johnny Shaw. Standing behind Mrs. Cobb are two of her grandsons.
City of Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist (right) presents Consul Général de France Louis de Corail (back to the camera) with a key to the City of Jackson and a set of cufflinks with the city's seal on them at a Great War commemoration program on November 4, 2016. Behind Mayor Gist is Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris.
Union students Emma Otto (left to right) Olivia Schmitke, Brooke Watson, and Jordan Alexander stand in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson following a World War I commemoration program that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored on November 4,, 2016. A Scottish flag hangs from the balcony behind them.
Phi Alpha Theta members (left to right) Kathryn Mitchell, Beth Adams, and Katherine Cheshire listen to a carillon concert outside First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, 2016. They served as ushers at the Tennessee Great War Commission's World War I commemoration program at the church prior to the concert.
Union students Travis Binkley and Hadeer Solomon listen to an outdoor carillon concert at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson following a World War I commemoration program that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored on November 4, 2016.
Union students Reagan Smith and Emma Otto listen to an outdoor carillon concert following a World War I commemoration program that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored at First Presbyterian Church in Jackson on November 4, 2016.
Louis de Corail, Consul Général de France in Atlanta, talks with Phi Alpha Theta members Beth Adams (center) and Kathryn Mitchell at a reception in the Memorial Hall of Jackson's First Presbyterian Church following a World War I commemoration program that the Tennessee Great War Commission sponsored on November 4, 2016.
Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls (left), a Tennessee Great War Commissioner and the coordinator of the 2016 Great War Symposium, stands with Tammy Buchanan, an administrative assistant at the City of Jackson mayor's office, during a reception in the Memorial Hall of Jackson's First Presbyterian Church on November 4, 2016.
Tennessee Great War Commissioner Andy Pouncey opens the 2016 Great War Symposium sessions at Jackson's Casey Jones Railroad Museum on November 5, 2016.
Dr. George Nash speaks on "Herbert Hoover, the US Food Administration, and Dr. J. A. H. Morgan" at the 2016 Great War Symposium on November 5.
Dr. Tara Mitchell Mielnick lectures on "Building Powder City: Old Hickory Tennessee" at the 2016 Great War Symposium on November 5.
Tennessee State Senator Ed Jackson (right) makes a special presentation to Dr. Charles Crawford, Professor of History at the University of Memphis, for Crawford’s many years of dedicated service as a teacher and scholar of Tennessee history and as Director of the Oral History Research Office at his university.
Professor Linda Wynn of Fisk University speaks about "Black Communities in Tennessee" during the Great War Symposium at Jackson's Casey Jones Railroad Museum on November 5, 2016.
Great War Symposium attendees listen to Tim Poole (wearing the World War I US military uniform), Manager of Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park, talk about a World War I rifle during a living history event on November 5, 2016.
Tennessee Great War Commissioner Richard Gonzales stands with model trains representing the World War I era that he provided for a display at Jackson's Casey Jones Railroad Museum on November 5, 2016.
Tennessee Great War Commissioner Andy Pouncey (second from left, wearing sport coat) talks to Great War Symposium attendees about his collection of posters, weapons, and other World War I items on display at Jackson's Casey Jones Railroad Museum on November 5, 2016.
Joel Jackson, president of the Bemis Historical Association, welcomes guests to the Bemis Auditorium/Theater on November 5 to start another segment of the 2016 Great War Symposium.
Dr. Nancy Parrish speaks on "The Bemis Mill in the Great War" at the Bemis historical museum on November 5, 2016.
General Sessions Court Judge Tommy Moore welcomes guests to the "Living History Performance" in Dresden, Tennessee, on November 6, 2016. The presentation was a part of the Tennessee Great War Commission's symposium on World War I on November 4-6 in Jackson, Bemis, and Dresden.
Mark Maddox plays the role of Joe L. Holbrook, Editor of the Dresden Enterprise newspaper, during a living history skit on November 6, 2016, about Second Lieutenant Herbert Jones of Dresden who was killed in action in France in July, 1918.
Cynthia Jones plays the role of Ms. Ella Jones, the mother of Lieutenant Herbert Jones, during a short living history skit on November 6, 2016, about Lieutenant Jones, who was killed in action in France in July, 1918.
The playing of taps at the "Living History Performance" was a part of the conclusion of the Great War program in Dresden, Tennessee, on November 6, 2016.