|
 AUGUST 2005: WCAAHAA, Inc. will be receiving a $500 grant from the Teaching Tolerance Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and a $100 grant from the Theodore Roosevelt Mitchell Memorial Education Fund. The grants must be used to fund student participation in WCAAHAA'S September 24th historical trip to the Birmingham Civil Rights Center & Museum, Historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park. Five students will be selected from Mt. Zion Baptist Churh, Naomi (contact Alma Benton); five students from Shady Grove Baptist Church, Chickamauga (contact Shenetta McLin); and three students and a chaperone from Mt. Salem Baptist Church, Rocky Face (contact Gerald Tinson).
Students will be selected by August 26th and registration forms must be completed by each student's parents. All decisions of the contact people are final.
Other interested students or adults may attend the trip by submitting a completed registration form with $20 for students (ages 10-18) and $30 for adults. Contact Shenetta McLin at 706-866-1180.
The Theodore Roosevelt Mitchell Memorial Education Fund is sponsored by the family of Theodore Roosevelt Mitchell. Teaching Tolerance is a project of Southern Poverty Law Center. This project promotes respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in the classroom and beyond. Southern Poverty Law Center is located in Montgomery Alabama and is the location of the Civil Rights Memorial created by Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer, Maya Lin. It honors the memory of those who lost their lives durning the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968.
MAY: The E.D. Ward Scholarships and the Fonnie May Porter Highest GPA Academic Awards were pesented to winning graduating seniors.
Fonnie Mae Porter African American Senior with the Highest GPA: - Ridgeland High School: Rodney Lee Allen
- LaFayette High School: Shaina Dion Jackson.
E. D. Ward ($500) Scholarship:
Essay topic: Why African Americans Must Vote-
Ridgeland High School: Princess Carson
- Lafayette High School: Noah Marsh Turner.
The award coordinator was Donna McLin-Walker.
On May 21st, WCAAHAA members participated in the event at the Marsh House in Lafayette to celebrate it's placement on the National Historic Register.
WCAAHAA arranged for entertainment at the event: Vince Stalling, Hands of Praise, and Jason O'Neal performed several songs of slavery and traditional African American spirituals.
The Theodore Roosevelt Mitchell Fund purchased 100 copies of Glimpses, Slave Songs Transcend Sorrow for WCAAHAA to distribute freely at the event.
MARCH: Winners of the Black History Month Poster Contest - Theme, African American Visual Artists:
Rossville Middle School - Ann Russel, coordinator; Leigh Wettenburger, first place; Tiffany Murray, second place; Jordan Crane, third place.
LaFayette Middle School - Jason Paseur, coordinator; Ashley Almon, grand prize; Krista Smith, first place; April Kelly, second place.
Chattanooga Valley Middle School - Austin Cope, coordinator; group entrance, Grand Prize, $100 gift certificate for classroom. Students included: Michael Trull, Dewayne Womble, Matt Green, Marie McDaniel and April Denton.
FEBRUARY: WCAAHAA presented a well-attended seminar on genealogy, family history and preservation with speakers Linda Woodard Geiger, certified genealogist; Jeanne Cyriaque, coordinator of African American programs for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources; and Beverly Foster, historian.
An exhibit of Walker County's African Americans employed in the police, security and correctional services professions was on display at the Chickamauga Public Library. Alice Coven and Gail Ware were the coordinators.
JANUARY:
WCAAHAA partnered with the city of Chickamauga and was successful in bringing the Rosalyn Carter Exhibit to the Lee and Gordon's Mill in Chickamauga with curator Fred Sanchez, national park ranger and manager of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains. Homer Benton was the exhibit set-up Coordinator.
WCAAHAA completed historic research on the possibility of a cemetery being located in the Corinth community on the homestead of Rev. Wesley Bailey. This was the location of Rev. Bailey's church, Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church. This study was completed to assist Walker County in conducting research needed for the approval of land development. WCAAHAA thanks the government of Walker County and land developers for their efforts to respect the final resting places of Walker County's past residents.
| 
