To: Floyd County Historical Society Members

From:  Jean Schaeffer, president

I hope each of you is having a good summer.  Lots of exciting things are happening with the Historical Society and I’m anxious to tell you about them. (see below)

Also, this is a reminder of our upcoming meetings at the Jessie Peterman Memorial Library in Floyd. (Our meetings are the 2nd Saturday of odd numbered months and begin at 1 pm.).  Richard J. Wood will be speaking on September 9th and Effie Brown and Bill Gardner will be speaking on November 11th.

Many of you are familiar with Dr. Amos Wood’s book:  Floyd County: A History of Its People and Places.  Well, his son, Richard J. Wood, arranged for Dr. Wood’s research to be published posthumously in 1981.  Mr. Wood will be making the trip from Bluefield, West Virginia, and will talk about the book on September 9th and how it came to be. He will also talk about the Wood family. Along with Mr. Wood, we’re hoping Ann Swain Bailey will be with us that day. She and Marguerite Tise helped make Dr. Wood’s book a reality too.

On November 11th,  Effie Brown’s and Bill Gardner’s talks will focus on the 30-year history of the Historical Society. They helped start the Historical Society in 1976.  In addition to their talks on November 11th, we will have some other events that day, in celebration of 30 years.  (More about the November 11th meeting in my next newsletter.)

“NEXT STEPS” COMMITTEE AND DECISIONS
Back in the spring, we convened a “Next Steps” committee for the Historical Society. The purpose, as its names implies, was to carefully think through short- and long-term goals for the Society. It has been an intense and rewarding process looking at various options and ideas, and has comprised some 20 hours of meeting time. From the first meeting onward, the committee supported the Society’s current and past emphases which have included educational programs and other outreach, working with youth, and documentation of county cemeteries. The committee gave unanimous support to continuing to have an Historical Society office and for continuing the cataloguing/archival preservation/ digitizing work we are currently doing as a result of the $25,000 grant we received last fall. Also, as part of the “Next Steps” work, we have been having talks with other groups to see where common interests overlap and we have discussed how we might work together.

The “Next Steps” committee presented their recommendations for short- and long-term expansion to the Society’s executive meeting on July 8th. I am happy to report that the recommendations were approved by the officers and then approved by the general membership later that day. The two approved motions were as follows:

(1) That the Floyd County Historical Society (FCHS)  move forward with the Floyd County Historical Preservation Trust (FCHPT) in making the “Ridgemont-Williams” house the new interim home of the FCHS, pending approval of a written agreement between the two groups. (Note: Since that meeting, the written agreement has been approved and signed by the president of each group.)

(2) The Floyd County Historical Society (FCHS) is looking forward to a museum at the ‘Ridgemont-Williams’ house as a good first step.  In time, we will need additional space. In addition to starting a small museum/work space at the “Ridgemont-Williams” house, the FCHS will begin exploring the possibilities for eventually having a large, climate controlled facility that would be suitable for cataloguing, archival preservation work, archival storage, and exhibits.

Serving on the “Next Steps” committee have been:  Sue Anne Boothe (Historical Society secretary), Effie Brown (president emeritus), Bill Gardner, Julie Hancock (1st vice president), Kathleen Ingoldsby (grant employee), Mike Ryan (grant employee), Jean Schaeffer (president), Maurice Slusher; Margaret Smith (2nd vice president), Genevieve Starkey (treasurer), Becky Weeks, and Kaye Wilkerson (historian).

MUSEUM RESPONSIBILITIES (Monetary and Other)
With the above plans, our “Next Steps” committee and executive committee have given careful thought to finances and how to proceed.
As soon as the Floyd County Historical Preservation Trust has the building ready for occupancy, as per our joint agreement, the Historical Society will start turning the first floor into a museum (with exhibits) and the second floor into an office, work space, and storage area for our on-going archival preservation work. Once the Historical Society has moved into the building, we will be responsible for the following: insurance coverage for the Society, museum utilities (electricity, water/sewer, and heating oil), lawn care, and museum expenses that relate to exhibit space on the main floor and upstairs work/storage area. The Historical Society will also be responsible for:  (1) Recruiting and supervising volunteer help that relates to museum operations and archival preservation work (2) Educational programming as it relates to exhibits and interpretive outreach to the public (3) Providing publicity for the museum, exhibits, and projects  (4) Keeping the museum clean.  The Historical Society will also help with fund raising – especially as it relates to the museum, its operation, and outreach to youth and the general public. We look forward to working cooperatively with the Preservation Trust and especially will partner whenever joint efforts would be advantageous for both groups. The Preservation Trust owns the building and has expenses that relate to the mortgage and the building itself. It will be wonderful to have a place where people can visit and learn, firsthand, about local history. The archival work and museum plans are fitting tributes as Floyd County celebrates its 175th anniversary.

HOW CAN WE ALL HELP?

Besides additional memberships and donations, there are many other ways to help with the Museum. Please let us know if you would like to help with one or more of the following committees.
 
 

FLOYD COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY:  VOLUNTEER NEEDS FOR FUTURE MUSEUM

(Please include your name, address, phone number and email address):  ___________________

I would be willing to help in the following ways:

 ___Exhibit Planning                                            ___Office Work (also newsletter, mailings

___Displaying Exhibits                                        ___Computer Work (data entry, other _______)

___Grant Proposal Writing                                  ___Host/Hostessing

___Publicity                                                        ___Working with Youth

___Interior Decorating                                         ___Lawn Care

___Fund Raising                                                  ___Long-range Planning

___Housekeeping/Chores                                    ___Other _________________
 
 

“WALKING TOUR”  BROCHURE
The Historical Society has recently received a $620 grant from The Community Foundation of the New River Valley. The funds will be used to help pay for a new walking-tour-of-Floyd brochure. Many thanks to Society member Kathleen Ingoldsby, and others, who have worked hard on that project. We’re hoping to have the brochure ready in September.

HOMECOMING AND HARVEST FESTIVAL – Saturday, Sept. 16th
An important part of Floyd County’s year-long 175th anniversary celebration will take place on Saturday, September 16th.  The festivities will begin at 10:00 am at the Recreation Park and will feature a County Fair (at the Park) and Taste of Floyd (on premises of Harvest Moon health food store).  4-H members will participate in a judged lamb and heifer show. The following are also planned:  a hog calling contest, cow patty bingo, pie throwing contest, and other games at 25 cents each. There will be a cake walk, plant clinic, historical displays such as a still, weaving, quilts, and a Curtis Turner display. Also, antique farm equipment will be on display. Various vendors, including those selling food, will offer items for purchase. Parking will be available at Citizens Telephone with a shuttle to the park. Off-site exhibit areas that day will include the Jacksonville Center, County Records, the Library, and the Floyd Country Store (where music will be performed.)  Our Historical Society will have exhibits at the Country Store and will also lead walking tours that start from the site. One of the Historical Society’s booths will portray the work Genevieve Starkey and her committee  have been doing with the cemetery project.  We’ll be selling commemorative anniversary envelopes that day (some leftover from January) and will also be selling historic prints (Main Street Floyd, Buffalo Mountain, and the Hotel Brame). The prints are a museum fund raiser.

OTHER INFORMATION
-We’ve recently submitted a 2nd grant application to Foundation for Roanoke Valley – hoping to get funds to continue current archival preservation work and to obtain start-up museum funds.
-We have a long history of working with the Old Church Gallery and are currently having discussions with them – identifying common goals with the thought of doing future projects together. Their oral history work, for example, is related to the work we are doing with archival preservation. We are currently looking into the possibility of partnering to apply for grant money.
-Historical Society member, G. Payne Marshall, has donated his new genealogy book to the Society.  (It has 549 pages and is titled:  The Family History of Simon Granser Marshall, Sr. 1791-1877).  Cost is $35 @ plus $6.50 s/h.  To order, contact him at gpaynetn@aol.com , or write or phone him at: 1514 Ardmore Place, Kingsport, TN  37664; Phone:  (423) 378-4172.
-According to Alpha Hiatt, vice president of the Patrick County Genealogy Society, they will sponsor a program on the General History & Culture of the Cherokee (also Genealogy) on Tuesday, August 15th, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Stuart Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Stuart. The Church is located on Blue Ridge Street across from the Patrick County Courthouse. Dr. R. Michael Abrams will be guest speaker. He is Director of the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery in Cherokee, NC

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UPDATE ON GRANT PROJECT – A Pictorial View
         As you know, the Historical Society received a $25,000 grant last fall from Foundation for Roanoke Valley (Larry Woodrow Vest Fund). Because of that grant, the Society has, for the first time, been able to manage, catalogue, and store its holdings according to archival preservation best practices. This work is important in its on right and it is also an essential foundation for educational outreach – whether it be in a museum, on the Internet, or elsewhere. I thought you might like to see a few photographs of the work we’re doing.
         Pictures 1 and 2 show Kathleen Ingoldsby working with historic photographs. Her training and photography experience, which includes expertise with PhotoShop software and digitization processes, have been a real help to this project. So far, she has entered data on almost 1000 photographs into an Access database and has made digital copies of many of the photographs. Best archival and storage practices are being used to protect the photographs and we have used grant funds to purchase acid-free containers and other materials from the Hollinger Company. In the above photos, please notice the storage boxes, office space (two-rooms in all), and electronic equipment that the grant has funded.
         Pictures 3 and 4 show archivist Mike Ryan working with some of the documents from the Society’s collections. Mike’s academic training and career experience with state and university archival programs have been invaluable to this project. Please note the shelved Hollinger acid-free file boxes. Within those boxes are 483 acid-free folders representing the research and cataloguing Mike has done. To accompany that work and quickly locate information, Mike has devised a detailed “finding aid.” As a result of his and Kathleen’s work, we have, for the first time, been able to create a new and very substantial Floyd County history archive for the Society’s documents, photographs, and artifacts.
         So far, the grant project has focused mainly on the Marguerite Tise Collection, the Marie Williams Collection, the Jessie Peterman Collection, the Dr. C. M. Stigleman Collection, the Floyd County Collection, and the Reverend John Kellogg Harris Collection. There is more work to do and of course the work will be ongoing. We are fortunate to have both Mike and Kathleen (part-time paid staff) and six volunteers helping with the project. So far, paid and volunteer workers have spent a total of more than 1500 hours on this archival preservation project.