MTSU history students celebrate conclusion of exhibit
project
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Bradley Academy Museum
and Cultural Center will celebrate an interactive history exhibit
recently completed by MTSU graduate students with a Friday, May 26, reception
at the museum, according to a city of Murfreesboro news release.
The new exhibit, “Education and Empowerment: African American
Education in Rutherford County,” will be unveiled from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at
Bradley, located at 415 S. Academy St. Light refreshments will be provided
at the free event.
The public event coincides with the Red and Black Holloway
Reunion, a weekend-long celebration for former students who attended the
original Holloway High School. The celebration is held every year
during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
“We are excited to share this new exhibit with the Murfreesboro
community,” said Vonchelle Stembridge, program coordinator at
Bradley for Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department.
“Bradley Academy is a cultural resource that serves as a Rutherford
County tourist destination with programming that promotes African-American
history. We are thankful to MTSU’s Public History Program for partnering
with us to tell this history.”
Bradley partnered with Dr. Brenden Martin, director of
MTSU’s Public History Program, to develop the interactive exhibit. The
new exhibit features two touch-screen monitors filled with images of Bradley
and Holloway’s history.
The project chronicles how local African-American schools served as
a beacon of empowerment and activism in the 19th and 20th
centuries. The history is told through a first-floor wall display that includes
oral histories, photographs and material culture.
Public history students researched, planned and constructed the
permanent exhibit as part of the “Essentials of Museum Management” class taught
by Martin, a professor in the Department of History.
“This kind of class prepares students for the way museums operate
with professionals assigned different aspects of the project exhibit,” Martin
said in the release. “The goal of the project is to assist museums with
historical displays while teaching students about the importance of working
together as teams.”
For information on the project, contact Martin at 615-898-2643
or brenden.martin@mtsu.edu.
For more information about the museum, contact Stembridge at
615-962-8773 or visit www.murfreesborotn.gov/parks.
About Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center
The city of Murfreesboro and the Bradley Academy Historical
Association Inc. signed an agreement in 2015 to transfer management and
operations of the museum to the city. Managing and operating the museum is
part of the city Parks and Recreation Department’s preservation and programming
mission. Under the agreement, the department manages, operates, and
provides programming for the museum facility. The Bradley Board and
Association serves as an advisory/friends group with fundraising and providing
volunteers for special programs, exhibits and events.
The nonprofit Bradley Academy Historical Association Inc. has long
worked to restore the landmark to preserve the history of its contribution to
the community. Bradley Academy, listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, was founded in the early 19th century as a
school for white males. Among the earliest students was James Knox Polk,
the 11th president of the United States. From 1884 until
the 1960s, it was an elementary and secondary school for African-Americans in
Rutherford County who struggled to obtain a formal education in the post-Civil
War period. The 1917 building is an example of standardized, early 20th century
Schoolhouse architecture. In 2017, the structure will be 100 years old.
An hour-long documentary on the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural
Center produced by CityTV can be viewed at https://youtu.be/aacz25UhG3I.
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