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VOL. 6 NO. 22 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
May 28, 2012
History uncovered at West View cemeteries By Wendy Smith
Signs go up for city bike route Signs are up for the city’s first bike route. It runs 11 miles from Cedar Bluff to downtown and back, partly on greenways and partly on roads, though it largely avoids major highways. There are 95 signs on the route.
‘Night Train’ to West High School Daedra Charles-Furlow, one of the most storied players in UT basketball history, will be coming to West High School as girls’ basketball coach. Called “Night Train” as a player, Charles played center for coach Pat Summitt from 1988-91. She was the first player from the SEC to win the Wade Trophy, the highest honor in college women’s basketball. She has worked as an assistant coach at UT and at Auburn. She and husband Anthony Furlow have a son, Anthonee, 12.
Summer fun with a message With the close of school, Vacation Bible School is around the corner for area youngsters. We’ve got information about this year’s offerings.
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See page A-9
Ellen Adcock lived in the West View neighborhood for more than a decade before she saw a funeral at Crestview Cemetery on Keith Avenue. The weeds were taller than the grandchildren of the deceased, she says. “I didn’t even know it was a cemetery.” She became interested in the property, which was across the street from an intended park. She learned that the cemetery was licensed by the state of Tennessee as a perpetual care cemetery, but the business that had committed to caring for it had failed. The state agreed to relinquish control of Crestview to Adcock if she’d oversee its cleanup. She agreed. It was a huge task, but the state Board of Probation and Parole (BOPP) heard about her cause and offered to help. “If we had not had them, I don’t know what we would’ve done,” she says. Crestview Cemetery has been maintained by the West View Community Action Group (WVCAG) and the BOPP for 18 years now. But solving one problem led to another. Criminal activity that once took place at Crestview had been pushed into two nearby cemeteries, Longview and Southern Chain. Both are African-American cemeteries that date back to the early 1900s, says Adcock, and no one claims responsibility for either. Again, help materialized. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office and Knoxville Police Department beefed up patrols, and the BOPP agreed to maintain all three cemeteries. The Knoxville Department of Public Service assisted with brush removal, and members of the nearby West View Wesleyan Church pitched in. Bob Schulz, superintendent at the nearby New Gray Cemetery, provided valuable information about the restoration of graves. Neighbors researched cemetery inhabitants. Eventually, it became clear that the cemeteries, once considered a liability, were actually an asset to the
Ellen Adcock, Mary Newell and Susan Hardin, members of the West View Community Action Group, enjoy the view from Longview Cemetery. The group spent years maintaining and researching Crestview Cemetery on Keith Avenue before taking on the restoration of Longview and Southern Chain cemeteries just a few blocks away. They are working with the East Tennessee Design Center to create the West View Cemetery District. Photo by Wendy Smith neighborhood. Last year, the WVCAG began working with the East Tennessee Community Design Center to design a greenway that would connect the cemeteries with West View Park. Third District City Council representative Brenda Palmer secured a grant to fund the design. When design center staff created a map of the area, they realized three more historic cemeteries were within walking distance. The Henry Lonas Cemetery, named for a Revolutionary War soldier and local landowner, the New Jewish Cemetery, which contains the grave of a Civil War soldier, and the Middlebrook Cemetery, used by early
white settlers, are also in the West View area. Together, the cemeteries are a treasure trove of history. Landscape architect Sara Hedstrom Pinnell is working with the design center to create a plan to connect, and clearly define, the cemeteries. The West View Cemetery District will be open sometime this fall, says Adcock. “We look at this now as a real resource, and jewel, to West View. We feel like this is a gift we can give back to the city.” The restoration of the cemeteries is also a gift to the families who have loved ones buried there. Adcock recently passed Crestview and
saw a young man planting flowers at a grave. When she spoke to him, he said it was the grave of his brother, who died nine years ago. He plants flowers each year before bringing his mother to visit on his brother’s birthday. It’s hard work, and she’d like to find a larger organization to take over the project, but she notices that more people bring elderly relatives to visit Longview and Southern Chain now that they are accessible. They leave flowers and toys on the graves. It sometimes brings the prisoners who work there to tears, she says. “That’s what keeps us going.”
‘History You Can Touch’ By Sandra Clark
Index Anne Hart Wendy Smith Government/Politics Marvin West Sara Barrett Faith Schools Vacation Bible School Business Health/Lifestyles
A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8-9 A9 A10 Sect B
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Knox County Schools, the Junior League of Knoxville and Knox Heritage have partnered to develop curricula for grades 5, 8 and 11 to highlight local history and heritage. Three years in the making, the lesson plans were unveiled last week at the L&N STEM Academy. The plans are a Knoxville-focused resource for social studies teachers and are part of Knox Heritage’s “History You Can Touch” program. The five lesson plans about historic preservation correspond to the existing social studies curriculum for each grade. The objective is to give history a “familiar face” by showing how the preservation of Knoxville area historic buildings and important places enriches the understanding of the community and provides a sense Knox Heritage is working with Knox County Schools to develop lesson plans that reflect the community’s heritage. of place for its citizens. At the unveiling last week at the L&N STEM Academy are Knox Heritage Executive Director Kim Trent; Millicent “History You Can Touch” fea- Smith, KCS director of professional development and social studies supervisor; Junior League of Knoxville Executive tures these topics: Knoxville Director Tracy Marrow; and Superintendent Dr. Jim McIntyre. Photo submitted Leaders, The Civil War, Industrialism, The New Deal and Country Point presentation, a lesson plan resource guide. These units will be well as on the Knox Heritage webMusic in Knoxville. with discussion questions and en- available to all Knox County teach- site for private school and homeEach unit contains a Power- richment projects, and a teacher ers on the systemwide intranet, as schooled students.
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