1. "My Place Matters" program: NTHP is going with a campaign called "This Place Matters" and so going along with that planned a kids program called "My Place Matters." Basically, I was asked to lead/ co-lead 2 classes of 5th graders from a Nashville school around the block surrounding the public library and tell them the history of the buildings and get them to sketch what they saw (which didn't require sketching the buildings if they didn't want to). My first group had one of the most fantastic teachers ever, plus a parent chaperone that actually did her job and still made time to tell me some cool places to go to in Nashville. My second group (well, that's the one I co-led) had a girl who could be a pretty awesome artist someday. I got to tell that group about Tennessee's suffrage history in conjunction with the Hermitage Hotel. In case you all didn't know (because I sure didn't before last week), the hotel was headquarters for both suffragists and anti-suffragists. At the time, only men could enter through the front entrance- women had to enter on the side. Well, one of the girls in my group says "But that's not fair!" And I said that I agreed with her. And so she thinks about all the Civil Rights things she's heard in the morning session, and says, "It's like what they did to the black people before Civil Rights!" I was pretty darn proud. And will tell everyone I see about that moment.
2. Seeing places I'd never been inside before: the Arcade, the Ryman(!), War Memorial Auditorium, Downtown Presbyterian (one of the best examples of Egyptian Revival anywhere), the downtown public library, Miss Mary Bobo's in Lynchburg.
(Windows at the Ryman)
3. The people: Ok, so I get starstruck (if that's even the right word for this) easily. For instance, I was sitting 8 rows from the stage when Laura Bush was presented an award for all her work with preservation. I don't care what your political beliefs are, it was still pretty cool to be in the audience with a former first lady (see image of the back of her as she's leaving the stage below). We were treated to performances by the Fisk Jubilee Singers and Dave Berg (a singer/songwriter who has written such country hits as "Stupid Boy" and "What Kind of Gone," which he performed for us, among others- I got reprimanded for videoing his performance. Oops... so I won't post it). I got to hear talks by Bill McKibben (author/ environmentalist) and Dame Fiona Reynolds (President of the National Trust in the UK) I got to shake hands with John Lewis, a Civil Rights activist and current Congressman from Georgia. Dr. West also took the grad students picture with him. I got to see Dr. Spencer Crew, who was my Maymester professor this year, and he gave Heather, Liz, and I hugs and asked how we were doing. Then when the NTHP president (Richard Moe) came up to talk to him, he introduced us to him (again, more hand-shaking). I got to work pretty directly with the Senior Education Planner for the NTHP for the My Place Matters program. All in all- these experiences don't happen that often, let alone all in one week.
(If you look at the image on the left, the man at the podium is Richard Moe, the president of NTHP, and the people walking away are Laura Bush [in the front] and John Nau. The other picture is of MTSU students with John Lewis.)
4. Thesis issues worked out: You know what's awesome about conferences? My thesis advisor is typically there. Which means it's one of the most reliable places I can find him. And with thesis due to the graduate office in 3 weeks, it was kind of necessary. So thesis crisis is now averted (for the time being), and I also got to talk to him about jobs.
5. Jack Daniel's tour: Yes, I'd been to Jack Daniel's before. But I wanted to hear it from a different angle. Besides, my scholarship allowed for a free field session, and who is going to turn down all day at Jack's? So we toured, we got a tasting (which the public doesn't get to do because Moore County is dry), and we went to Miss Mary Bobo's which had fantastic food (and I'd never been there). Then we also walked around the square and went up to Jack's grave.
(Our tour guide (Goose), Sign for Miss Mary Bobo's, and Jack's grave. It looks half completed because he died younger than he should have, and there used to be two chairs until about a month ago (they think stolen) for all the ladies who were so upset that they didn't get to marry him, so that they wouldn't have to lay on the ground.)
That's all I can type for now- I've had 5 days in a row being up before 6am, and haven't gotten to bed before 11pm yet!
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