Youth History Outreach - 2022
In keeping with its primary purpose of preserving Macon County history, The Macon County Historical Society (the "Society") implemented a project to provide historical information about Macon County, Tennessee, to Junior High 8th grade students in the Macon County school systems.
This project was inspired, in part, due to the fact that school systems were no longer required to teach "Tennessee History." To help fill this void, the Society planned to yearly present each 8th grade student of the school system with a copy of the book, "History of Macon County, Tennessee" (the "Book") written by Harold G. Blankenship, a former history teacher and principal in Macon County.
While this project was underway, the State of Tennessee passed legislation requiring all schools to include "Tennessee History" in their "Social Studies" lesson plans. At that point the project was joined by the Macon County School System.
There were two large challenges standing in the way of completing this project:
- ✓ Printing Rights. The Society needed to obtain the rights to re-print Mr. Blankenship's book with the sole purpose of presenting copies to Junior High School students.
- ✓ Funding. This Society is a small non-profit organization supported mainly by the City of Lafayette and Macon County. The cost to re-print sufficient copies far outpaced the support provided by the local governments.
When presented with the plans for this project, the Society was granted the rights to re-print "the Book" by Steve Blankenship, the son of Harold G. Blankenship.
The funding issue was surmounted by a generous grant from the McClard Foundation by Jean McClard in memory of her husband, Billy Wilson McClard, a life-long resident of Macon County.
After the books were delivered, a formal presentation was made to the Macon County Schools (video below).
One last note: There are currently enough books to last approximately 5 years. Hopes are that the Society will continue to raise enough funds to keep this project going in perpetuity.