The Daily News Journal, February 27, 2016
MURFREESBORO — Tickets are on sale for the annual Willie McGowan Banquet, with this year’s event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the efforts to preserve Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center.
Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center is located at 415 S. Academy St. in Murfreesboro. (Photo: Submitted)
With a theme of “Honoring the Legacy of Our Unsung Heroes,” this year’s banquet will celebrate honorees whose efforts were critical in the successful movement to preserve and restore a building that embodies the foundation of education for African-Ameri cans in the city of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, officials said.
The banquet will be at 7 p.m. March 26 at the James Union Building at Middle Tennessee State University. The event will feature dinner, a keynote speaker and special presentations to select Bradley supporters.
A pre-celebration wine-and-cheese event will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 25, at the museum. The free event will feature jazz music, local artists’ displays, a video presentation about the museum and self-guided tours.
Keynote speaker for the March 26 banquet is James Oscar Simmons of Florida. A Rutherford County native and 1953 graduate of Holloway High School, Simmons is the retired president and founder of the Pinellas County Urban League in St. Petersburg, Florida, Fla., a position he held for almost three decades.
In recent years, he has also been instrumental in opening a number of charter schools in Florida to help atrisk youth earn their high school diplomas, officials said.
Banquet honorees include the Rebecca Carney Temple No. 798 and the E.A. Davis Elks Lodge No. 1138; MTSU Center for Historic Preservation, represented by Carroll Van West, center director and state historian for Tennessee; and Caneta Hankins, retired assistant director of the center; the MTSU Department of History, represented by James Beeby, chair, and Brenden Martin, history professor; Shacklett Photography, represented by Bill Shacklett and Gloria Shacklett Christy; and the Christy Houston Foundation, represented by Bob Mifflin.
Bradley closed as an all-black school in 1955 in the wake of the Brown v.
Board of Education Supreme Court decision. After being used for office space and storage for a time, the school fell into disrepair and faced demolition, officials saud.
That’s when Willie McGowan, known as the “father of the Bradley Academy Historical Association,” spearheaded a movement by former students, teachers and community supporters to restore the abandoned building by the mid-1990s.
The building now serves as a cultural museum, with permanent historical exhibits, a restored classroom, office space and meeting space for community events. The Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department has taken over day-to-day operations of the facility.
Tickets for the banquet are $40 for adults over age 18 and $20 for all others. A table of eight can be reserved for $300. The deadline to purchase tickets is March 18.
Tickets can be purchased by cash or check in advance at the museum, 415 S.
Academy St., during the normal operating hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
For tickets or donations, make checks payable to the City of Murfreesboro/ Friends of Bradley Academy Museum. For more information, call 615962-8773.