Come Learn

• how the Etowah Valley became the major center of antebellum iron production in Georgia

• how Joseph E. Brown, Georgia’s governor, fought with Confederate President Jeff Davis over control of the Etowah Iron Works

• and how the Union Army targeted Etowah Valley industry as a key component of the Confederate bid for independence.

Hear little-known and never-heard-before stories

Learn about these topics and much more at Reinhardt’s inaugural regional history symposium: Etowah Valley Iron-Making and the Coming of the Civil War, to be held March 30 & 31 on Reinhardt’s campus in Waleska, Ga. This event is sponsored by the Reinhardt History Program and the Georgia Humanities Council.

“This symposium is the first in a series that will examine the history, culture and environment of the Etowah Valley,” said Dr. Ken Wheeler, professor of history, who has intensely studied the 19th century history of the Etowah Valley, including the origins of Reinhardt University and its role in the development of the area. “We are excited about telling little-known and never-heard-before stories that will dramatically reshape our understanding of the development of this region. We gladly invite the public to come share in what promises to be an enjoyable and eye-opening set of presentations.”

Tour Historic Iron Furnaces and Explore the Local History

Participants will learn from experts on industrialization and the antebellum iron industry across the Lower South, especially about the Etowah Valley during the Civil War era and its historical significance. The public will tour the remains of antebellum iron furnaces and be treated to lectures and discussions from humanities scholars.

Make your plans now to take part in this rare gathering of experts eager to share their findings! This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend. To register, please visit the online registration page, or call 770-720-5943.

Symposium Schedule

All activities are in the Bannister Glasshouse in the Hasty Student Life Center, unless otherwise noted.

Friday, March 30

• 3:30 p.m. – Wear comfortable shoes and hop on the bus, as the furnace tour will leave from the W. Frank & Evelyn J. Gordy Center parking lot—Richard Wright will explain the antebellum industrial history of the Etowah Valley
• 6 p.m. – Dinner is available for $6.50 per person at the Gordy Center
• 7 p.m. – Plenary address from James Bennett on Moses Stroup and Iron-Making in the Deep South – Bannister Glasshouse, Hasty Student Life Center

Saturday, March 31

• 8:30 a.m.– continental breakfast for participants 
• 9 a.m. – Lecture from Kenneth Wheeler: “When Civil War Came to the Etowah Valley”
• 10 a.m. – Remarks and panel discussion led by Richard Wright and David Parker, Ph.D., Kennesaw State University

Biographies of Program Leaders

	Kenneth H. Wheeler, Ph.D. Professor of History at Reinhardt University, Wheeler has, with co-author Wright, delivered scholarly papers on the antebellum iron industry in the Etowah Valley to professional associations, including the American Historical Association.  Wheeler and Wright are also the co-authors of “New Men in the Old South: Joseph E. Brown and his Associates in Georgia’s Etowah Valley,” which appeared in the Georgia Historical Quarterly in 2009.
	James R. Bennett Bennett is an expert on Jacob and Moses Stroup, key Etowah Valley furnace builders and ironmakers who subsequently played instrumental roles in the development of the iron industry in Alabama.  He is the author of Tannehill and the Growth of the Alabama Iron Industry (1999).  He is also the Commissioner of Labor in Alabama, after having served as Secretary of State for Alabama from 1993 to 2003.
	G. Richard Wright  A graduate of Reinhardt University, and a local history expert with special interest in the antebellum iron industry, Wright has partnered fully with Dr. Wheeler in their academic investigations, paper presentations, and publication, including their article in the Georgia Historical Quarterly and a paper, “The Stroup Family, the Etowah River Valley, and Technological Change in Georgia’s Antebellum Iron Industry,” presented to the Georgia Association of Historians.

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Georgia Humanities Council
The Georgia Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization working to ensure that humanities and culture remain an integral part of the lives of Georgians. For more >

One of major projects of the GHC is the The New Georgia Encyclopedia, which was developed by the Georgia Humanities Council, in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System of Georgia/GALILEO, and the Office of the Governor of Georgia. Since 1998 the Council has led the planning and development efforts for the NGE.

As part of Reinhardt’s celebration of February 2012 as Black History Month, Ambassador Andrew Young will speak at the University on Feb 7, 2012, from 2- 4 p.m. in the Bannister Glasshouse of the Hasty Student Life Center on Reinhardt’s campus in Waleska, Ga. This Civil Rights symposium will include a lecture on “Civil Rights and Humanities,” and a reception and meet-and-greet will immediately follow. The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Reinhardt’s Office of Student Activities and the Student Government Association.

“For a university, such as Reinhardt, that prides itself on creating a culture and environment that encourages a healthy exchange of ideas on the most critical questions confronting society and seeks to instill in its students and alumni a drive to serve the broader public good, the chance to host a Civil Rights icon and statesman such as Ambassador Andrew Young is incredible!” said Dr. Walter May, assistant dean of students and director of student activities. “I am elated to have the opportunity to bring to the University someone who as a young leader marched side-by-side with Dr. King and rose through the ranks of the social justice and civil rights movements and who has gone to be a tremendously successful leader for the State of Georgia, the United States and beyond. I am excited that Ambassador Young will be able to share his experiences and unique perspective formed by his knowledge in national and global leadership with the Reinhardt community.”

Young Background

Young has always viewed his career through the lens of his first career—that of ordained minister. His work for civil and human rights, his many years in public office as Congressman, United Nations Ambassador and Mayor, his leadership of the Atlanta Olympic Games, his advocacy of public purpose capitalism through Goodworks International, and the establishment of the Andrew J. Young foundation are all a response to his call to serve.

“A wealth of experience in national and global leadership.”

He brings a unique perspective formed by his wealth of experience in national and global leadership to his focus on the challenges of this era. He confronted segregation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and galvanized a movement that transformed a nation through non-violence. Young was a key strategist and negotiator during the Civil Rights Campaigns in Birmingham and Selma that resulted in the passage Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1972 and having served on the Banking and Urban Affairs and Rules Committees, Young sponsored legislation that established a U.S. Institute for Peace, The African Development Bank and the Chattahoochee River National Park, while negotiating federal funds for MARTA, the Atlanta highway system and a new international airport for Atlanta. His support for Jimmy Carter helped to win the Democratic Party nomination and election to the Presidency. In 1977, President Carter appointed him to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations where he negotiated an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and brought Carter’s emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy.

Leadership as Mayor of Atlanta

Young’s leadership as Mayor of Atlanta took place during a recession and a reduction in federal funds for cities. He turned to international markets for investments in Atlanta attracting 1100 new businesses, $70 billion in investment adding 1 million jobs to the region. He developed public-private partnerships to leverage public dollars for the preservation of Zoo Atlanta. Young led the effort to bring the Centennial Olympic Games to Atlanta and as Co-Chair of the Atlanta Olympic Committee, he oversaw the largest Olympic Games in history- in the number of countries, the number of athletes and the number of spectators. He was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic Movement.

Honors and Recognition

He has received honorary degrees from more than 60 universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad. The President Jimmy Carter awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom and France awarded him the Legion d’honneur, the greatest civilian honor in each nation. President William J. Clinton appointed him the founding chair of the Southern African Enterprise Development Fund. He serves on a number of boards, including: the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Barrick Gold, the United Nations Foundation and the Atlanta Falcons and the Andrew Young School for Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

Andrew Young Presents, the Emmy-nominated, nationally syndicated series of specials produced by Ambassador Young through the Andrew J. Young Foundation, Inc., is seen in nearly 90 American markets and around the world through the Armed Services Network. He is the author of two books: A Way Out of No Way and An Easy Burden.

Young and his wife, the educator and civic leader Carolyn McClain Young, live in Atlanta. He is the father of four and grandfather of six.

For more information about the Civil Rights Symposium at Reinhardt, please contact May at 770-720-5540 or WPM@reinhardt.edu

Dr. Kenneth Wheeler, professor of history at Reinhardt University, has published his first book, Cultivating Regionalism: Higher Education and the Making Of The American Midwest, with Northern Illinois University Press. The book is part of a collaborative book series, Early American Places, that includes books focusing on smaller geographical scales of historical developments in the specific places where they occurred and/or were contested.

Book Description

Wheeler’s book delves into how the Midwest region developed small colleges differently than the New England and Southern regions, including incorporating manual labor programs, which nurtured a Midwestern zeal for connecting mind and body, and introducing the concept of coeducation of men and women—creating an explosion of gender norms throughout higher education. The book shows how college founders built robust institutions of higher learning in this socially and ethnically diverse milieu during the antebellum decades, which, in turn, helped cultivate their regional identity. Through higher education, the values of people living north and west of the Ohio River formed the basis of a new Midwestern culture.

Stellar Reviews

In a review of the book, Andrew Cayton of Miami University said, “more than an excellent social history of institutions of higher education in the nineteenth-century Midwest, this book is a thoughtful addition to a growing number of studies investigating the question of regional identity north and west of the Ohio River.”

And Thomas Hamm of Earlham College said that “the value of this book is that it makes new and interesting arguments about three issues in American history: American pre-eminence in the natural sciences; the origins of Progressivism; and how the culture of the Old Northwest differed from that of the Northeast and the South.”

Wheeler’s Background

Wheeler has been at Reinhardt since 1999, and has been honored with the United Methodist Exemplary Teacher Award in 2009; the Elizabeth Moss Bailey Faculty Mentor Award in 2008; the Captain A. M. Reinhardt Award in 2004; and the Vulcan Award for Educational Excellence in 2004.

In the community, Wheeler serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Association of Historians and the Cherokee County Historical Society, and the Advisory Board for the Funk Heritage Center.

Current Projects

Wheeler is currently doing research on Georgia’s Etowah Valley, and has presented and published scholarship on Joseph E. Brown, the iron industry, and Augustus M. Reinhardt.  He is planning an upcoming symposium open to the public, to be held at Reinhardt March 30-31, sponsored by the Georgia Humanities Council, called “Etowah Valley Iron-Making and the Coming of the Civil War.”

His book may be purchased at the Reinhardt University bookstore, or at Amazon.com.

Reinhardt University closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on Jan. 16, 2012

Reinhardt offices are closed, and classes are not held on selected holidays throughout the year.  Please see the complete holiday listing

 In this instance, “University Closed” means:

• Classes will not be held;
• Faculty and staff need not report;
• Residence Halls are open to house residential students;
• The Gordy Center (campus dining facility) schedule varies.  Please call 770-720-5611 to check day and hours.

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Date of Event: 12/22/2011
at 01:00 AM

Margaret Tippens Dobson establishes endowment at Reinhardt University in memory of her parents, Mamie Cleo Cagle Tippens and Charles Monroe Tippens

(published 12/22/11) Waleska, Ga. – It was a love story that began a century ago. On Christmas Eve, 1911, Mamie Cleo Cagle Tippens and Charles Monroe Tippens were married after a whirlwind romance. The couple first met in a one room school house called Sandy Plains, located on what is now Lower Burris Road in the Clayton Community. It was January, 1910. He was 21 years old and the “new” teacher for the school, and she was 16 years old, an older seventh grader anxious to learn. When school let out in June 1911, after a suitable waiting period, Monore wrote to Cleo telling her he would like to see all of his students, but her most of all. As she’d had her eyes on him too throughout the year, they began to date and were married on December 24, 1911.

A zest for learning.

Monroe and Cleo raised a family of six girls and one boy: Willie B, Annie D, LeRoy, Ruth, Margaret, Marjorie and Betty. As his family grew, Monroe, who had run away from home to get a high school education, found it necessary to give up teaching and turn  to farming, as his father has originally wanted him to do, for his main income. But he never lost his zeal for learning or his conviction that education was the most important legacy he and Cleo could pass along to their children. He was determined that all of his children get an education. Despite financial pressures and prevailing practices of the rural community, he never kept them out of school to do farm work.

Educational Background

When the time came for high school, their older children lived in Canton with their Grandmother Julia Cagle during the school year to be close Canton High School. Willie B. and Annie D. graduated from there in 1930. LeRoy entered Canton High School the same year and graduated in 1934. LeRoy entered Reinhardt College in 1934 and graduated in 1936.

Ruth started at Canton in 1933, but then transferred to Reinhardt Academy in 1934 and graduated in spring of 1937. Margaret and Marjorie entered Canton High School in 1937, but, due to city regulations were switched to Reinhardt Academy for their senior year in 1940. They graduated from Reinhardt Academy in 1941.  In the fall of 1941 they entered Reinhardt College and graduated in 1943.

Betty entered Canton High School in 1946 and graduated in 1948. She stayed at Sandy Plains School through the ninth grade, and went to Canton in the 10th grade. She went to Reinhardt College in the fall of 1948 and graduated in 1950.

A century of education.

The descendants of Charles Monroe and Mamie Cleo Tippens have been the primary beneficiaries of their devotion to education, and now account for more than 50 bachelors degrees, 25 masters degrees, and 13 doctoral degrees (9 PhDs, 4 MDs). To date, 12 descendants of Monroe and Cleo have attended Reinhardt for a total of more than 40 years of schooling at the then college. Their descendants and their spouses also account for more that half a millennium of years taught in the Cherokee County School system, including a long term principal for which Lee R. Tippens Elementary School is named, and a long term member and chairman of the Cherokee County School Board, who was instrumental in the creation of Sequoyah and Etowah High Schools.

The Charles Monroe and Mamie Cleo Tippens Memorial Endowment Fund

As education, and Reinhardt as well, has been in the forefront of this family’s existence for the last century, Margaret Tippens, daughter of Monroe and Cleo, has established an endowment in her parents memory. The Charles Monroe and Mamie Cleo Tippens Memorial Endowment Fund at Reinhardt University will provide scholarships for deserving Reinhardt students. A charitable trust of $10,000 has been earmarked for Reinhardt to initially endow the fund, with plans to make it a matching fund for all the Tippens family at the rate of $.50 on the dollar to encourage the accrual of $30,000 as a preliminary goal for the fund.

“Our family has a proud history with Reinhardt,” said Jeffrey Dobson, Ph.D., son of Margaret Tippens Dobson. ”We are hopeful that this endowment  will encourage other members of the Monroe and Cleo Tippens family to remember Reinhardt in their future charitable giving and estate planning. Reinhardt has played a major role in the educational background of my family, so what better way for my mother to honor that heritage than to establish an endowment in honor of her parents, the founding members of our family.”

A lasting legacy.

Although no longer with us, Monroe and Cleo Tippens will be especially remembered by their family on this Christmas Eve—what would have marked their 100th wedding anniversary. The love story that began a century ago, instilled in this family an appreciation and love for education, and now, through the endowment fund at Reinhardt University, has created a legacy for generations to come.

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Reinhardt University Christmas & New Year’s Holidays

Reinhardt University will close at 2 on Dec. 22 and remain closed on Dec. 23 & Dec. 26, 2011. The University will also be closed on Jan. 2, 2012.

Reinhardt offices are closed, and classes are not held on selected holidays throughout the year.  Please see the complete holiday listing

 In this instance, “University Closed” means:

• Students do not report to class;
• Faculty and staff need not report;
• The Gordy Center (campus dining facility) schedule varies.  Please call 770-720-5611 to check day and hours.

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Register Here!

Or register by phone 770-720-5546

hosted by the Reinhardt University Ministerial Association Lunch and a beverage are included in the $35 per person registration fee.  Participants are encouraged to register by Feb. 1, but walk-in registrants are also welcome.

Social Media, Communications and Evangelism: How the “tools” can help spread The Word

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012

9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

at Reinhardt University
Hoke O’Kelley Auditorium in the Burgess Administration Building
Waleska, Ga. 30183 directions >

In an age of instant, constant and rapidly changing connectivity, the church must have a consistent and meaningful presence in the lives of the congregation and its community.

This workshop will explore the following questions:

• What is social media?
• Why do I need to use social media in my church? How do I connect with varying demographics, including Young Adults, through social media?
• How do I update traditional means of communications? How can social media be used as an effective evangelism tool?

We will explore new ways of staying connected through social and electronic media, updated ways to keep your church connected through print publications, and help you rethink radical hospitality through the lens of social media. An iPad, tablet, or laptop computer may prove helpful but are not necessary to engage in this workshop.

Seminar Leaders:

The Rev. Jasmine R. Smothers

Associate Director of Connectional Ministries of the North Georgia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

Smothers serves as the staff resource for existing Black Church Development, Natural Church Development, Multi-Ethnic/Cultural congregations, Cross-Cultural/Racial appointments, and Young Clergy leadership. Jasmine is also a church consultant for Small Membership Churches and the staff liaison for the Annual Conference ministry teams.

Smothers serves the Church and her community as a workshop facilitator, writer, consultant, advocate and preacher. She is active on all levels of the United Methodist connection. She has served as the President of the North Georgia Annual Conference’s (NGUMC) Young Adult Ministry and is a graduate of the NGUMC’s New Church Leadership Academy. Jasmine also served as the co-chair of Division of Young People’s Ministries for the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the UMC. Currently, Jasmine serves as a board member for the General Commission on Religion and Race of the UMC and as a member of the UMC’s Study of Ministry Commission. Jasmine has represented the North Georgia Conference at the World Methodist Conferences in South Korea and South Africa and the Global Gathering and Legislative Assembly for Young People in South Africa.

She is a native of Atlanta, Ga., and graduated from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.  She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church.  For more on her background >

The Rev. Dave Allen Grady

Dave Allen Grady serves as an elder in the United Methodist Church where he lives out his passion to help people identity and use their passions as the Beloved Community is made real.  A graduate of the Candler School of Theology, Dave has served in a broad range of churches in multiple Annual Conferences, including a church of more than 6000 members and a rural circuit Great Britain. 

Currently, Dave is the senior pastor of Druid Hills United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Ga. He serves as chair of the North Georgia Conference’s Advocacy Team, is a board member of Intown Collaborative Ministries and the Georgia Pastors’ School and will be a member of the delegation to represent the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church at the 2012 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. 

A strong advocate for empowering people, Dave encourages churches to embrace social media as a way to relate to communities in a new way, encouraging people to offer the gifts present in them. Dave twitters at @daveag.   

Register here!

Or call 770-720-5546 to register.

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Faculty, Staff and Students Make Christmas Special for 18 Local Children

Reinhardt, in conjunction with R.M. Moore Elementary School, the University’s Partner in Education, collected gifts for local families as part of the University’s annual Giving Tree. University faculty, staff and students donated 70 gifts ranging from clothes and shoes, to dolls and games. The gifts will be presented to 18 local children, ages 2- 12 years old.

Graciously giving to those in need.

“We are so grateful to everyone in the Reinhardt community who donated gifts for these families in need,” said Jon Costales, counselor at R.M. Moore Elementary School. “Especially with the way the economy is these days, it’s uplifting that Reinhardt so graciously provided so many wonderful presents to make it a very special Christmas for the children involved.”

Giving Tree organizers included Costales (from left, back row); Janna Moore, Reinhardt executive administrative assistant to the VP for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs; Dottie Townsend, R.M. Moore Elementary School secretary; and student representatives Ian-Patrick Costales (from left, kneeling), student council member, and Madalyn Townsend, Junior Beta Club vice president.

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Date of Event: 12/09/2011
at 01:00 AM

Harrison named Assistant Athletic Trainer

(published 12/9/11) Waleska, Ga. – Kelley Harrison has joined Reinhardt University as its assistant athletic trainer. Harrison is responsible for assisting head athletic trainer Ashley Wolary with all aspects of Reinhardt’s athletic training program, which includes the prevention, evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation of athletic injuries and related illnesses for approximately 250 student-athletes who participate in 16 sports programs.

“I actually was an undergrad with Ashley and we worked together then,” Harrison said. “I wanted to try experiencing the smaller-school atmosphere and stay in college athletics. I like Reinhardt and the family atmosphere.”

Harrison Background

Harrison comes to Reinhardt from NCAA Division I Clemson University, where she spent two years as a graduate assistant trainer, working directly with the women’s volleyball, women’s tennis and spirit squads. During the summer of 2010, Harrison served as an athletic trainer at the Clemson women’s basketball, volleyball and men’s soccer camps.

Prior to attending graduate school, Harrison was an athletic training student at Florida State University, another NCAA Division I institution. While at FSU, her assignments included working with several teams, including some from nearby Tallahassee Community College.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Florida State in May 2009, Harrison received a master’s in human resource development at Clemson in August 2011.

Harrison became a certified athletic trainer in June 2009 and is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. She is licensed in the states of Georgia and Florida, and acquired American Red Cross professional rescuer certification.

Originally from Tallahassee, Fla., Harrison now resides in the Lake Arrowhead community of Waleska.

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