The Keynote Presenter

It was truly memorable! That is how I would describe the presentation about Rosenwald Schools to the “Lunch ‘n Learn” group at Christ Church in downtown Raleigh last week.

Julius Rosenwald, the President of Sears and Roebuck, established a fund in the 1910-1930 era to build schools in the South for black children (the schools for black children were deplorable). Local communities raised money to match Rosenwald’s contribution. Schools were built using uniform building plans that had exacting details. During the life of the program, over 5,000 schools were built in the South. At one time 1 out of every 3 black children in the South attended a Rosenwald school.

What Rosenwald did was truly memorable but what made this presentation memorable was the fact that four members of the audience had actually attended Rosenwald Schools. I asked these folks to share their experiences in attending a Rosenwald School. And that is what made the presentation memorable.

I enjoyed speaking to the NC-IPMA on Friday in Atlantic Beach, NC.  So who is the NC-IPMA? It is the North Carolina Chapter of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR).  It s the premier professional association for public sector human resources professionals. HR professionals from all over the state attended. My presentation focused on Searching for the Wizard of Oz – At Work (and at Home).

It was a challenge getting there as the wind was gusting at 50-60 miles per hour and had even toppled a pine tree across Highway 70 near Kinston. There is joke that speakers blow in, blow off, and then blow out. Well, it was the wind that was blowing on Thursday and Friday.

One of the first presentations I made about outhouses was to the Rotary Club in Frankfort, Indiana about 40 years ago. I used a Kodak Carousel Slide projector and 2 x 2 Kodachrome slides. So I guess it was appropriate to again appear before a Rotary Club to speak about outhouses. But this time it was in Cary, NC (yesterday) and the technology was a PowerPoint presentation driven by a Lenovo laptop computer that was displayed on a huge flat screen television using an HDMI cable. The audience responded to questions I posed using handheld electronic responders. The technology had changed but the principles espoused by the Rotarians and the subject matter was still the same.

It was fun (and an honor) to get to speak at the 1ooth Anniversary Celebration of the Agricultural Education Program at Clemson University this weekend. Dr. Parr from Murray State University played the role of Senator Hoke Smith and I was Representative Dudley Hughes (both from Georgia) and we were traveling by train from Atlanta to Washington, DC (circa 1917) with a quick stop in Calhoun, SC (which is now Clemson).  On our train trip we discussed why the Smith-Hughes Act was needed, reviewed the provisions of our proposed legislation, and speculated what the future would be like if this legislation was not passed.  The 200+ people in the audience got to eavesdrop on our conversation. Pictured below are photos of the real Smith and Hughes.

It was a pleasure speaking to the Pamlico County Historical Association on Monday. In recognition of Black History Month, the presentation was about the New Farmers of America (NFA). This was an organization for African-American agricultural students in the South during the days of segregation. It was equivalent to the FFA (Future Farmers of America).

A discussion about the NFA also requires a look at the Rosenwald school building program for African-American students. I had the opportunity to visit the last standing Rosenwald School in Pamlico County (it was last used as a school in 1963 and now serves as a community center).

One of the perils of traveling to speak in January is the weather. Who knows when you might get stuck in an airport someplace. That was not a problem this week as I was speaking close to home. I spoke at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at North Carolina State University – 8 miles from home. I enjoy traveling but it is nice speaking near home.

I often take a photo of the room where I will be speaking before anyone arrives and then send the photo to my colleagues and tell them no one showed up to hear me. I had planned on doing that on Monday but the room filled up quickly as the lecture was sold out. I guess people just wanted to learn about the history and evolution of the outhouse (my topic).

I have been invited back to present two lectures in the fall. One lecture is about the Women’s Land Army and the other is about the Camp Meeting Movement. It will be interesting to see if those topics are as popular as outhouses.

It seems as if the Hilton Garden Inn in Georgetown, KY is my Old Kentucky Home. This past week I returned for the 4th year to speak to the Kentucky Association for Career and Technical Education TALENTS program. This is a leadership development program for future CTE leaders in Kentucky. It was cold and snowy outside but the participants made it warm inside.

I arrived a day early so I could do some research for a future presentation about the Camp Meeting movement. About 30 miles from Georgetown is the Cane Ridge Meeting House where a great revival occurred in 1801.  Thousands of people came and camped out. This started a trend for churches to have on-site campgrounds – of which a number are still in operation today. This church was built in 1791 and is still standing but a structure has been built over and surrounding the church to preserve it.

I always enjoy making presentations at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville; especially at Christmas time. They do a tremendous job of decorating as evidenced by this Poinsettia tree. Dr. Wendy Warner and I enjoyed speaking to a very receptive crowd of agriculture teachers about how to make the teaching of FFA history and facts engaging and exciting. We displayed a number of historical FFA artifacts and introduced the audience to a website we created that has numerous teaching resources – tinyurl.com/FFA1928.

There was a record attendance at the 90th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis last week.  Another record was the FFA elected the first African-American female to be the national president. The National FFA Convention is exciting. It is like a 30 ring circus with all types of workshops, competitions, and entertainment going on.

One event that occurs during the FFA Convention is the annual meeting of the National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education (NASAE). It was my pleasure to speak to the NASAE members about “After 100 Years It Is Time for a Change in SAE!” The Snith-Hughes Act of 1917 which provided federal funds to support the teaching of agriculture in public schools required all agricultural students to have “farming projects”. Even though the types of projects students have conducted has changed over the past 100 years, more change is needed.

I wrapped up the summer speaking tour in Spokane, Washington speaking to the Washington Association for Career and Technical Education. I was in my alter ego – Representative Dudley Hughes of Georgia. The Washington ACTE has their act together and has a quality convention.

After the presentation, I had the opportunity to explore Washington State. I really enjoyed seeing the expansive wheat fields, the fruit growing area, the mountains around Seattle (including Mount Ranier). I also enjoyed a whale watching trip and a flight around Seattle in a float plane.