Historic Union Baptist Church has been selected as a Tour Home by the Historic Jefferson Foundation (HJF) and will be presented to the public by HJF docents starting on Thursday, December 3. Tours will commence at 3 PM on December 3^rd and Thursday, December 10 and cease at 7 PM on these evenings. On Friday and Saturday evenings starting on December 4 and ending on December 12, tour times run from 4 PM to 8 PM. Tour days are Thursday-Saturday over the two-week run of Candlelight.

Union Baptist will be on the annual tour along with the Dotson-King House at 312 N. Walnut; the Heron House located at 307 N. Owens Street; and the Culberson House at 403 N. Walnut.

The Health & Safety Plan may be found at the event website at https://Jeffersoncandlelight.com and includes distancing, the wearing of masks, and the use of hand sanitizing stations provided by HJF. HJF docents will present site information outside each structure with no talking inside and groups limited to 10 members.

As an extra safety measure while in the sanctuary, a brief history narrative mixed with Christmas carols traditionally sung by black congregations will be delivered by members of the Pleasant Hill Quilting Club via a continuously looping video. Flo Stevenson, Oteria McDaniel, and Lawanda Warren with the Club and Mike Gannon of Collins Academy shot, edited, and published the video in mid November. It can be viewed at https://youtu.be/VA7L_6bYVL8 .

The simple and neat Christmas decorations pictured here were installed by Mary Tessi of Jefferson with help from Shirley Reiman of the House of the Seasons.

(L to R) Oteria McDaniel, Lawanda Warren, & Flo Stevenson are video- recorded by Mike Gannon on November 9 inside the sanctuary of Union Baptist Church.

Virtual Field Trips

Because of the loss of face-to-face enrichment opportunities with students, Collins Academy staff is building high quality virtual field trips that are available to anyone at any time.   The Story of Jefferson, a backbone history of how steamboat navigation made Jefferson important to the settling of Northeastern Texas and all points to the West is available for viewing and expansion.  It is aligned to the Social Studies TEKS for Grades 6-12.

It is hoped that the information presented in the central story will inspire the development of additional strands of history that weave together to present a more factual and complete history of Jefferson and Marion County. In this sense, this virtual field trip serves as a spring board for individuals and groups to conduct their own ancillary research to build and publish their strand of history that expands the message and detail of the central story presented.

 

The Texas Historical Commission has a new webpage that they have been promoting on social media during this time of #StayHomeTexas.  It’s called , a collection of our online resources for the public and their families to utilize while kids are out of school. Please check this out for study activities.

Many of you participate in public outreach and education activities with your communities, and this may be useful to some of your friends and family as well.

On February 12 at the Living History Center at Union Baptist Church, the Pleasant Hill Quilting Club stimulated student and adult interest in how slaves used the Underground Railroad and secret quilt codes to escape to freedom during the mid-19^th Century.  With a custom made quilt, period dress, narration and song, the seven accomplished ladies captivated school children from Jefferson and Queen City with a timely under told story from the past.

 

Left: Group Leader Flo Stevenson points to the Jacob’s ladder code on the customized quilt.
Right: Group Picture

As each Club member stepped forward to reveal data related to the next “code”, Ms. Flo Stevenson pointed to the unique design and a song was sung expanding the learning.   At the close of the presentation, Ms. Stevenson took questions from the audience.  From the quality of questions and comments, it was evident that students and adults alike were engaged, interested, and had learned something new.

 

Left: Group members in period dress sing to accompany the narration for each coded symbol discussed.
Right: Group Leader Flo Stevenson points to the Jacob’s ladder code on the customized quilt

Collins Academy and Union Baptist Church wishes to thank the Pleasant Hill Quilting Club for kicking off programming at The Living History Center.  “This is the type program we have in mind.  Since Pleasant Hill goes back to 1843 with its congregation, we may be working with these ladies on our common history if either of the Center’s current funding proposals are awarded,” said Gary Endsley of Collins Academy.

A short video of this program produced by Mike Gannon is available at https://youtu.be/gBZX5L1e3xw .