[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 92 (Thursday, June 20, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         A TRIBUTE TO W.E. NASH

                                 ______


                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 20, 1996

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Professor W.E. Nash, a great Tennessean, 
recently passed away at the amazing age of 108.
  Professor Nash was a longtime teacher and principal in Athens, TN. He 
was a dignified and honorable man who embodied all the old virtues that 
seem sometimes to be in short supply today.
  Professor Nash was one of the most respected citizens of McMinn 
County, TN and was loved by many people. He was a community leader for 
more than seven decades and was active throughout his life in the 
Republican Party.
  I request that a copy of the article about the life of W.E. Nash 
which appeared in the Athens Daily Post-Athenian be placed in the 
Record at this point. I would like to call it to the attention of my 
colleagues and other readers of the Record.

             [From the Daily Post-Athenian, Apr. 29, 1996]

                       Professor Nash Dies at 108

       W.E. Nash, who rose from humble beginnings in Virginia to 
     become an education and community leader in Athens for more 
     than seven decades, died Friday at his home. He was 108.
       Nash, known as ``Professor Nash'' throughout his 
     distinguished career, served 28 years as the principal at the 
     county's school for black students, J.L. Cook School, retired 
     in 1953 at the age of 66.
       Among his numerous awards were membership in the Community 
     Builders Hall of Fame and the receiving of an honorary 
     doctorate degree from Tennessee Wesleyan College. He was also 
     the first recipient of the E. Harper Johnson Community 
     Relations Award from the Tennessee Education Association.
       Local leaders hailed Nash's commitment to education and his 
     influence.
       Vant Hardaway, supervisor of attendance and transportation 
     for the Athens City Schools, said Nash's influence extended 
     beyond the immediate Athens area because Cook School included 
     students from as far away as North Carolina. Nash's 
     commitment to education and values continue to have effect 
     today, he said.
       ``It's a great loss to so many people because he affected 
     so many lives,'' Hardaway said.
       Residents in the area still refer to the discipline and the 
     values they learned from men like Professor Nash and others, 
     Hardaway said. Even in later years when Nash was unable to be 
     active physically, Hardaway said leaders still looked to him 
     for guidance.
       ``He still would give advice and counsel,'' Hardaway said. 
     `He lived through a real merger of cultures, not just in 
     Athens but definitely in Athens.''
       J. Neal Ensminger, editor emeritus of The Daily Post-
     Athenian, said the Athens area owes a debt of gratitude to 
     Nash.
       ``This community doesn't realize how much it owes to 
     Professor Nash,'' Ensminger said, praising Nash for being 
     a ``stalwart citizen in education and public affairs.''
       Nash, a native of Lunenburg County, VA., told The Daily 
     Post-Athenian in an 1985 interview he recalled leaving a 
     plantation at the age of 4 where his grandmother had worked 
     as a slave cook and had stayed on after the Civil War. He 
     kept his baby sister until he was 8-year-olds, then worked 
     until he was 17.
       In 1904, he was making 50 cents a day hauling supplies in a 
     mule-drawn wagon when he passed by Blackstone Academy the day 
     the white students were leaving for Christmas vacation.
       ``They were coming down this walk that led from the school 
     house,'' Nash recalled in the 1985 interview with Fran 
     Ellers, a DPA staff writer at the time. ``They had horns they 
     were blowing--they were just having a good time, to tell you 
     the truth. . . . I said, ``That looks good. I'd like to be 
     into something like that.''
       Nash was referred to the all-black Thyne Institute in Chase 
     City, Va., where a student could work his way through school. 
     At the age of 17, he walked 23 miles to Thyne and entered the 
     first grade.
       Nash graduated in 10 years and had his application in hand 
     to become a Pullman porter when he was called home to care 
     for his ailing mother. The black residents of his hometown 
     organized a private school and paid Nash to become the 
     teacher.
       Later, he won a scholarship from Knoxville College, where 
     he also ran the work program in the afternoons and served as 
     night watchman from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. It was at Knoxville 
     where he met his future wife, a registered nurse named Willa 
     Mae Pearson.
       After graduating in 1922 at the age of 34, Nash came to 
     Athens to lead the black Athens Academy, funded by the United 
     Presbyterian Mission Board in Pennsylvania. The academy 
     burned down in 1925 and Nash was considering other job 
     offers, but community leaders asked him to stay and he 
     agreed.
       Construction of the county-funded J.L. Cook School began in 
     1926, and the school opened Nov. 12 that year with Nash as 
     the principal. The school begin with 150 students, and eight 
     years later the enrollment was at 375 students from McMinn 
     and surrounding counties, including some from as far away as 
     North Carolina.
       Nash worked at recruiting students, adding courses and 
     developing an ``on-the-job training'' program. He also set up 
     a type of employment office through the school, and during 
     the Great Depression he gave the test that qualified Athens 
     men to participate in the Works Progress Administration job 
     corps.
       Nash recalled in the 1985 interview that although black 
     schools weren't high on the McMinn County Court's priority 
     list, he had a friend, Judge E.B. Madison, who supported his 
     efforts.
       ``I would say, `Judge, now we need badly two more rooms,' 
     '' Nash said. ``He said, `Well, how much are you going for?' 
     ''
       Nash would tell him, and Madison would write a resolution 
     and sign it. Nash, then, would take the resolution from judge 
     to judge until he got nine signatures to secure the approval 
     for the addition.
       After retiring as Cook's principal in 1953, he remained 
     active in the community. He was an elder of First United 
     Presbyterian Church, a member of Boaz Masonic Lodge No. 318 
     and a board member emeritus of Cedine Bible College.
       In 1985, he headed the list of local dignitaries invited to 
     sit on the platform at the McMinn County Courthouse during 
     President Ronald Reagan's visit to Athens. He was featured in 
     numerous newspaper articles throughout the region and also 
     received recognition on national television programs.
       Nash was preceded in death by his wife. Local survivors 
     include his niece, Zelma McClure, and his nephew, Walter 
     Nash, both of Athens.
       Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 3 p.m. at First 
     United Presbyterian Church in Athens with the Rev. Charles 
     Johnson officiating. M.D. Dotson and Sons Funeral Home in 
     Athens is in charge of the arrangements. Complete funeral 
     arrangements are included on Page 2.
       In the 1985 interview with The DPA, Nash recalled the 
     influence of his mentor, Booker T. Washington, and the ``Let 
     down your bucket where you are'' speech delivered in Atlanta, 
     Ga., in 1895.
       Nash said he took Washington's advice to heart because he 
     could have left Athens many times.
       ``But there's good water here,'' he said. ``Real good 
     water.''

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