[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
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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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