Mount Zionite newsletter reported news beyond the pews from 1946-54 | Opinion
Recently I read some more issues of the Mount Zionite at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. It was the official newsletter of Mount Zion Baptist Church from 1946 to 1954 and reported not only news of the church but also items with citywide interest. Its three editors – Henry Lenoir, the Rev. Robert Wallace and Jefferson Owens – were perceptive journalists who captured important facts.
I was aware that Jarnigan & Son Mortuary was established in 1886 and I knew A.R. Wheeler & Son mortuary opened in 1922, but I did not know when Reed's Mortuary was established until I read an article in the August 1948 issue of the MZ. It states that Charles C. Reed had bought the Metropolitan Funeral Home at 121 South University Ave. and began operating his funeral business at that spot.
My high school music teacher, Varnell Ford, was the minister of music at Mount Zion and a graduate of Knoxville College. In recounting some of his achievements, the MZ said he was born in Knoxville on June 30, 1914, the son of Edgar and Flora Ford. During World War Il he directed one of the most outstanding male choruses in the Army.
I knew that Jefferson P. Owens became Knoxville's second Black radio DJ, but I did not know the exact date. His show first came on the air June 1, 1950. According to the MZ, his 5-year-old daughter Sharyn recited poetry on the show.
The March 1952 issue has a feature story about Deacon Edward Clark, who was born in Lexington, Georgia, in 1871 and came to Knoxville in 1900 to work on the railroad. In 1901 he was a volunteer in building the Mount Zion Baptist Church on Patton Street. He became chairman of the Deacon Board there in 1933. He retired from the railroad in 1937.
The MZ was generous in reporting on members of other churches, including Miss Fannie C. Clay, the Dean of Girls at Austin High School and a member of Logan Temple A.M.E. Zion Church. It noted that she had received recognition at the Zeta Phi Beta Boule in New Orleans. She had organized the Nu Zeta Chapter here in 1934.
The MZ announced the coming of Knoxville College President Dr. James A. Colston and reported his inauguration Nov. 3, 1951. In May 1952 it covered his commencement talk to the Austin High School grads of 1952 in the new Austin High School building. That issue also covered the speech of federal judge William H. Hastie that was made to the graduating class at Knoxville College on June 2, 1952.
The March-April 1953 issue of the MZ noted that mortician A.R. Wheeler was born in Murray County, Georgia, where he spent 21 years as a farmer before coming to Knoxville in 1902. He was a grocer and railroad worker from 1917-1922 before he established the A.R. Wheeler and Son Undertaking Co. at 619 East Vine Ave. He became a member at Mount Zion in 1904.
One of the biggest announcements in the MZ was in the January-February 1954 issue was that church member Arnetta G. Wallace, who was the music teacher at Vine Junior High School, had been elected international president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Over 300 guests attended a reception for her Feb. 14, 1944.
Robert J. Booker is a freelance writer and former executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. He may be reached at 865-546-1576.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Opinion: Mount Zionite newsletter reported news beyond the pews
