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The Calfee Pioneer: Winter 2021
Click the image above to learn more about Dorothy DeBerry Venable and the CCCC's future digital lab that will be named in her honor.
Honoring Mrs. Venable, Planning for the Digital Lab
The visioning session for the Dorothy DeBerry Venable Digital Lab brought together community members, CCCC board members, and Calfee alumni to imagine who might utilize the lab and how. Facilitated by John Ross of Teach Learn Tech, the meeting began with Mrs. Venable sharing her memories of the Calfee Training School and her hopes for the lab that will bear her name. Participants imagined a variety of future users of the lab and then prioritized action plans to ensure that all of their needs will be met. The lab, which will be open to the public, will be equipped with fifteen computer stations as well as digital editing and production equipment and will host digital literacy classes ranging from basic skills to more complex editing and programming. Click the photo above for more information about the session and the future lab.
Looking Back on 2021
Calfee Community and Cultural Center has had a busy year writing grants, raising funds, designing spaces, engaging the community, and working on historical projects to help archive our story and build our future.
We wrote 14 grant proposals, securing over $2.2 million.
We raised over $256,000 in sponsorship gifts, pledges, and donations.
We submitted an application for the Calfee Training School to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
We designed our outdoor playspaces, community kitchen, and digital lab, engaging 45 people and developing our plans.
A volunteer team and VT students transcribed 20 interviews and catalogued 100+ newspaper articles and photos.
VT students and other volunteers landscaped the outside of the Calfee Training School beautifying the area.
We presented our story to dozens of social and business groups, sharing our history and future.
We collected 200 lbs. of food for the Pulaski Daily Bread.
We distributed 240 backpacks full of COVID safety supplies.
CCCC co-sponsored a vaccination clinic helping to get 80 community members vaccinated.
Looking Forward to 2022
Calfee Community and Cultural Center is now working with the Department of Historic Resources before moving forward with finalizing contracts and securing bids for construction. We hope that 2022 construction will begin mid year! We are also planning to host a variety of community events- including a fundraising gala and community festival.
CCCC is seeking silent auction donations for our February Gala.
Please consider donating products, gift certificates, baskets, or experiences.
In 2022, Mr. James Smith, a Calfee Training School alumnus, will have worked at the First United Methodist Church in Pulaski for 50 years. "If our church's name could be associated with any one person in Pulaski," reflected FUMC pastor Will Shelton, "there is no one more deserving than James." Recently, the church honored their longtime employee with a gift to the CCCC.
The funds provided will sponsor the Nettie G. Anderson Toddler Classroom in the future Harmon Learning Center. Although his classmates find it difficult to believe, Mr. Smith maintains that his favorite teacher at Calfee was Mrs. Anderson. Mrs. Anderson is remembered by many as controversial, having [claimed to have] known John the Baptist, fought in WW1 as an army ranger, and ridden on the Titanic. Although alumni disagree about some aspects of her legacy, all agree that she held students to high standards and provided unforgettable educational experiences.
The Nettie G. Anderson Classroom will bear a plaque that says "Sponsored in honor of Mr. James Smith by the First United Methodist Church of Pulaski." Generations to come will be able to learn about this memorable educator and one of the many students whose life she impacted.
The Calfee Community & Cultural Center is revitalizing the legacy of the historic Calfee Training School by serving our community's present needs in order to create a stronger future.
12/15/21- Make donation to the CCCC and receive certificate for gift giving before Christmas (5 pm deadline)
12/31- Tax deductible donation for 2021
1/17- MLK Jr Dayspent with CCCC and Max on Main coffee and sandwich shop (28 W Main St, Pulaski) - A portion of proceeds will benefit the CCCC (MLK Day, 1/17, 7am-3pm)
2/7- Trivia with CCCC celebrating Black History Month (7pm)
2/26- "A Night To Remember" Gala to support CCCC (6-11pm)
5/21- May Day Dance co-sponsored with Christiansburg Institute Alumni Association
More information will be coming soon on these upcoming events!
The CCCC is excited to announce a new team member - Mr. Clay Atkins. In his role as a part-time researcher, Clay is leading a team of volunteers working to collect and archive information for the future African American Heritage Center at Calfee, the museum and archives at the CCCC. The team also preserves documents, records, photographs, and other artifacts for future museum exhibits and collections for the general public. It also curates Calfee’s digital archive which can be seen at calfee.omeka.net.
Speaking about his interest in the position, Clay explained: “I initially learned about the Calfee Training School while interning at Christiansburg Institute, Inc. during my final year as a master’s student in the History program at Virginia Tech. I was organizing the Amanda DeHart Collection at CI when I found a folder entitled Pulaski, which held photographs of Calfee faculty & staff, the Calfee Pioneer student newspaper, and other 20th century documents about Calfee. After that, I researched all the information I could find online about the history of the Calfee Training School.”
We are excited to have Clay as a member of the team! If you have any interest in joining the research team consider signing up to volunteer at https://calfeeccc.org/get-involved.
VT Students Help With Research
We have been very pleased with the research support Virginia Tech graduate students in the History Department have provided to us this fall. Led by Dr. Jessica Taylor, these students have conducted a dozen interviews, created digital content for our online archive, and helped with other archival preservation tasks. The students presented their research on Dec. 4 at the Ratcliffe Museum to a packed house of alumni and other interested community members (see photo below).
At the GO Pulaski County Day of Service on October 2, a dozen volunteers weeded, cut down stray trees and bushes, and spread mulch around the CCCC. Later this fall, a Virginia Tech landscaping class, led by Tom Martin, built planter beds in the front of the building. We would like to extend a very special thank you to all who are helping to improve the landscaping around the building.
First L.I.G.H.T. Breakfast
CCCC's first LIGHT (Local Industries Gathering to Help) breakfast brought local business and community leaders together to learn more about the CCCC and how it will benefit the community. The generous sponsors who made our event possible includedOMNI PLACE, LLC, Pulaski County, Town of Pulaski, National Bank, and Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group. Adaire Theatre performed excerpts from Quiet Courage, their play about Chauncey Harmon's struggle for educational equality in Pulaski County.
Shout Outs!
Thank you to the New River Valley Association of Realtors for their generous gift of equipment that will allow us to continue to tell our story! The mission of the CCCC would not be possible without the continued support of organizations such as the New River Valley Association of Realtors.
Thanks toMTM, Inc. for sponsoring the Hunter Kitchenette that will be attached to the CCCC's Gravely Board Room. The kitchenette is named in honor of Della Mills Hunter (1883-1975) who taught at the Calfee Training School for 21 years. MTM is empowering our diverse community and together we are strengthening Pulaski!
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