The Museums of Tusculum College received two awards during the annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Museums earlier this month.
An “Award of Excellence” in the small museums category was presented to the Museums of Tusculum College for development and presentation of “Andrew Johnson: Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution,” a celebration of the bicentennial of Andrew Johnson and the 221st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. The event, held on Sept. 17 last year at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center, featured the 113th U.S. Army Band and was attended by more than 900 people.
The Doak House Museum received an “Award of Commendation” for the “Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution” educational school program commemorating the Andrew Johnson bicentennial. More than 1,500 students participated in the program during 2008.
The awards were presented during the 49th annual meeting of the Tennessee Association of Museums on March 18-20 in Chattanooga. Tusculum was represented at the meeting by George Collins, director of the Tusculum Department of Museum Program and Studies; Cindy Lucas, associate director of the department and director of the Doak House Museum; Kathy Cuff, museum assistant/archivist, and Faith Bases, a museum studies major.
Collins was also appointed to the Awards Committee for the 2010 Conference to be held in Nashville.
The Doak House Museum and the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library are administered by the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies under the direction of George Collins, director of Museum Program and Studies, and Cindy Lucas, associate director of the department and director of the Doak House Museum. The department also offers one of the few undergraduate degree programs in museum studies in the country.
The Doak House Museum, which was the home of the Rev. Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of the college, hosted more than 10,000 school children from East Tennessee last year for a variety of educational programs related to the 19th century and CHARACTER COUNTS!
The Andrew Johnson Museum, located in the oldest academic building on campus, houses a collection of books, papers and memorabilia of the 17th president of the United States. The museum also houses the Charles Coffin Collection from the original college library and the College archives containing documents related to the history of Tusculum. The museums are also two of the 10 structures on the Tusculum campus on the National Register of Historic Places.