Kentucky State University Conference attendees visit Hickman’s Atwood tribute

Kentucky State University, a public historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, held their Small, Limited-Resource, Minority Farmers Conference Western Kentucky Style at Cherokee State Historic Park in Hardin, Ky., Sept. 1.

A Dr. Rufus B. Atwood Celebration Lunch was held and the group then traveled to Hickman to see Atwood Street, the Historical Marker for Dr. Atwood, Kentucky Nut Corporation, the Warren Thomas Museum, and the murals on the floodwall.

Jeannette Dean of Hickman welcomed the group as they gathered in the Hickman Housing Authority’s Community Center.

“It is a privilege and honor to have you here with us. I hope to give you information you need to take back with you,” Dean said.

“The church is the cornerstone of the communities. No one knew that on Palm Sunday 1866 would be the beginning of the first black church in Hickman. Warren Thomas, his wife Aunt Sally, and three slaves would attend church. On Easter Sunday, Warren Thomas and 13 boys and girls had services on the banks of the Mississippi River. This is where the first black church started. Following this, Warren Thomas and his people were getting paid for their work and they went to a land development agency and paid on some property. They didn’t have enough money to finish paying for it, as it was to be paid for in two years. The Freeman Bureau located in Columbus, came down and paid the balance,” Dean said.

“The first church was built in 1890, it was burned and torn down, and another church was built in 1898. Warren Thomas was an organizer, born in Henry County, Ky., in 1812,” Dean continued.

Jamesskah Alexander spoke on the Yellow Fever section in the Hickman City Cemetery.

“The myth is the Yellow Fever is still there and burials are no longer allowed in that section,” Alexander said.

Dean informed the group, “The Yellow Fever didn’t kill as many blacks because of sickle-cell anemia. Warren Thomas and Aunt Sally went around town helping people.”

“The first school was in the basement of Warren Thomas Church, where Dr. Atwood went to school. Dr. Atwood was also president of Kentucky State University for 38 years and we are very proud of that, with him coming from Hickman. Atwood’s aunt was the last one to live in the house next to the museum, and she was a teacher at Riverview School. Her husband owned a funeral home across the street from their home. The Atwood family was very active in the community.
One member of the group asked about the Banana Festival, and Fulton being the Banana Capital of the World.

Bernita Cheirs, Hickman resident, talked about the two pecan factories in Hickman. Now there is only one and you can take your pecans there, have them cracked, and then you pick them.

Patrice Chambers, Fulton County Schools Superintendent, said, “I’m the first African-American female superintendent at Fulton County Schools. My father taught at Fulton County Schools for 32 years before he retired. I was born and raised here, so this is home. I’m in the community to serve. I have about 650 students from Preschool through 12th Grade. We also have a Career Academy, which is like a Vocational School. It has Industrial Maintenance, Auto Mechanic, and Welding departments. We also have a Pilot Academy, where Juniors and Seniors can take college courses and receive credit. We had students to go to college with 30+ hours already paid for. Our community supports us and we also have several big donors for our students. We celebrate our students once a year in the Pilot Academy.”

Marcus Bernard, School of Agriculture, Communities, and the Environment Chair at Kentucky State University asked, “Do you have a pipeline for students to go into Kentucky State University?”

“We would like to,” Chambers said.

“Well, you do now,” Bernard said.

“I did visit about two years ago. My daughter was a Senior and she thought about going to Kentucky State, but she is big in Ag and she is going to Murray State University. She is one of the ones who benefited from the Pilot Academy. She will be graduating and I will steer her your way for her Master’s,” Chambers said.

Kentucky State University is the only university in the state of Kentucky that has a program that pays for tuition, books, room and board and they fund about half million dollars a year on a scholarship.

A member of the group asked how the tornado affected the area and the African-Americans.

Westbrook said, “Cayce, about eight miles east of Hickman, was devastated. Most were adults and not children and several have decided to rebuild and stay, some have relocated. Hickman didn’t receive as much damage. Cayce received 100% damage.”

Dean added, “When Riverview was built, they moved Thomas Chapel school from the basement on the bluff to Riverview because the scenery was beautiful. Then they moved the school to Dodds Addition. People from Clinton, Columbus, South Fulton, Cayce, Oakton, and a few from Union City went to school at Riverview to finish high school.”

The group boarded the bus and traveled to the Warren Thomas Museum and Kentucky Nut Corporation where Karen Langford gave a history of the plant.

“Roper Pecan, later to be renamed Kentucky Nut Corporation, was founded in the depression years. People would bring pecans and they were cracked and sold. The United States Government came and said you can’t sell pecans that have been shelled, to the public. The original owner and four other investors went together to form Roper Pecan and began to do custom machine cracking. In 1982, changes in the management emptied the building, took all the equipment, and took the customer base to Georgia,” Langford said.

“Roper Pecan was big business, they brought in pecans in 40,000 pound truckloads. They cleaned them up, washed them, fumigated them, cracked, shelled, and shipped them out. Some of the pecans were shipped to Safeway Groceries, Hershey Ice Cream, Russell Stover candies, Kroger Company and Kibbler Company. Three former employees reincorporated Kentucky Nut in 1982 and only shut down for three or four months. They had to start from scratch, build up new customers, and went place to place to promote the new company. Roper Pecan employed about 200 people in two shifts, they were down to five. We continue to grow. In the Fall I hire about six people and we do a lot of work. We purchase pecans in the shell, in season, and we custom crack. When we custom crack, we send back home to the customer. We sell U.S.D.A graded pecans ready to eat,” Langford said.

Langford showed the group how they vacuum seal the cans, one can at a time, and label them.

The group then bought some of the products from Kentucky Nut and went across the street to the Warren Thomas Museum to view items on display.