Columbia State Community College recently hosted a ribbon-cutting event in the John W. Finney Memorial Library for the new Legacy Wall showcasing the deep history of the college’s dedication event and early years. The project was led by the student members of Columbia State’s Eta Beta Chapter of the Sigma Kappa Delta honor society.

The museum-grade displays were created after over a year of research went into understanding the history of how Columbia State was founded. The research mainly focused on uncovering materials relating to the college’s 1967 dedication ceremony, which featured honored guest speaker then-First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson, accompanied by her husband, President Lyndon B. Johnson. The display also highlights the first graduating class in 1968.

SKD student research, with the guidance of college faculty and staff, helped bring these historical pieces to the current display wall.

Isadora “Izzy” Swingle, current president of Columbia State’s SKD chapter, first shared the idea with members to see if there was a way to display important relics of the college’s beginnings. SKD members then unanimously voted to design, research, preserve and display the story of Columbia State.

“I'm incredibly proud of the initiative the members of our local chapter have taken to bring the Legacy Wall from simply a crazy ‘what if’ idea to the finished memorial we honor and dedicate,” Swingle said. “The reason why we value this project so much, and the reason is that we saw this through to the end, is because we wanted Lady Bird’s legacy of higher education in Tennessee to live on forever. We celebrate this lasting legacy, an undying flame testifying to the power of higher education. A nod to the future of not only Columbia State and the many lives that it has touched, but also how, thanks to our former First Lady, higher education will continue to impact our state of Tennessee, forever. Our legacy won't begin as a conversation, a simple ‘what if.’ It stands as proof of what students can accomplish when they believe in something bigger than themselves.”

Finney Library Director Anne Scott and Librarian Kyle Avirom worked with SKD Lead Faculty Sponsor Dr. Jessica Evans, associate professor of English, to make this project a reality. They decided to make the Legacy Wall displays multimedia-focused to tell the college's important history, while also allowing students to think about their stories and how the college has impacted them.

The Maury County Archives also served as a foundational partner in the creation of the display. Maury County Archive Director Tom Price helped to guide the SKD members through archival research during a field trip.

Approximately 50 documents were uncovered, chosen and scanned from the archives.  

“It is important for history and its artifacts to be both preserved and shared,” Evans said. “We conducted thorough research on the best archival methods, and thanks to the generosity of the Finney Library and President Smith’s approval, we were able to purchase museum-grade-quality display materials. This is a project that benefits students, faculty, staff and the community itself.”

In addition to documents and artifacts featured from the county archives, Columbia State’s library archives can also be found on display. Some of those items include a 1967-1968 Columbia State Catalogue signed by both Lady Bird Johnson and President Johnson, a presidential seal envelope and a congratulatory letter by Lady Bird to one of the first graduating students of Columbia State, and even the pen that was used during the first class registration.

The display features several historical documents that can be read, as well as multi-media features such as the documentary of Columbia State’s dedication, “Red Letter Day in Maury County,” an audio diary of Lady Bird Johnson, the documentary “I, Leonardo da Vinci” (a gift to the college from the Johnsons), and links to online archival photographs and documents. Students and library visitors can scan a QR code to watch, listen or read these as well as other resources.  

“What you have done is just a pure example of that excellence, of who we are as an institution, of who you are as students and of the character that you are building, of who you will be in the future,” said Dr. Janet F. Smith, Columbia State president. “So, I think that this wall has been built on legacy. Yes, it does address the legacy of Columbia State being dedicated by two individuals who are very much proponents of education, but not just proponents and believers, believers in what it gave each individual who walks through the doors here. So, as we look at this legacy, I hope we do not look at it just as the legacy of Columbia State, but it's the legacy of every individual who takes advantage of what Columbia State has to offer.”

The Legacy Wall is located on the Columbia Campus on the second floor of the Finney Library next to the Reader’s Theater. The display can be visited during regular library hours Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.