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The 1907 Moses Football Team

Superintendent Alan Mealka is establishing a new Archive and Historical Preservation committee. Historic preservation is a daunting task and here at the Tennessee School we have quite a history! Through the legacy and examples of former staff and students, efforts are being made to preserve and protect documents and treasures of TSD. Neil Battle and the TSD Alumni Association have an excellent museum located in Poore Hall on the campus of TSD. The TSDAA museum contains hundreds of artifacts and displays (see The Tennessee Observer, Jan/Feb 2006). Students, staff and alumni have visited the museum and marveled at the artifacts kept there. We are proud of our deaf heritage!

Sandy Cohen, Director of Library Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Nashville, will be working to assist Tina Prochaska, TSD Communication Specialist, and other committee members to collect, document, and preserve more of our historical holdings. This joint project with Library Services will include the pursuit of grant monies. State archivists from Nashville have already done an original assessment and have offered their recommendations. Grant money will provide the services of an official consultant to come out and inventory to begin the process.

TSD has ordered large, archival storage shelving and storage cases to preserve documents with acid free paper. Rare documents and photos exposed to sunlight and harsh lighting will be properly stored. Copies of photos will be made from a variety of sources. Two precious pre-Civil War books from the founding of TSD (including the original board minutes and enrollments) have been microfilmed and saved for the archives in Nashville as well. The originals will remain at TSD. The goal is for all the old editions of the Silent Observer (now the Tennessee Observer) to be saved on microfilm.

Some amazing discoveries have already occurred in the past year. Family photos from a co-worker of Sandy Cohen were found to contain pictures of students in front of Old TSD. Several others show students playing ball and in casual poses. These photos have been copied for the future archives.

Tina Prochaska was doing some research online and happened upon an interesting website. Three picture postcards were displayed on a link with the following comments:

"Lee Fritts is trying to identify a school appearing on three picture postcards (late 1800’s – early 1900’s) One card was postmarked 1907, from Knoxville to Nashville; a second postcard sent in 1909, from Knoxville to Nashville. The third card was unsent.

In the basketball team photo, the ball is inscribed with "Moses – ’12 – ‘13" (very common practice in early 1900 school photos). However, Knoxville’s 9th Ward School was not renamed the Moses school until 1916. Could there have been another Moses School in the East TN area? The baseball and football uniforms also have the letter "M”. An investigation revealed that these uniforms did NOT match those shown in old Maryville College annuals of that period. Put your sleuth’s hat on and join the search! Any help appreciated!"

Tina realized that these were photos of the "Moses School”, a nickname for then Superintendent Thomas Moses (1882-1917). Thomas Moses was a well-respected leader who was instrumental in keeping the school going with support and improvements. He purchased the team uniforms himself. The original "Moses Deaf and Dumb"Banner is currently displayed in the Akin Gym. Tina Prochaska emailed Mr. Fritts with her information. Lee Fritts, a serious collector of old picture postcards, has generously offered to donate these cards to the Tennessee School for the Deaf. He would like these cards to be placed in memory of this mother, Mary Jane Fritts of Maryville, Tennessee, and a member of the East Tennessee Postcard Club. It was through his mother’s efforts that Lee Fritts became an avid collector of vintage picture postcards. When Mr. Fritts first purchased these cards several years ago, he was excited about the mystery behind their origins. He recalls discussing them with his mother and she showed them to local history buffs in Maryville to try to gain some insight. TSD has certainly gained a new friend and willingly accepts Mr. Fritts donation.

The new committee has much collaborative work to do and we look forward to seeing our past come together. If anyone has some documents or artifacts that you would like to share or donate, please let either Neil Battle or Tina Prochaska know.

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