Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Stone Fort Museum named Dr. Bobby H. Johnson and the late Birdie Wade as the 2017 Cum Concilio Club Heritage Preservation Award recipients.

“Dr. Johnson and Mrs. Wade are both well-deserving recipients of this award, as they both dedicated much time and effort to preserving the history of Nacogdoches and East Texas,” said Carolyn Spears, director of the Stone Fort Museum.

The award recognizes Johnson for his work documenting oral histories in Nacogdoches that preserve East Texas’ stories. Professor Emeritus and former Regents Professor, Johnson conducted more than 1,000 interviews throughout his career with residents of East Texas on a range of topics, including the Great Depression, World War I and II, the oil boom in East Texas, and Coushatta Native Americans. He also authored dramatic productions based on the oral histories he collected.

Johnson has published many works, including “A Texas Tragedy: The New London School Explosion,” the play “East Texas Talks” and “From Pine Trees to Paper: Interviews with Southland Paper Employees.”

In 2008, Johnson was awarded the Thomas L. Charlton Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Oral History Association for his significant contributions to the field, and the East Texas Research Center honored him by opening the Bobby H. Johnson Oral History Collection that same year.

Likewise, the Cum Concilio Club Heritage Preservation Award recognizes Wade for her efforts in preserving stories, documents and buildings for the African-American community in East Texas. Wade graduated from SFA and received her bachelor’s degree in social work.

Wade’s African-American Heritage Project, 1904-2009, began around her kitchen table with friends and family members and documents more than 100 years of the African-American community in East Texas through the preservation of documents, newspaper articles, photographs, oral histories and more. She also helped secure the backing of the Nacogdoches County Historical Foundation and the city in efforts to preserve the Zion Hill Church building as a future home for a Black Heritage Museum.

Sometimes the subject of research, Wade was interviewed multiple times for books and projects regarding the African-American experience in Nacogdoches during Jim Crow and desegregation. Her experiences are documented in “Freedom Chronicles: Independent Black Texans in the Time of Jim Crow” by Thad Sitton and James H. Conrad, and “March! The Fight for Civil Rights in a Land of Fear: Nacogdoches, Texas 1929-1975” by Stephen D. Delear. Additionally, Jeri Mills featured Wade in “African-Americans in Nacogdoches County.”

Wade believed in the importance of education and actively tutored her own children as well as many others.

Wade passed away in 2005, but her legacy lives on. SFA’s ETRC houses the catalogued African-American Heritage Project, which includes books, articles, photographs and video.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics will host the STEM Business and Industry Speaker Series from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the Math Building, Lecture Hall 101.

The event aims to connect science, technology, engineering and mathematics students with professionals in their prospective fields. The event will feature two speakers, Elijah White Jr., vice president of geoscience for ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, and Jonathan Woodard, current SFA STEM student.

White will speak on the impact STEM fields have in today’s industry. Woodard will discuss his internship at Tanos Exploration, how and why he chose to study geology, and why he believes STEM careers are important for future generations.

“Being able to share my experiences with others is an honor, and hopefully my efforts can make a positive impact on others,” Woodard said.

According to Dr. Kimberly Childs, dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics, “The STEM Business and Industry Speaker Series is a wonderful opportunity for students to interact with STEM professionals within business and industry, as well as fellow students pursuing STEM degrees. This interaction allows students to better understand both the knowledge and skills required on the job and those required in preparation for a STEM-related career.”

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Cello Club at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “Game of Cellos” at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus as part of the School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series.

The music will feature baroque and romanticism works as well as some arrangements from video games, pop songs and TV shows, according to Dr. Evgeni Raychev, cello instructor in the School of Music. The concert will also include the premieres of several works.

“Cello Club gathers together cello enthusiasts from near and far,” Raychev said. “My college students and all other cellists who will be joining us on stage have been working hard to prepare the music. I cannot think of any other single instrument, other than the cello, which can create such wide diapason of sonorities, timbres and sound effects. It is truly amazing to listen to more than 20 cellos sounding together.”

Works to be performed include those by J.S. Bach, Alfred Pester, Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, Johannes Brahms, Robert Eden, Alex Broussard, Codi Wartenbach and Obadiah Michler, and also music by The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s food, nutrition and dietetics program recently partnered with the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science to provide nutrition counseling students with a hands-on learning experience in the Human Performance Lab on the university’s campus.

Sarah Drake, clinical instructor, brought her class to the Human Performance Lab to provide nutrition counseling students with a more in-depth look at what a patient goes through in a clinical setting. Dr. Dustin Joubert, assistant professor of kinesiology and health science, discussed how to estimate body fat percentage using skinfold calipers and demonstrated how the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry machine operates. The DEXA machine scans a person’s body to test the strength of bones.

“While most nutrition counselors or registered dietitians may not take skinfold measurements or operate the DEXA machine, the results are something that many may have available to them as part of the health care team,” Drake said. “This exercise helped students get a better understanding of what patients go through when these measurements are taken and how they feel when they are told their results. In class, we discussed how to use this information to motivate patients.”

Kinesiology graduate and undergraduate students assisted Drake’s class in operating the skinfold calipers.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Stephen F. Austin State University students in the Rusche College of Business recently provided feedback on a new sewing machine branding and marketing campaign while serving as focus group members for ABM International, a three-generation, family-owned-and-operated manufacturing company of industrial quilting machines that has expanded into the home quilting market with a line of longarm quilting machines.

Students enrolled in management and marketing courses taught by Dr. Marlene Kahla, SFA professor of marketing, and students in SFA’s chapter of the American Marketing Association met with ABM International representatives and provided feedback on various sewing machine packaging options.

According to Theresa Currey, ABM International’s marketing associate, the company was utilizing the focus group’s feedback as a tool to get into the minds of millennial shoppers and find out what they are looking for when purchasing a sewing machine.

“We are looking into several demographics to find the best avenue, or to see if there is any avenue at all, into the current sewing machine market, as it already is heavily dominated by several other brands,” Currey said.

According to Kahla, the student’s participation not only helped the sewing machine company, but it also provided an opportunity for students to practice the skills and concepts they learned from their recent coursework.

“This project enabled our students to take concepts in marketing research and product and marketing development, and apply them to real life,” Kahla said.

ABM International was pleased with its experience working with the focus group and will utilize the information gathered from SFA Rusche College of Business students.

“With the help of Dr. Kahla and the AMA chapter at SFA, we felt the focus group was a big success. We walked away with some great information and a better, albeit surprising understanding of the thought process of this generation of buyer,” Currey said. “We are incredibly grateful to SFA for allowing us to meet with its students and for offering its students’ valuable class time to help ABM International in our efforts.”