This page is the main news and information section of the Douglass High School website. Compared to the National and Metro sections of a standard newspaper, news pertaining to Douglass High Alumni and the Riverview-South Central Community will be listed here, with pictures where available. View older articles by clicking "Older Posts" at the bottom of this page.
Snow Day, January 16th, 2024 - East Center Street at East Sevier Avenue, Kingsport
Here at the beginning of summer with temps in the 90's, let's go back 5 months.
I rode the streets of Riverview back on MLK Day, January 15th and 16th, 2024 on the eve of one of the biggest and coldest snowstorms to hit back home. It brings back memories of when bad weather at home would band the neighbors together to check on one another, some of them bringing soup, crackers and cornbread to each other, checking on medicines for our seniors, cranking the heat up just a tad and giving a watchful, protective eye out the window on the kids playing in the snow (leave them galoshers at the back door).
This video was taken at 3 PM on January 15th and over the next 12 hours, it snowed about 8 inches to 12 inches of snow in Kingsport on down to Knoxville and almost stranded me in Kingsport (I did run off U.S. 11-E between Jefferson City and Knoxville; not hurt, no car damage thank God, but a scary, one-lane, 7-hour trip from Kingsport to Chattanooga that normally would haven taken three).
It's been my experience that most Black people don't like watching videos, so if you're looking for still pictures, the internet has plenty of them.
This visit starts on Wheatley Street and goes around to canvass the neighborhood. Click the "play" arrow below and enjoy the snowy video trip around our Riverview!
SPECIAL NOTICE TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROTHERWOOD DESCENDANTS OF KINGSPORT FAMILIES WITH THESE LAST NAMES:
Watterson
Stafford
Gray
Phipps
Leeper
Pierce
Long
Lyons
Looney
Ewing
Manis
Garrett
Davis
Brice
Logan
Lollar
Lollis
And possibly others.
The names above have been identified as possibly being descendants of families who were enslaved at the Rotherwood Plantation back during slavery. There are also other family names from the Ross, Phipps, Netherland side as well. Other family names will be added once they are discovered.
There is a special reunion being planned in mid September at the Rotherwood Mansion in Kingsport, for those families who have connections to Rotherwood Heights. Please contact Tacia Green at tkpgreen@yahoo.com for more information about this special reunion.
Why the Reunion?
This reunion is one of healing. Although, we will never forget our history or the many contributions that were provided not only to Rotherwood by to Kingsport. We need to come together, families of the oppressed and the oppressor, and heal the land of Rotherwood Mansion. Healing the land through Christian love, sharing our history to descendants and others and acknowledging wrongdoings.
Why the Reconciliation?
Because it is past time. Down through generations, our ancestors endured pain, suffering and belittlement. We, as the descendants of Rotherwood, should want to end that pain and renew our ancestors by healing the people of Rotherwood. In 2024, when we look over at Rotherwood Mansion or when we drive by Netherland Inn, we don't have to think about our ancestors as slaves, instead we can have memories of our " Rotherwood reunion."
It's time for us to reconcile with our past... it's time for the Rotherwood Mansion to be healed and forgiven from its past, and us as well.
Ralph E. Hale passed away on June 7, 2024, at the age of 70, at the James Quillen Veterans Affair Medical Center in Johnson City, TN, after a brief, terminal illness.
Mr. Hale was born in Dante, VA, on August 7, 1953. Part of his early life was spent in Kingsport, TN, but he returned to Virginia to complete his high school years. He played varsity football and graduated from Castlewood High School in 1971. After high school, he attended Clinton Junior College (now Clinton College) in South Carolina, a Historically Black College (HBCU), earning an associate degree. After college, he joined the United States Army, serving at Fort Leonard Wood, MO with the 2nd Platoon.
After the army, Mr. Hale returned to Kingsport, TN, where he lived in an off-and-on pattern for the remainder of his life. He loved to dress in matching outfits and had a great collection of baseball caps. If you saw Ralph not dressed, you knew he wasn't feeling his best. He was an avid, die-hard sports fan. His favorite sports teams were the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves in baseball, the Cleveland Cavaliers in basketball, and the Cleveland Browns in football.
Mr. Hale had several accomplishments in life, but his most precious was the birth of his children: his son, Jermeil Tarter, and his daughter, Alexis Tarter Essuman. Another precious accomplishment that was the highlight of his time on earth was Ralph accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior about a week before his death. After accepting Christ, he requested to be baptized because he could not remember if he had been baptized earlier in life. The VA medical and support staff worked together on this life-changing event, and Ralph was baptized on May 29, 2024, with the medical team and family members in attendance. He was baptized, which was an outward manifestation of the inward decision he had made earlier in the week.
Although we were all praying for physical healing, the Lord provided spiritual healing and gave Ralph time to accept Him and make Heaven his home. In the short time Ralph had left, he prayed and requested prayer and to have the Bible read to him. God is good, and His mercies are everlasting.
Ralph was preceded in death by the mother of his children, Venita Tarter; his parents, James Hale and Violet Davis; brother, William Hale; niece, Georgette Hale; and nephew, Edward "Sweetman" Long.
Mr. Hale leaves to cherish his memory and mourn his passing, his son and daughter, Jermeil Tarter and Alexis Tarter Essuman; grandchildren, Aleryia Venita Robinson, Anajah Venice Neiba, and Jabari Jordan Tarter; siblings, Virginia Dianne Long, James Hale, Elder Sharon Comage, Deborah Hale, Caron Hale, Vickie (Theodore) Hale-Brown, Robert (Sharon) Hale, Terry (Tonya) Hale, and Timula (Charles) Hale, who was his niece but was raised as a sister; and many aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.
Clark Funeral Chapel and Cremation Service is serving the family of Ralph Hale. The visitation will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024 at the funeral chapel at 802-806 East Sevier Avenue, Kingssport from 11 AM to 12 PM. The Celebration of Life will be held from 12 PM to 1 PM also in the funeral chapel.
The cortege will depart the Clark Funeral Chapel on Monday, June 17, 2024, bound for the Mountain Home National Cemetery, 215 Heroes Drive, Mountain Home, TN 37684.
Burial will be on Monday, June 17, 2024 from 11 AM to 12 PM at the Mountain Home National Cemetery.
If you were born or raised in Riverview, it's a presentation you don't want to miss.
As always happens with ongoing research, the History of African-Americans in Kingsport has been updated. Months of discovering new aspects that shaped the Black community in Kingsport have now been added to the history.
During the presentation, we'll go from slavery (yes, there was slavery in Kingsport), through the early 20th century, to the beginnings of our namesake Douglass School and Riverview (the neighborhood that was built on a dumpsite), and then enduring the trials and tribulations of ultimately making our community a place to be proud of. We'll also talk about the one single thing that is standing in the way of our community's future, and it's not what you think.
The original presentation several years ago was the result of almost a year of going through papers, reading articles, talking with our neighbors who experienced the community's growing pains, and visiting the landmarks that live in our memories. We have now expanded that and I've added some previously unseen video clips to help tell our story. Everything you see and hear is not opinion... it's fact and it comes from someone in the community, who experienced it enough to remember it.
In honor of our 2024 Juneteenth celebration, the presentation "History of African-Americans in Kingsport" will be on Monday, June 10th beginning promptly at 11:30 AM in the Douglass Room of the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport.
The Riverview Juneteenth Community Unity Bingo event has been moved to Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 6:30 PM. It will be held in the Riverview Community Room beside the pickleball courts on Wheatley Street in Kingsport.
Please bring a door prize.
The Bingo event had to be moved from the original June 8th date because of other things going on in the community on that day.
Bring a friend for fun, food and Unity. Everybody welcome!
The Riverview Splash Pad (1101 Martin Luther Jr. Drive) will open for the summer season this Saturday (May 25) and will remain open until the end of September.
The splash pad will be active from 10:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day during the summer. The splash pad can be turned on during these hours by rubbing the silver activator pad located on the wall between the restrooms.
The splash pad is a zero-depth aquatic play structure that allows children to experience different types of water environments. Because the splash pad is a zero-depth facility, it does not have a lifeguard on duty, so all children must be supervised during their visit.
Features of the splash pad include surface water jets, a snake head water spray, run-through loops with water jets, rotating water cannons, water buckets and a palm tree with water jets.
Each of the picnic shelters adjacent to the splash pad can be reserved by clicking on the CivicRec link in the ConnectKingsport app or by going to www.kingsporttn.gov and clicking on the “CivicRec” link, then searching for “outdoor rentals” in the search bar. You can also reserve the shelters through the Kingsport Parks and Recreation Department by calling 423-224-2489 or 423-343-9723.
1st Annual Juneteenth Bike and Car Show, benefiting the New Vision Youth, the Sons and Daughters of Douglass and Vic Danger Legacy, June 15, 2024 - please put on your calendar and plan to visit, or enter and show off your ride!
Old, discarded, out-of-date medicines now have a new home in Kingsport and the Riverview community.
The trash. Where they belong.
The New Vision Youth Group, in cooperation with the Kingsport Police Department and the Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition conducted a prescription drug take-back program in the Dobyns-Bennett High School parking lot recently (April 27th).
The Kingsport community came together and brought their old, outdated prescriptions, needles and drug containers to be discarded and in return, the Sullivan County Anti-Drug Coalition gave out free prescription lock boxes to keep their medicines safe from grandchildren and visitors to their homes.
The event is an annual one, started first in Johnson City by the New Vision Youth Group with DEFY (Drug Education for Youth), along with ETSU, the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy and the Johnson City Police Department and the late Mrs. Mary Williams, a former director at the South Central Kingsport Community Development Corporation. Kingsport began its event shortly after.
More pictures of the take-back event this year in Kingsport are below:
KINGSPORT— Kingsport hosted its annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade Saturday afternoon.
After two months of rescheduling due to inclement weather and other scheduling issues, the parade proceeded on its new route down Sullivan Street.
Bishop Ronnie Collins, parade organizer, said changes to the route were put in place to protect participants and keep them safe.
“One reason that we're on this road is because throughout the country, over the last few years, there have been people who are driving into parades and killing people and hurting people,” said Collins. “What we've done, now because our parade is small, is that we’re coming down one street so they can block the whole thing off on both sides so that there's no room for that.”
The theme of this year’s parade was “The Answer to Racism is the Love of Christ and Show Love More in 2024.”
Members of the community walked in the parade, alongside other city officials and representatives. Vice Mayor Colette George and Alderman Darrell Duncan carried the banner at this year’s parade.
“I've been here almost every single year because I think this is what our city's about,” said George. “Like they said, unity is part of the community, and it's always a nice parade. They do a wonderful job with it.”
Duncan said the parade has served as a way to form lasting connections with the community.
“Some of the friendships that I've made here over the years from this I’ve had forever,” Duncan said. “This is how I met Bishop Collins. It is [about] unity, but to me, it's [about] bonding and friendship."
The parade concluded in the parking lot of City Hall, where Mayor Pat Shull presented a proclamation making Jan. 15 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the city of Kingsport. The proclamation marks Kingsport’s 24th year of observance of the federal holiday.
“I know that everybody knows that Martin Luther King Day was in January, but I suspect that Dr. King would be more concerned with the fact that you're dedicated to his vision,” said Shull. “That's what I think he would appreciate. And what a great vision it was, about peace and unity and love for fellow Americans.”
Collins said that King’s assassination left a lasting impact on him. He said it felt like the loss of a family member.
“It's almost like he was part of the family,” Collins said. "For you all who don't understand, the day I heard and our family heard, we started crying like it was a brother, a sister, a daddy or grandma."
Collins said King’s legacy and impact has always stuck with him, as a reminder that the community can make a difference.
“It's all about loving instead of hating,” said Collins. “Trying to bring us all together, trying to treat people the way you want to be treated, but most importantly letting the love of Christ come through you so people can see that it does not have to be the bad, it can be good.”
New Vision Youth hosted its annual MLK Day Luncheon in the Riverview Community Room at the V.O. Dobbins Community Center later that afternoon. Appreciation awards were also given out at the luncheon to the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Eastman Connect, Van Dobbins and Calvin Sneed.
A Candlelight Vigil was held later in the evening at the Shiloh Baptist Church.
This is the schedule of events for Saturday, April 6, 2024:
24TH ANNUAL MLK DAY PARADE
Time and Location - Saturday, April 6th, 12 Noon, downtown Kingsport.
(NEW PARADE ROUTE--- parade starts at East Sullivan Street at East Center Street-- route will now go up Sullivan Street, through the Cherokee Street traffic light, and then left into new City Hall Parking lot)
At 11:15 AM, because of limited parking space this particular year, marchers will park in the two parking lots of the Kingsport City Hall, then walk down Sullivan to the Center Street intersection, which is the beginning of the parade route. The parade along Sullivan Street will then begin at 12 Noon at Sullivan and Center, back along the same route of Sullivan Street (the new route), back up to the City Hall Parking Lots.
The new route on Sullivan Street was designated by parade organizers and the city of Kingsport, to better protect marchers from continuous traffic on Center Street and the adjoining streets. The new route is about 5 blocks long, easier for police to patrol and block off, and also shortens the march time considerably, allowing for more marchers to take part.
This year's theme is "The Answer to Racism is the Love of Christ and Show Love More in 2024."
(See attachment below).
CONTACT: Pastor Ronnie Collins, parade organizer, 423-956-0675
Time and Location - Saturday, April 6th, 1 PM, Riverview Community Room, V.O. Dobbins Community Center, Kingsport, Wheatley Street side, beside the pickle ball courts.
Lunch catered by Phil's Dream Pit, meal sponsored by the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce and served by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. New Vision Youth member, 7-year old Journey Glauer, Lincoln Elementary School student will be singing her original composition that she wrote, "A Beautiful Song." Community Unity Awards will be given out, also a Trivia Door prize will also be given away.
Time and Location - Saturday, April 6th, 6 PM, Shiloh Baptist Church, 712 East Sevier Avenue, Kingsport. The guest speaker is student activist 16-year old Tybre Faw of Johnson City, named last year as National Student Ambassador for the '400 Years of African-American History' Commission.Faw was a mentor of the late civil rights pioneer and Georgia congressman John Lewis, who was severely beaten along with dozens of civil rights marchers as he led them across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965. Faw is the National Youth Advisor for the John Lewis Legacy Institute. He was also recently appointed the National Chairman of the "Let Me Read You Your Rights" campaign.
To honor Kingsport civic and municipal organizations including first responders and government leaders, candles of Peace, Love and Unity will be lit by representatives of those groups to further pledge their commitment every day to serve the Kingsport community.
Reprinted with permission from former Kingsport City Manager Jeff Fleming:
Virgealia “Jill” Ellis was a leap-year baby in 1928. Since 2024 is a leap year (and February is Black History Month) I wanted to honor her.
Mrs. Ellis was the counselor for generations of students at Douglass High School (before integration) and Dobyns-Bennett High School (after integration), including me.
She made a lasting impression, and I was honored to be asked to deliver a eulogy on her behalf in 2021. I was unaware of most of these things while growing up as her student.
Virgealia “Jill” Denny Looney Ellis was a leap year baby in 1928. Since 2024 is a leap year, I wanted to honor her. Mrs. Ellis was the counselor for generations of students at both Douglass High School (before integration) and Dobyns-Bennett High School (after integration), including me. She made a lasting impression, and I was honored to be asked to deliver a eulogy on her behalf in 2021.
I was unaware of most of these things while growing up as her student. What I remember most was her jovial, encouraging personality. Her parents were employed as the live-in caretakers of Rotherwood Mansion by wealthy New York financier John B. Dennis during the Jim Crow South.
She was the only child in the mansion and Mr. Dennis took a personal interest in her education and upbringing–in fact, her middle name was “Denny”. He never had children of his own, so he directed his attention toward her. He affectionately called her, “Little Girl”.
She said that he admonished her to, “read, Little Girl, read!”, so she did. He also gave her his pocket change each year as he returned to his native Oyster Bay, New York (on Long Island). She recounted that her father, the butler, would appear in the room and announce, “Mr. Dennis, Oyster Bay calling.”
She was caught in the transitional years post-slavery, but before integration and served as a bridge between the black and white communities. She was teased by the black community for arriving to school in a limousine, but not fully accepted by the white community because of the laws and customs of the day.
Undeterred, she lived her life as a daily example that people are just people. She devoted her lifetime to admonishing the children of Kingsport (black & white) to read, learn, and aspire to be the best they can be–just like John B. Dennis did for her. She raised an amazing family who still carry on her legacy and make an impact in their own respective communities.
She wrote a children’s book, “Denny at Rotherwood-God Talks To Me” from which many of the illustrations and photographs are taken.
Jill Ellis was a Kingsport treasure. She freely shared her life stories of growing up in times that are hard for us to imagine and uncomfortable to discuss. A time of segregation and the struggle for civil rights. She was kind, optimistic, and focused on leaving a better world for future generations.
And she did.
Her smile and the brightness in her eyes always drew a similar response from all she met. And she especially passed that trait along to her daughters. She was the personification of God’s grace – freely given and totally undeserved.
Her stories were authentic, important, and priceless. She always spoke so matter-of-factly. This is the way it was. And this is what we did. She channeled her energy into improving herself and those who knew her.
She didn’t dwell on the things that divide us, she focused on our shared humanity and the common struggles we all face in trying to find our way in this world. She made life better one person and one life at a time.
I am one of those lives. I was her student. She was my counselor. And I take her life lessons with me every day. She lives on in the hundreds and hundreds of people she influenced.
She was the last living connection to the founding fathers of 1917. Neither John B. Dennis nor J. Fred Johnson had children or descendants. Kingsport was their legacy. And she was their self-described “little girl” and only child living in Rotherwood Mansion during modern Kingsport’s formative years.
As my mama used to say, “Oh to go back in time and be a fly on the wall.” She was an eyewitness to history. And thankfully she shared her memories and passed along her stories to the community and her family.
She recalled daily life in Rotherwood Mansion as the hub of development in early Kingsport. She observed the steady stream of visiting investors who were being recruited to build this city of industry. She recalled her father walking into the room, announcing “Mr. Dennis, New York calling.”
She remembered the fine, horse-drawn hunting carriage that her dad brought out for special guests – including George Eastman.
While she lived in Rotherwood Mansion among Kingsport’s elite, she attended the segregated Douglass school. Her dad drove her to school in Rotherwood’s limousine. She would get out of the car with a big bow in her hair – and as you might expect, the kids would tease her because she was different. She was caught between two worlds.
And each evening she would return to the mansion.
She shared that John B. Dennis would save up his pocket change and give it to her when he returned to Oyster Bay, New York each year. Yes, the same Oyster Bay as President Theodore Roosevelt.
That pocket change later paid her tuition at boarding school after her father passed and could no longer drive her to Kingsport for school.
She recalled John B. Dennis’ library and his insatiable appetite for books and knowledge – geography, literature, and science. He admonished her, “Read! Read!” So she did.
And she began a lifelong thirst for knowledge that lead to a college education and distinguished career. She taught at Douglass and moved with integration. Of all the many distinguished teachers that ever taught in the history of Kingsport City Schools, she was in the inaugural Hall of Fame. It was no contest.
She often spoke of her first encounter with God at Rotherwood. It came in the form of an echo. She found a spot in the courtyard and yelled, “Hello, I love you” and she heard an echo come back, “I love you”. She told her mama she talked to God and He answered. It was an experience so vivid she remembered it the rest of her life. She said there are forces in play all around us every day that we don’t comprehend and can’t explain. They’re bigger than us. That’s why it’s called faith. It’s about believing something we cannot prove.
One thing’s for sure – an echo is a reflection. You get back what you give.
And Mrs. Ellis’ echoes are truly timeless because the children of the children of the children that she influenced will make it so.
