East Tennessee State asking artists to submit proposals for fountain honoring first Black students
The new fountain will commemorate the five African American students who integrated Johnson City's ETSU in the late 1950s.
A fountain honoring the first Black students who attended East Tennessee State University is being replaced and the school is accepting design proposals from artists, WJHL reports.Â
This new installment outside of the Charles C. Sherrod Library will replace the current fountain, which was heavily damaged “in a severe weather event” this past winter, according to the university.Â
The fountain will commemorate the five African American students who integrated the college in the late 1950s: Eugene Caruthers, Elizabeth Watkins Crawford, Clarence McKinney, George L. Nichols and Mary Luellen Owens Wagner. East Tennessee State College was the school’s name back then.
There was a ceremony in 2013 to dedicate the fountain currently in place.
“What I want to do is have something that will allow the community to be able to learn what it was like navigating at East Tennessee State University as an African-American student back in the 1950s,” said Keith Johnson, ETSU’s vice president of equity and inclusion and chairman of its Engineering Technology Department, according to WJHL.Â
This new structure is intended to be more interactive and to provide a deeper insight into the lives of the five history-making students. The fountain is expected to include a QR code so people can use their cellphones to access more information about them.
“For example, Mr. George Nichols, a major thing that he was very proud of when he was a student here was the fact that he was part of the ROTC program,” Johnson said. “He was also a biology student.”
Elizabeth Crawford attended the college for about six months before leaving with her husband when he joined the military. She eventually entered the school system as an educator, WJHL noted.
During her enrollment, Crawford said, she experienced few problems.
“The professors, some of them weren’t really friendly; they did what they had to do for us to teach us, and that was it,” said Crawford, who attended the school’s 2013 fountain dedication ceremony, according to WJHL.
“The thing that I’m most proud about integrating was the fact that behind me came a group of young black people who succeeded,” she said.
ETSU has allocated $225,000 toward the new fountain design and installation. A fund-raising campaign is currently underway.
“I want this fountain to be recognized as a community piece where any student can come and congregate and just reflect on what ETSU used to be and where we are now,” Johnson said.
The deadline for artists 18 or older to apply is Sept. 1. As part of the eligibility requirements, applicants must have experience in completing outdoor/indoor public works of similar scale, per the university. To enter, participants must reside in the United States, and there is no application fee.
University officials hope to complete the fountain by August 2024.
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