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Monday evening the Reunion of the Ages awarded 17 high school students with scholarships.

The Reunion of the Ages is a local organization dedicated to “preserving, honoring and celebrating the history and heritage of former black educational institutions in the Morristown-Hamblen County area in conjunction with present and future needs of the community.”

The organization has been awarding scholarships to students since 2003 when it created the James A. Nichols Scholarship Fund in honor of Mr. Nichols, a black educator in the Lakeway area.

This year ROA members, scholarship recipients and their families attended the 2023 award ceremony in the Morristown-Hamblen Library’s George S. Hale Community Room.

Over the past 20 years, the Reunion of the Ages has awarded more than $60,000 to 100 plus recipients.

The several scholarships presented include:

• The William “Sam” Braziel scholarship which honors Braziel because of his love for helping his community.

• The Richard Turley Scholarship, created because Turley affirmed his success was devoted to a similar scholarship awarded to him in his youth.

• The Francis “Mae West” Pressley Scholarship. The scholarship honors Pressley as she was a longtime supporter of the Reunion of the Ages.

• The Melissa Ann McCray-Dukes Scholarship was created in honor of Dukes who played for the University of Tennessee Lady Vols under the coaching of Pat Head-Summit.

• Mary Coleman Scholarship, honors of Mr. Coleman who was a band director at Nelson Merry High School and Mrs. Coleman who was an elementary school teacher for over 40 years.

At the ceremony three past scholarship recipients attended to tell guests how their scholarships helped their college career.

Jamya Billings, recent graduate from Nova Southeastern University in Florida, discussed how the scholarship helped her.

“I received the scholarship in 2019,” she said. “I graduated in May with my Bachelor’s Degree in Education and a minor in Psychology.

“The scholarship helped me get started in college and I am so grateful for it and everyone in the room who supported me and helped push me to succeed.”

Although the organization has helped many students in the Lakeway Area financially, its mission is to preserve the history of the college which was located where Fulton-Hill Park now exists.

Morristown College was founded on the site in 1881 by the National Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its purpose was to offer former Slaves an opportunity for higher education, to train ministers and teachers for the black population of the region.

The site was the former home of Reagan High School for Boys, constructed in 1830 and originally functioned as a meeting house. Later it served as a slave mart, then a hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War.

The college was once the home of a seminary, multigenerational education, 300-acre dairy farm including a creamery, brick factory, steam plant, hospital, child development center, print house and boarding house, to name a few.

The site of the college was part of the 1864 Battle of Morristown and then became part of a federal occupation camp during the last months of the Civil War and the subsequent reconstruction.

In 1967, Morristown College became the first HBCU to be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools as a junior college.

Over 40,000 graduates from across the nation passed through the institution and its impact has been felt for generations.

For more information about the Reunion of the Ages, its scholarship program or Morristown College visit its website.