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Celebration Saturday Launches Andrew Johnson Bicentennial

Jim Small, chief of operations of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, shows one of the banners that will be displayed here as part of the Andrew Johnson Bicentennial in 2008. The year-long Bicentennial Celebration starts on Saturday, Dec. 29, the 199th anniversary of President Johnson’s birth. The banners are expected to start going up later this week. Sun Photo by Jim Feltman.

Source: The Greeneville Sun
by Tom Yancey
Date: 2007-12-27

A 200th birthday only comes once, and Greene County is planning a year-long bicentennial celebration for its most famous citizen, Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States.
 
To officially kick off the bicentennial year, a birthday party is planned Saturday, Dec. 29, which will be the 199th birthday of the former president.
 
The community is encouraged to attend and participate, said Jim Small, chief of operations at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site.
 
The celebration will begin with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at President Johnson's grave at the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, beginning at 1:30 p.m.
 
Small said the wreath will be placed by a representative of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee National Guard, acting on behalf of President George W. Bush.
 
It is customary for a wreath to be laid at the grave of each U.S. President on the anniversary of his birth, on behalf of the current U.S. President.
 
After the wreath-laying, a birthday party is planned at the Nathanael Greene Museum, with cake, candles, music and other activities.
 
Festivities will begin at 2 p.m., said Earl Fletcher, museum director. Period music by the Tyros will feature an original composition by Dr. Robert Orr, a local historian and musician.
 
This will be followed by a presentation of "Tennessee Tailor," a monologue combining several Johnson speeches and letters. The monologue, written and performed by Daniel Luther, and conceived and directed by James-Ben Stockton, was very well received at the annual dinner of the Greene County Heritage Trust earlier this month.
 
Refreshments will be served after the monologue, and guests will be encouraged to tour the museum, especially the "Presidents Gallery," which deals with Johnson's legacy.
 
At 3:15 p.m., guests will reconvene in the auditorium for a PowerPoint presentation by Carlos Whaley, followed by more music.
 
Events All Year
 
Bicentennial events are planned throughout the coming year, ending with a major event on Dec. 29, 2008, the actual 200th anniversary of President Johnson's birth.
 
Small, who is co-chair of the steering committee for the Bicentennial Celebration, said an event each month is planned "that will educate not only our community but our region and state as to how a determined young tailor rose to the presidency of the United States."
 
The date of the January event is yet to be announced.
 
Small said the goals of the committee are to create a stronger interest in Johnson through that educational process, and to use it to strengthen the overall foundation for attracting tourism to Greeneville and Greene County.
 
An attractive Andrew Johnson Bicentennial calendar has been printed, which highlights both planned activities and important events in the life of Johnson, who served in every office from town alderman to U.S. President, including a period of time during the Civil War as Military Governor of Tennessee.
 
The calendar scenes depict Greene County and other areas that had an impact on Johnson's life. Proceeds from sale of the calendars will support the educational program.
 
Calendars are available at both the Nathanael Greene Museum on South Main Street and at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site visitor center at the corner of College and Depot streets downtown, as well as at the Greene County Partnership and the James-Ben Gallery.
 
Some of the events will include nationally-known Civil War and Reconstruction speakers. Dr. Eric Foner, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, is scheduled to take part in a panel discussion in September about the U.S. Constitution and Johnson.
 
A vintage movie about the 17th president, called "Tennessee Johnson," will again premier in May at the Capitol Theatre, with an historic perspective offered by Dr. Orr, a professor at Walters State Community College.
 
Civil War reenactors will be at the Andrew Johnson Homestead several times during the year-long event to portray life in East Tennessee during the Civil War.
 
Children visiting the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site during the bicentennial year will receive a parchment copy of the United States Constitution while supplies last
 
Lizzie Watts, superintendent of the National Historic Site, said Johnson's political beliefs were guided by the Constitution to such an extent that, when Johnson was buried, his copy of the Constitution was buried with him.
 
Johnson, she said, "spent his life defending and supporting the common men, who like himself believed in the American dream."
 
She said the parchment copies of the Constitiution "will provide a better understanding of Andrew Johnson and how he positively impacted the United States and the world."