A Tribute to Charles W. Conn

David G. Roebuck, Ph.D.

It is a common practice among historians to celebrate the birthdays of great figures from our past. Charles W. Conn would have been 89 today, and he is greatly missed by those of us who love the heritage of the Church of God and of Lee University. Last spring I was asked to give a tribute to Charles Conn and Cecil Knight at the “Landmarks of Faith” Retired Ministers and Widows conference here in Cleveland. I’ll take this opportunity to repeat an edited and updated version of my remarks in honor of Dr. Conn.

Charles W. Conn was one of only twenty-one men who have been elected as general overseer in the now almost 123 year history of the Church of God. One of twenty-one who have been considered by their peers to be men of such esteem, such ability, and such leadership that they were chosen to guide our great movement. All who are elected to the office of general overseer have previously served in many roles with distinction. These men do not simply have careers; they give their lives in service and in ministry.

Dr. Conn was born in 1920. He quietly accepted Jesus as his savior on May 1, 1939 while riding a streetcar in Atlanta, Georgia. From that point forward he was sold out to his Lord. Following a brief time at Bible Training School in Sevierville, the Church of God appointed him at the age of twenty to serve as director of Sunday school and youth in Louisiana. Two years later he began his pastoral ministry in Missouri serving the St. Joseph and Leadwood congregations.

His gift to write was quickly noticed, and the Church of God called him here to Cleveland in 1948, first as editor of Sunday school and youth materials and then as Editor in Chief of all Church of God publications. Except for a two-year term as state overseer of Virginia, he spent the rest of his life in this area. While serving at the Church of God Publishing House he took the challenge to write a comprehensive history of the Church of God; and through the pages of Like a Mighty Army and over twenty other books he will long continue to shape how we understand ourselves and the Word of God. In 1977 the Executive Council chose him as the first Church Historian of the Church of God.

A respected writer, preacher and leader, he was elected to the Executive Committee and then to the office of general overseer in 1966 at the age of 46. When term limits forced him to leave the Executive Committee, he served Lee College as president for twelve years. At the time of his death he was Lee University’s only president emeritus.

Dr. Conn loved his educational ministry. A gifted leader and preacher, near the end of his active life he told Lee University students that his happiest days were at Lee College. He had come to Lee shortly after it had become a liberal arts college. He believed that God calls men and women to preach. But he also believed that God calls all of His children in whatever occupation they serve—public school teachers, business managers, writers, and medical doctors. Whatever their vocation Charles Conn wanted the Church of God to build a college that would prepare our sons and daughters to be the very best. So he poured his life into students. After retirement, and especially after his beloved Edna had passed, he spent countless hours talking with students in the cafeteria, the Pentecostal Research Center and wherever else he found them.

As I reflect on his life I wonder how to best measure a man or woman’s legacy. By the offices they held? The buildings they built? Charles Conn guided the Church of God wherever he served. By all human measures he lived a life that we consider to be great. But I am convinced that eternity will reveal that his greatest legacy is that this Landmark of Faith poured his life into people.

He fought a good fight, he finished his course, he kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to him at that day; and not to him only, but unto all of us also that love his appearing.

Historical Figures - Real or Imaginary?

Susan Fletcher

Yesterday I took a day trip to Cades Cove , a lovely corner of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was my first time in the cove and on the way home I remarked that it is a historian/photographer/hiker's paradise. This beautiful valley was once home to a thriving community of Tennessee pioneers in the nineteenth century. Today the cove is part of the national park system and you can visit the cabins, barns, and churches where these resourceful people once lived, worked, and worshipped.

I talked with a wonderful National Park Service volunteer about the history of the cove. He told me the story of the first settlers, of the Civil War's impact on the region, and about the cove's last resident in 1999. This volunteer was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and he even indulged my questions about "Cold Mountain" and "Christy." As a public historian I appreciated his skills in historical interpretation. Actually, the National Park Service staff and volunteers do a remarkably fine job of presenting their historic sites. If you live in the South, you should definitely visit the Great Smokies and if you live elsewhere, make sure your summer plans include a trip to your nearest national park.

The volunteer told us to look for the handprints on the ceiling of the Primitive Baptist Church. When the settlers were building the ceiling, they pressed so hard against the uncured pine that the sap ran out over their fingers and left permanent handprints on the wood. This is a remarkable sight - brown fingerprints all over the ceiling. Historical figures can sometimes seem like imaginary beings, just as made-up as literary characters. That's why seeing those fingerprints made the Cades Cove settlers so real to me. Look - these people really did exist and here is the evidence to prove it.

Scholars often talk about historical evidence and sources like letters and photographs. I like this evidence best on the small, personal scale. Handprints on ceilings, a love letter saved in a scrapbook. In reading Halcy Tomlinson?s journal entry from June 20, 1906, I am reminded of how real she was - a fifteen-year-old girl living in the early twentieth century. In this entry she writes about her paycheck and what she bought with her money. You see, knowing that these historical figures whom I study think about some of the same things I think about makes them seem so real. Halcy isn't a character that someone invented - she was a real person who wanted to buy clothes and who had a summer job.

"June 20, 1906 Halcy Tomlinson

Tuesday was pay day again and I got $3.65. Now isn?t that a lot for two weeks' worth? But 'every little bit helps.' I got me a new white dress and a lot of other little things, or rather it was a few other things. My dress cost just a dollar. I have had another pay day and got $5.65. I think this is a little better."

Rescuing the Archives

Susan Fletcher

Today I am thinking about the flooding in the Midwest. This morning I listened to this podcast from NPR's "All Things Considered" about the rescue efforts to save the special collections library at the University of Iowa. In the interview Nancy Baker, the director of the university's libraries, talks about putting out a call for volunteers to save rare manuscripts, photographs, and film material from the flood waters. The community responded in force and volunteers formed a human brigade to rescue the archives. My heart goes out to the museums, archives, and libraries that are facing this natural disaster. I am, however, heartened that so many people were willing to pitch in to save the collections.

Today at 2:30 our campus will undergo a brief power outage so the local utility company can work on the lines going to the new science building. A student assistant and I joked that we should have a "power outage drill" when we will go outside and enjoy the brilliant sunshine during this time. Then the conversation turned serious and we discussed actual disaster preparedness. We here in the DRC are currently revisiting our emergency plan. While the federal government continually reminds us as individuals to have a plan in case of a disaster, thinking about how to save a historical collection in such situations takes on a whole new level of complexity. Hearing about the events at the University of Iowa reminds me that we need to keep working on our plan. It also reminds me that planning for an emergency involves more than having a phone tree, knowing where the high ground is and being in contact with a good paper conservator. This case at the U of I shows me that the appeal to the human heart is perhaps more important than any of those things.

Put simply: we have some really great stuff here. Wonderful, irreplaceable things like the minute book of the first general assemblies, photographs of the Spurlings and Tomlinsons, and F.J. Lee's preaching chart. All of these things are worth saving, both in the preservation sense and in the (God-forbid) case of a disaster. If you live in the Cleveland area, keep us in mind if we ever need your help. If you live elsewhere, remember your local museums, archives, libraries, even zoos and aquariums and be willing to pitch in during times of crisis. And in times of "normalcy," you can help out by being a volunteer - museums and archives always need volunteers.

Today I am grateful for small things: that the creek behind my house hasn't flooded its banks, for scheduled and controlled power outages, and for the brilliant blue sky on this lovely day in Tennessee.

June 4, in 2008 and 1906

Susan Fletcher

The spring that I wrote about in my last post has slipped away and now it is summer in earnest here in Cleveland. Three summer church camps have infiltrated the campus of Lee University. As I walked to work this morning in the warm air I passed groups of middle schoolers doing their morning devotions on the pedestrian mall. Summer camp workers were filling coolers with pint-sized water bottles, getting ready for a blistering day. This is the pattern that June and July will follow, as different camps rotate in and out. The campers arrive screaming with joy and energy on Monday afternoons and keep screaming all week until they go home on Friday, only to be replaced by other kids from other places the next week. Oh, summer camp.

Today I am thinking about how American teenagers and children spend their summers so differently in 2008 than they did in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. (Of course, I think a lot about children during the 1800s, given the nature of my research interests). The early-twentieth century marked the beginning of summer camps as the scouting movement formed under people like Daniel Carter Beard. For working class kids during that period, however, summer meant time to work on their family's farm or to find a job that would contribute to the family's income.

In 1906 fifteen-year-old Halcy Tomlinson got a job working at the Woolen Mill in Cleveland, Tennessee. She was very excited about the prospect of making money and being able to buy some things for herself. Halcy and her sister Iris Marea and brother Homer planned to save up their earnings to buy their family a rug for their front room. Like modern teenagers, Halcy liked staying up late, going to events, and buying clothes. Here are her journal entries from May 29 and June 4, 1906.

"May 29, 1906, Halcy Tomlinson"

"Several things have occurred since I last wrote in my journal. I am working in the Woolen Mills - have been working over a week - and I think I will like it all right after I learn, if I ever do. They say I am getting along very well, but I honestly believe I did worse today than I ever did. Now then I guess I will get rich. They tease me about it just because they know I won't make very much. But I don't care. A little is better than none.

"This evening had I been home I think I would have taken a big cry. I felt like it, and it was awful hard to keep from crying anyway, because it seemed just like everything went wrong. But I don't aim for Mamma to know how bad and how tired I feel and what a bad time I had, because I am afraid she will worry about me when there is no use. I have been feeling so bad lately any way because I have had to be up so late at night. Mr. Murphy, one of our neighbors and a dear friend also, died last Saturday night, and I have been sitting up there and going to meeting when I didn't have to sit up. There is a lady preacher, Mrs. McCanless, preaching here now and she is certainly a fine preacher, no mistake. I didn't get to go tonight. I had to stay home and go to bed, for if I work I will have to sleep some. If I keep on writing I think it will be some time in the night before I get to bed. Good night...dear old Journal!

" June 4, 1906, Halcy Tomlinson

"This evening was pay evening at the mill, and my part was $5.00 for two weeks. Now "hain't" I making money? I got me a hat which cost $2.00, and Papa is going to get me a pair of slippers tomorrow or some day this week. I don't know just what they will cost. Anyway I won't have much left. My, how people can spend money!

"Mamma and Homer are gone to the country to stay a little while and it does seem so lonesome without them. Mrs. Murphy, the lady whose husband died last week, is keeping house for us while Mamma is away. She is a dear good woman. Papa is gone to meeting. He wouldn't let me go again tonight, because he said I needed to go to sleep. And I guess I do for I have been up a great deal since I last wrote, nearly every night.

"Sister McCanless has gone with Mamma and Brother to the country. There are just four of us here now and it seems like a small number, for there have been seven in the family for over a week. I will be glad when Mamma comes. She just went off today."

Tennessee Spring, in 1906 and 2008

Susan A. Fletcher

Today is a spectacularly beautiful day here in Cleveland, Tennessee. Coming from the arid West, I am captivated by the lush green landscape of this part of Appalachia. I took a walk in the park yesterday and the scent of honeysuckle floated on the breeze. This is a good time of year to be in Tennessee.

While we are enjoying the peace and quiet around campus this summer, we remain very busy here in the research center. We are working on several major projects including our annual report and our General Assembly exhibit. A few weeks ago Lee University ended its spring semester and the staff of the DRC celebrated the graduation of one of our student assistants.

Thinking about the end of the school year has prompted me to post another entry from Halcy Tomlinson's 1906 diary. Halcy did not write very often between the first few musings she wrote in March of that year (which you can read in one of my previous blog entries) and the end of May. I'll sum up the few entries that she did write before moving on to her thoughts about the end of her own school year. In April she and her family celebrated Easter together and father A.J. Tomlinson spent much of that month away preaching in other towns. Halcy and her friend Eva Cramer went to a carnival and rode the Ferris Wheel for the first time and got in trouble for it when they went home.

"Halcy Tomlinson May 18, 1906

O Joy! School is out at last, and oh, how glad I am. I actually passed and that isn't all, I passed with highest honor. There was another girl who passed with honor too, but I got highest and I am so glad. I praise the Lord for it. My average grade this quarter was 96, and 95 this whole year. My grades for this quarter are: Spelling 94, reading 92, writing 90 arithmetic 100, language 95, geography 97, mental 100. Marea and Homer both passed with high credit that is next honor. Next year Marea will be in the fifth, Homer in the Sixth, and me in the seventh.

This evening, or rather afternoon, us three Tomlinsons and Ora Mileon had kind of a little party in honor of us all passing. Marea and Ora baked the cakes, first Ora ever made, and almost Marea's first, but they were real good I have returned from the Commencement where ten graduated - nine girls and one boy - and it was just simply splendid. I do hope that if I ever have the privilege of graduating I will do as well as was done tonight. I believe Grace Stamper was the best, but dear, they were all so good I can't tell hardly which was the best."

Singing the Gospel

Dr. David G. Roebuck

Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away; To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away.

On Friday evening, April 3, I joined my voice with the voices of more than one hundred other singers and scholars proclaiming the familiar words of what is now one of America's best known gospel songs. This much loved tune was the first song of an evening singing hosted by The Center for Popular Music in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The singing was part of "Farther Along" - a conference on the southern gospel convention singing tradition. Albert E. Brumley first published "I'll Fly Away" in 1932, and I like so many others grew up singing it in church services and gospel singings.

Today the Church of God and Pentecostal movement use a wide range of musical styles. Many no longer sing Southern Gospel music, but the popularity of Bill Gaither's "Homecoming" video series reveals that this is still a much-loved tradition. Certainly it has been an important part of our heritage. Our own Church Hymnal is one of the best known songbooks and many Church of God ministers and families have written songs and produced recordings over the years.

At the Farther Along Conference, Lee University's Dr. Donald LeRoy presented a paper on the history of the Church Hymnal and Charles Towler spoke about the lasting legacy of the Church Hymnal. He also generously provided copies for the Friday evening singing. Jacquelyn Royal, from the staff of Lee University's Squires Library, told about our efforts to digitize and preserve Southern Gospel recordings as well as catalog songbooks.

Whatever the future of this style of music in the Pentecostal movement, it has had extraordinary influence. We cannot fully understand where and who we are, if we do not know our heritage. At the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center we are committed to collecting and preserving songbooks, record albums, scholarly interpretations and other materials related to Southern Gospel music. We invite you to make donations of materials to add to our collections as well as financial resources to help us preserve them. We also welcome your visit to see what we are doing to preserve this and other aspects of our heritage.

Halcy Tomlinson's Journal - part 1

Susan A. Fletcher

Halcy Olive Tomlinson was born on March 28, 1891 in Westfield, Indiana, the oldest child of Ambrose Jessup and Mary Jane Tomlinson. The family moved to Culberson, North Carolina in 1899 to become missionaries in Appalachia. By 1903 A.J. had joined a Holiness group at Camp Creek and became the leader of the movement soon to be known as the Church of God. In December 1904 the Tomlinsons moved to Cleveland where the children could attend school.

In the spring of 1906 Halcy turned fifteen at her house on Gaut Street and started a journal. She chronicled her adventures as a teenager in Cleveland, Tennessee, and a daughter of the Tomlinson household. Her fifteenth year brought hardships during her father's missionary journeys, her first job at the Woolen Mill, and an increased faith in God.

Of all the letters and journals that we house at the Dixon Research Center, I think that Halcy's is my favorite. The journal speaks so well to many of my interests including women's history, the history of childhood and adolescence, as well as family and local history. Halcy was a sharp observer of the world around her and her diary is revealing. Her father, General Overseer A.J. Tomlinson, kept a journal of his own that recorded the progress of his ministry. Halcy's diary, however, gives us a better picture of the family dynamics in the Tomlinson household in addition to a rare portrait of what life was like for a fifteen-year-old girl living in Cleveland, Tennessee in 1906.

In this blog series, I will be posting some of Halcy's entries and will be discussing some of them. Today is April 1, 2008 so I'll start off by posting Halcy's first entries from the very end of March, one-hundred-two years ago. You can read more about her in the April 2007 issue of the Church of God Evangel, or you can visit the Dixon Research Center and read her diary for yourself. If you have any comments about the journal, you can post them on our message board, or you can E mail me at "sfletcher at leeuniversity.edu" (See how I'm trying to outwit the spammers?) Until then, happy reading!

Halcy Tomlinson March 28, 1906

"Well, well, dear old Journal I hardly know how to begin. It can't be like Docia, because I am fifteen today and she was just twelve. And then, I like our dear little room; 'our' means my little sister Iris Marea who is eleven years old and myself. Although our room is most as bare as hers, yet we like it ..Our glass is not broken, yet it is small, and instead of having a patched quilt on the bed ours has a nice white coverlet on it. Our stand is made of a box and our washstand is too. Mamma made them herself. Oh, I have the dearest mama in the world, and I just love her with all my heart. I went to school today; it is Wednesday. I got along all right, and didn't have to stay in. I have a good teacher. Her name is Miss Marea Ransome. I am in the sixth grade. We came to Cleveland just a little over a year ago, and I like to live here all right. Papa is a minister and he is so good to me. He isn't home near all the time, and oh, we are so glad when he comes home again from his appointments of preaching. It is a bad rainy day today, but it is most always bad on my birthday because it is in clustery March. And they say I am about like March in my ways too, but I just can't help it. I try to be just as good as I can, and I love everybody because I love Jesus. I am not like Docia in the respect either for I love Jesus and she didn't when she began her journal, and He is so good to me. If I want anything that I really need, I just as Him, like anyone else would their father. Papa hasn't any special salary, and the people where he preaches are not overly rich and many are real poor. They are good to give all they can, but that doesn't near meet all the expenses. But the Bibles says, 'He shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.' And He does supply our needs some way or other.

"Now dear Journal I am just telling you everything but you won't be put in print like Docia's journal. I hardly guess anyone will even read this, so I will write whatever I want to.

"I have gotten three whippings today. Marea and my brother Homer - he is between my sister and myself - and a friend (Amanda Haney) boarding here with us, whipped me sixteen stripes apiece because they said I had to have one to grow on. I got some presents today but will not mention them here."

Halcy Tomlinson March 31, 1906

"O dear, will warm weather ever come! This is the last day of March, and it is real cool for this time of year. I feel real blue this morning. We have happened to a disappointment. We were aiming to have our house painted this spring and furnished better than it is, but we have failed to accomplish what we aimed to. It surely must be nice to be rich and have plenty of money, yet we ought to be contented for what we have for I am sure He knows better than we. Papa and Mamma are both sick, and our cow Rosie died only a few days ago. It does seem terrible to have to be sick, especially anyone so good as Mamma and Papa are.

"And poor Papa has to go away to fill one of his appointments, too, this evening, and will be gone over Sunday. In one way I am glad for him to go if he can do any good, but I am sorry on Mamma's account. She said she always wanted Papa to be at home if she is feeling bad. And then, we all like for Papa to be at home. I heard Mama say only today she would like awful well to have a new coat. She hasn't had a new coat this winter. If I were only rich I would get her one. Doesn't it seem strange some people can have everything they want while others can't have even the things they need? But the Lord knows best about everything. His will be done."