Final sesquicentennial event celebrates history, culture

The community of Johnson City came together for the Sesquicentennial Grand Finale Celebration Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at King Commons – a sight local artist Jason Flack said he could not put into words.

Flack has lived in Johnson City his entire life and was one of several vendors and many community members at the conclusion of the city’s yearlong celebration of its 150^th birthday.

The last event of 59 coordinated by the Sesquicentennial Commission this year offered a chance for Johnson Citians to listen to speeches by Mayor Jenny Brock, Congressman Phil Roe, ETSU President Brian Noland and others, as well as witness contents be placed into a sesquicentennial time capsule to be opened 50 years from now.

Flack was commissioned for the event to create limited edition artwork featuring elements of downtown Johnson City. In the time capsule – among municipal records, educational reports, memorabilia, local business items and other objects reflecting the lives of Johnson Citians in 2019 – is one of his prints.

“It’s definitely a big win for art and culture,” Flack said. “Historically of course it goes without saying, for the 150th birthday – it’s the last celebration; but on my level, for me to be here representing art and culture is probably the biggest thing I’ve ever had in my little quote-on-quote art career.”

Flack said seeing the community come together was “awesome” yet “expected.” For future generations who open the time capsule in 2069, Flack hopes they see that in 2019 the community not only came together but also incorporated art and culture into their city.

Mayor Jenny Brock noted the importance of this culmination of Johnson City’s art, culture and history for the event during her speech.  

“This past year we researched our history,” Brock said. “We’ve recorded it in books, and events, and celebrations and educated our youth and each other on how our history has molded the culture of Johnson City.”

For ETSU Professor of Appalachian Studies and music historian Ted Olson, the culture of Johnson City has molded its history as much as its history has molded its culture – especially in terms of music.

“Music expresses the whole community’s values and a sense of some kind of community tie,” Olson said.

Along with Flack and other venders at the event, Olson sold CDs including “Big Bend Killing” which was recorded at ETSU, and “Tell It To Me: Revisiting the Johnson City Sessions, 1928-1929″ which was placed in the time capsule.

“It’s a testimonial to the people who have called Johnson City home in the past,” Olson said. “So, you know, you look through these old records, and you step back in time; and yet you also feel connected more deeply with what happened in the past.”

Other vendors like the Johnson City Press sold their book “Johnson City 150 Years” which showcases the history and culture of Johnson City through articles and photographs.

Also contributing to the display of historical images, Johnson Citian Tom Roberts sold his postcard history book, which consists of his personal collection of Johnson City postcards ranging from the late 1800s to about the 1970s. Both of these books were placed in the time capsule.

Along with these objects of Johnson City’s history and culture, ETSU President Brian Noland placed items significant to ETSU’s history and culture in the time capsule. Noland said the university would not exist without Johnson City – a city that has provided the resources, land and utilities for the institution throughout its history. These items included a prescription bottle from the Gatton College of Pharmacy, a football, a mortarboard, a Steve Forbes bobblehead and one of Noland’s infamous bowties.

“So much of who we are is defined by this community,” Noland said. “So, the opportunity for a mortarboard and recognition of all of the graduates; the opportunity for some light-hearted things like a bow tie to be placed in the time capsule. It shows that this is a community that’s light, it’s vibrant, it’s dynamic; and the university is at the heart of it.”

Another item placed in the time capsule was a letter from Mayor Jenny Brock to the Mayor of Johnson City in 2069. While reading the letter from the mayor in the 1969-time capsule back in April, Brock said realizing the vast changes and advancements Johnson City has made over the past 50 years was “eye-opening.” Although she can already see the impact Johnson City will have in the next few years, she wanted to emphasize the importance of the city’s culture and history in her letter.

“I think for me it was just kind of to talk about the foundation we’re leaving them – the importance of our culture and how we should never lose that,” Brock told the East Tennessean. “You know, those that set the glue that has kind of kept us together as a community. We can make all sorts of advancements in many areas, but let’s keep what has made a great impact [– our culture.]”

The time capsule will lie underneath the concrete area of the Legacy Project Plaza in King Commons of downtown Johnson City. The two-part project includes a history circle comprised of granite slabs with key dates in Johnson City’s history, a Tri-Star area to commemorate its design by Johnson City’s own LeRoy Reeves and a Natural Adventure Area for people of all ages.

“With this handoff of these things we challenge future generations to continue to build on them while always protecting the wonderful culture that got us here,” Brock said.