Born: June 30, 1922
Died: May 12, 2000
Education:
Served:
Taught:
Sources:
On May 12, 1991 an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters was presented to Joyce Garrett. I have been looking through the lists of these degree recipients, and gathering the information about them from Commencement Programs.
Actually, each and every one of these people is impressive and deserving of such an honor. And this is but a sliver of the whole list. The whole list encompasses decades and decades full of names.
The stories behind them mean so much! It is these stories that inspire me to keep digging deeper. It is these stories that makes the lists interesting and exciting.
Joyce Garrett is just one great example of this. Joyce Garrett has been a force for music and for the transformation of lives for decades. In fact, her motto is “Choir is a tool for transforming lives.”
In 1988, just three years before receiving her Honorary Doctorate at West Virginia Wesleyan, Joyce Garrett was invited to bring her choir to the International Youth and Music Festival in Vienna, Austria – the first all-African-American choir ever to be invited.
Against all odds, they were able to raise $160,000 to make the trip. Against all odds, the 54 students (only two of whom knew how to read music) were able to learn difficult classical music which had to be sung in German. Against all odds, they won second place behind the Latymer School from London (which was founded in 1624). That year, they didn’t even award a third place trophy because there was such a large gap between the top two groups and the scores of the next one.
In an article in the Washington Post this week, John Kelly referred to the 1988 group as, “Rocky meets Pitch Perfect with a bit of Stand By Me thrown in.
Here is a video of that group singing the music from that competition in Vienna and being congratulated by President Ronald Reagan at the White House on August 1, 1988. President Reagan praised the choir, saying,
The choir also presented a concert in Wesley Chapel on Feburary 23, 1991.
Through the years, Joyce also created scholarship opportunities for her students, and many of them have taken the life lessons, determination, and confidence they gained to go to college and make a difference in the world. Generations of choir members.
Having just “discovered” this amazing lady this week, I found that the choir was having a 30th Anniversary Concert on July 7. Several of WVWC’s Alumni were gathered to celebrate the event.
Dr. Joyce Garrett. Much more than a name on a list.
Sources and Related Articles:
Mother’s Day makes the news each year. We hear a lot about Anna Jarvis and the First Mother’s Day in 1908. But, as with most things, there are subplots to that story.
What do the things in the photo above have in common?
L.L. Loar
Lawson L. Loar was a successful merchant in Clarksburg, WV. He was also the Superintendent of the Sunday school of Andrews Methodist Episcopal church, in Grafton, W. Va. during the first Mother’s Day service held there in 1908, and gave of his time and money to help lead the plans for establishing the annual memorial to Motherhood. He died in 1938.
Until 1941, the West Virginia area was supporting two colleges: West Virginia Wesleyan and Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston). With the uniting of the Methodist Episcopal North, the Methodist Episcopal South, and the Methodist Protestant Churches in 1939, it became obvious that the area could not support two colleges, and West Virginia Wesleyan was named the one college of what was then the fourth largest Conference in the Methodist Church. 1943, there was a campaign to help provide for the future and strengthening of the college (The Great Wesleyan Movement).
Through the close connection between West Virginia Wesleyan College and the Methodist Church, Mrs. Lawson L. Loar agreed in 1943 to provide funds for the Hall of Music as a memorial to the Loar Family. This was a great act of faith and commitment at a time when the nation was facing World War once again. The building was not finished until 1953, but the funds were assured.
L.L. Loar had a connection to Mother’s Day, and to the Methodist Church.
Mrs. L.L. Loar provided funds for the Hall of Music in memory of the family through her own strong connection with the Methodist Conference and her belief in West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Music — Methodists — Mother’s Day
There is another interesting connection between Mother’s Day and West Virginia Wesleyan College. Dr. Katharine Antolini, Assistant Professor of History and Gender Studies, did her doctoral studies about Anna Jarvis and the Mother’s Day Shrine in Grafton, WV. According to Chapter 2, p. 46 of Antolini’s book, Jarvis was later offered a teaching position at the West Virginia Conference Seminary (now WVWC) to teach English and Shorthand. For reasons unknown, she did not come. Antolini is considered to be a primary expert on the subject of Anna Jarvis and serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Mother’s Day Shrine in Grafton.
Sources
Antolini, K. L. (2014). Memorializing motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the struggle for control of Mother’s Day. Morgantown, WV: WVU Press.
The Great Wesleyan Movement. (1943). The West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin, 36(3), 1-2. Retrieved May 14, 2018, from http://cdm16111.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16111coll2/id/482
Loar Memorial Hall Dedication Today. (1953). The Pharos, XLVII(6), 1-1. Retrieved from http://cdm16111.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p271901coll13/id/1653
West Virginia Wesleyan College Bulletin, 47 (2), Catalogue 1954-55, 23. (1954). Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/westvirginiawesl19541955west#page/22/mode/2up.
To find out more about the history of West Virginia Wesleyan College, check out https://DreamersAndGiants.com
Agey, Calvin Buell
Murmurmontis 1947 Murmurmontis 1959
Born: April 6, 1907
Died: December 4, 1997
Education:
Served: 1946-1973
Taught:
Sources:
Catalog: 1947 through 1996/98
Murmurmontis: 1948, 1951
Source:
U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
MyHeritage.com [online database]. Lehi, UT, USA: MyHeritage (USA) Inc.
https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10002/us-social-security-death-index-ssdi
Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration
