Excellent. Can everyone see my screen? Yes. Excellent. Well, again, thank you for having us. I thought I would take a little bit of time just to refresh everyone's understanding of the closed process. And then from there we can walk through the education fund reversions and we're pleased to have Brad James here as well. There are specific questions related to any of the reversions as it relates to the Ed fund. We can hang Brad and get some deeper insight into those. But as far as the close is concerned, we start closing the books about a month before June 30, and it would have been Kathy's last close with the accounting team. She takes and closes the books for all the appropriations and by way of doing that she is taking a look at what the total appropriation was, how much had been spent. She takes a look to see, she and the team would take a look and see, are there any outstanding purchase order obligations that need to be accounted for. Are there any, are there any carryovers. And a carryover example could be that we've got obligations and sub grant agreements or another example of a carryover would be that we want to hold some money to make a final payment, final June payment that would occur after after June 30. And then the difference between what was appropriated what has been spent to date outstanding purchase orders and carryover is what we come up with as our reversion. And so this is normally part of our budget presentation, it will be part of our budget presentation that we're looking forward to having that conversation with you in the very near future. For purposes of today because we wanted to talk be a and also take a look at reversions. I wanted to share that background as to how the close occurs and then take a look at the reversions, just for the end point. And you can see it's broken out by section. And the first one is the education finance and admin appropriation. There were 500,000 in purchase orders that had obligations, and then the balance is reverted 950,000. The next one, going down the list would be special ed formula. Again, Kathy would have taken a look with the accountants and seen what the original appropriation was. What was it that was spent, were there any outstanding purchase order obligations, any carryover, and then the difference would be reverted back to the end point. And I won't review every single one of these today because of the fact that we'll also come back in and present our budget which this is a section of the budget book, but section B503 education state placed. There were no outstanding purchase orders carrying over 4.2 and we're reverting 880,000. This one caught my eye just as an auditor and accountant, reverting 69 cents but have to give Kathy a call and getting an answer on that one that was pretty close. Small school grants, same thing. Let me know if I'm going too fast. The central early ed, you can see that no outstanding purchase orders are carry forward and the reversion is 41,000. Here's where I think we want to focus our attention tech head. So back in the July timeframe because the the carryover memo that Kathy prepares and submits to finance and management goes out at the end of July early August. At that time, we didn't have any outstanding purchase order obligations, we had carryover of 323,000 for sub grant obligations, and then we reverted back 1.8 million of the ticket appropriation. And then flexible pathways, the 504.1 similar scenario we had no outstanding purchase orders. We had sub grant obligations of 1.1 million, and then we reverted the balance of 1.5 to the ed fund. I will pause there and see if there are questions and also if Brad has any additional insights he would like to share as it relates to the reversions. I don't have anything to add at the moment. I will answer any questions people have but I think part of yeah I'll just all this whole office people of questions. Representative Austin. Yeah, just to make sure the vocabulary and definition is what I'm using is that what you're using in terms of carry forward and reversion. Can you just expand just quickly just explain what that is. I mean I think I know what it is I just want to make sure we're using the same terms. But the carry forward would be the money that was part of the previous fiscal year appropriation that we are carrying to the next fiscal year. So in this particular example, like flexible pathways 1.1 million dollars is being carried to the new fiscal year. And then the 1.5 reversion is money that was part of the previous year's appropriation that we are reverting back to the end fund. And then what was the original appropriation. I mean you don't need to you don't need to answer that I'm just. Just a context. Sure, absolutely for tech and the original appropriation was 15,514,000 dollars. In per context, we're asking in the new budget that will be submitting to bump that up by about 740,000. Thank you. It brings me to more complexity in terms of the way that we currently fund career and tech education, which comes through the districts as I understand to the tech center so I'm just a little bit confused about 15 million reflect. Where did that money come from, did that come from the districts. The appropriation. Yeah. So that appropriation would be part of our ups and downs, and we would submit that as part of the budget for review and approval and we're asking for an additional 740,000 in increase and then that is part of the overall and fund bucket of dollars. So do you have additional insight into what makes that up. Well, I'm taking, I'm taking a quick look I mean there's there's a part I think I think part of the $15 million that we're talking about here is for salary assistance and things like that I was just trying to pull up a something sorry I could see that of course not prepared as usual. So, there's going to your question share web there's me come back so I could see you guys. There's the tech centers have a tuition that they that they bill per FT six semester average FT to the school districts and the school districts send that that's part of their education spending for the school district so that's where the lion share of the money comes from there. There's more money than that comes in from supplemental assistance grants from the states. And I think that's what this $15 million in aggregate is what we're talking about. And the reversion came because not everything we overestimate on some things that we don't really have an idea, and then what their sex people salaries are how many people have are hired that are applicable transportation that are a wide variety of things. And so what we're doing when when we're making these estimates for the initial appropriation is we're we tend to overestimate a little bit. And so this is money that we just overestimated. So it's unrelated to money that the districts actually already sent. Yes. Yeah, this is coming basically as we would say off the top of the ad fund. Yeah. Or as a grant or as a line item. So it's a lot it's a line item which kind of the same thing in some ways, but it's specific to the to the tech centers themselves. So that that's what it's going towards. And again that's where the money's coming back from. I understand not to tuition rate. And understand we're going to have a broader conversation about Ctes anyway but representative common who is our contact on two appropriations on these issues.  Thank you. More over just a general question. And my memory isn't serving me well this morning. However, it seems to me that when we have talked about BAA and BAA requests in previous years it's generally around the general fund appropriation to the to the education agencies. I think the first time I've seen BAA requests coming out of the ad fund and correct me if I'm wrong on that. I think I think you are. I because annually. I think I'm pretty sure that we usually do have some type of BAA is for the ad spending and small schools and all those pieces, because we're never exactly on on target so we're trying to get it closer and with the BAA. Yeah, I guess I do remember reversions. I don't remember financial requests coming out. I don't have any opposition. I'm just curious as to what has been the traditional practice. Well, the traditional practice. No, I mean, occasionally there have been times when we've understated small schools and maybe one or two other things will have asked for more money in the end on the ad fund side. It doesn't happen too often. Again, as I said earlier, we tend to be a little bit over. You know, conserved I guess is the term. I'm not sure what specifically referring to right now in terms of tech centers though are you talking about this this new initiative that's coming up. Yeah, I mean that seems to be the only request from the agency of education in the BAA for money. I just just just very simplistically put, initially, the federal dollars that were coming out from from the relief funds and three relief funds. Oh yeah, no I'm sorry Brad, I understand why the request is here. Yeah, it was just more about what has been traditionally done over the years in terms of BAA and money coming out of the ad fund versus the general fund. And that's great. Thank you for answering that question. Yeah, just, I think a very basic question. And sorry I was a few minutes late the carry forward or those funds that you anticipate then would just sort of roll forward into the new FY 23 budget that we're building this legislative session and the reversion is available now. I guess I'm not or is this all to do with the FY 23 budget or is this all to do with the BAA. I'm trying to locate myself in time. Absolutely thank you for the question. This particular portion of the presentation is typically delivered when we come in and do the agency budget. But because of this unique request of a BAA coming off the Ed fund of 1.5 million for TCT centers that will have a conversation about at the top of the hour. We thought it would be helpful if you saw the Ed fund portion of the reversion so that you could see that the way we close the books is that any outstanding purchase orders we keep those open and we request funds for those and then carry over funds would be money that was appropriated in the last fiscal year that would carry over into this appropriation for, in this example, sub grant obligations of 323,000. And then the reversion is the remainder that is going to be returned to the Ed fund. So it's all at the at the end of this fiscal year. Yes. Okay. I think that goes back into the Ed fund is basically what it does. And you can be that goes into this collection of 90 million I think that we have on the bottom line is that right. Yeah. Yes. So it adds or as part of that, which we will be discussing I'm sure at length. Sure what can I go back and reconnect with representative Conlon. Please do. You would ask the question about BAA and as you all know, only been here all of two years, but what I can do is I can go back and look in the books. And when we come back to deliver the, the budget or even sooner than that, provided some insight, the only BAA that I've participated in to date was the Burlington School District last year. And then here is it. Here's the next one that we have done. I remember having a conversation with Kathy Flanigan early on, and she had indicated that the agency, for whatever reason, typically did not participate in the adjustment act. But I'm happy to go back and dig into that with Christie and come back with an answer as to the frequency of using the BAA and whether they were for general fund purposes or Ed fund or combinations. If you'd find that helpful. I'll just respond to say it's really not necessary. I just needed to have my memory refreshed and I appreciate that. And the Burlington example is an excellent example to refresh my memory. Thank you. So we also, we do have a couple of other items that I believe are part of the BAA related to flexible pathways and adult basic ed and special services I did see in here somewhere. Are you prepared to talk about those. It's BAA related, but right below in the reversion. Yeah, section of the presentation you can see that section B504.1 flexible pathways. Again, when Kathy and the accounting team closed the books they took a look at whether or not there were any outstanding purchase order obligations. It was related for a sub grant obligations, and then that was the request to carry over a request of 1.1 million. And then the difference was 1.5 that's getting reverted back to the fund. I'm just looking at this list and it looks like six a reversion of 63,000 to adult basic ed, 71, 72,000 to educational services and 1011,000 for flexible pathways. Is that it's one of the things I was asked asked about something that that's not ringing a bell to me but if that's something that we can take a action item we can look into that this this is the the reversion the ed fund reversion that came right from the carry over memo that we submitted to finance and management. Okay. A little bit of a complicated document to go through I apologize for my own confusion here. I'm going to take a an action item and research that and get right back to you. Right. One of the reasons I asked about the adult basic education is I'm seeing a reversion here, but I, and I'm not sure which fund that comes from. I think I'm not sure which one it came from, but I'm also hearing that the independent adult basic ed groups are really financially so I wasn't sure where that fit in. If either of you know if you either of you know where we stand with that. It's not ringing any bells for me at the moment but Fred, any, I believe adult basic ed is adult education and literacy as part of the general fund I think that was taken out of the fund a year to probably two years ago maybe three memory that's my memory as well. I'm not sure if it's on what you're what you have up your build the general fund part of what we did for reversions and carry forwards. But when I look at when I look on that. It would be 504 with education adult education and literacy, we're carrying forward almost $162,000 reverting six, roughly 63,500, which I believe is the number you put out there chair with. Okay, yeah. And do you know anything that you have any thoughts on on the, the centers that are struggling financially where this fits in with that or I do not know. And the education services. What is what is that. It's, I'm looking at it it's it's here again again that's that's general fund again I'm on I'm on the initial memo just so you know bill where what I'm looking at the one inch one was sent to Commissioner Greshas. And that's, there's section B 501 of that was education services and, and that has a carry forward of almost just over 275,000 and reversion just over 20,000. Okay, I don't, I don't know any more about, well, there's another, there's another section to this page. There's almost 45,000 for salaries and benefits for staff for your staff. I don't know this is not my area of expertise I don't know the answer to that. I think so we'll have to get back to you on because I did not put this document that I'm looking at together. And I know very little about the side of the world. Yeah, am I also understand there's a whole other VAA document coming did I hear that an updated document. So, chair web, it's bill I apologize to the you and the committee I had only submitted for testimony the Ed fund portion of the the reversion. Okay, that that's what we were talking about today as it related to CTE. Rest assured that we will submit as part of our budget book, all of the reversion so you will be able to see what your look apparently looking at which is the memo that we sent to finance and management on eight for which would include general fund reversions carry forwards, as well as Ed fund as well as special funds. And we can dig into the details at that time. Sounds good represent James did I miss you or is that a new hand or an old hand as we would call it. Old hand. Okay. Okay. Time are we 56. Do we have our folks from his Scott far in the room yet. So, your web ID to Ruth, and also Jay, and I believe that they will be joining us at the top of the hour also. Okay. Well, I don't, we can just take that. Take a five minute break and we'll come back. So we can just go on a, on a rest.


Thank you, George. I'd like to start actually with the land acknowledgement Acknowledging that we meet on nanotech land. We acknowledge as well the neighboring indigenous nations the nipmuk and the wampanoag to the east The Mohegan and the Pequot to the south and the Abinaki to the north And thank you for asking me to speak about Arthur I first got to know about Arthur in 1998 when the newspaper ran a story about the new Renaissance Center that he'd opened in UMass as an affiliate of the UMass campus and I remember very clearly the photo of him looking very proudly out the window of his new domain and I got to know him there because a colleague was interested in doing something at our college to find a kind of independent research center On a much smaller scale and she suggested me going Arthur and of course I was intimidated to meet someone of such prestige and powerful personality But I found him also to be extremely generous and extremely warm We've basically been friends ever since so that's a friendship of more than 25 more than 20 years and Arthur as you can see I was a person of great drive He had the idea for the Renaissance Center began working on a programmatically 1967 But it took him three decades before he found a physical home in a very elegant estate and grounds of the Dakin House in the northern part of Amherst He was the driving force between a lot of things in town as I came to realize because he had not just boundless energy But boundless ideas he was among the founders of the Amherst Club Which is founded in 1983 Because the Rotary Club then refused to admit women and the Amherst Club still existing today Became a forum in which people from different walks of life in town could gather together for lunch Enjoy sociability and hear talks and important topics of cultural and intellectual and civic interest There's a common theme here I think and that's that Arthur was a great scholar But he was also passionately equally dedicated to bringing knowledge to the people to bring public and academy together And it's not coincidental then that at the Renaissance Center community members came they gave presentations They came to the audience to hear other people talk It wasn't just in closed ivory tower for scholars on arcane subjects and This brings me then to the Amherst Historical Society because when Amherst when Arthur was not founding an organization he was Joining it and rising to leadership and as George mentioned at the beginning Arthur's a long-time board member of the society he was a long-time president for this of the society and He let nothing stop him in later life when physical impairments kept him from driving I would give him rides back and forth from his home to the meetings And in the final years before the pandemic we even took to meeting in his house because the input was so important And we wanted to have him there he nothing really literally nothing could stop except death Unfortunately could stop Arthur from his dedication and attendance at society meetings He was as generous with his money as with this time Numerous for the occasions when we were discussing some initiative and Arthur said I can give you some money to fund that or I can Bankroll that I can give him seed money. He always had his wallet out and he was a person of Just a deep deep generosity, but the generosity was not just financials intellectual It was personal and so one of the greatest accomplishments I think was his role in spearheading the effort for the conservation and restoration of Emily Dickinson's famous white dress Which is the most celebrated and treasured of the many thousands of objects in our collection And I can say now that Arthur was the anonymous donor who gave $5,000 of his own money to create a special custom-made wooden and plexiglass display case So that the dress which we had in our collection since 1946 could be made available to the public as it still is and as you can Still see it when the museum reopens But there's a lot more to this story and so in closing I'd like to share it with you In a lengthy letter of January 19, oh, I 2000 1905 Freudian slip 2005 to the then president of the society Arthur touched only on passing on this gift rather. He was talking about the larger the larger logic and the larger agenda He noted how within a year or two of arriving in Amherst some 34 years earlier One of the first things he did was go to the Emily Dickinson house and how almost as soon after the Emily Eric Carl museum and Yiddish Book Center opened. He went there to see what was new in town By contrast and here you'll see why I mentioned the Renaissance Center a minute ago. He says It took me 20 years to think of stopping by the strong house. Nothing had appeared about it He means in the press nothing compelled me to go there I suspect then that some of the recurring financial problems may be caused by the condition of the museum The condition does not seem as an essential part of Amherst cultural landscape Obviously, I think retaining and displaying Emily Dickinson's dress will go far to change all that and in time Improven more lasting way the financial situation at the museum and here is where he draws the analogy He says when I first was first given the Renaissance Center where nothing had been before I realized early on that consciousness raising where the center would Arouse it would seem interesting Or even important to members of a community who hitherto had no interest in the Renaissance I thought of ways to make the center as compelling as I could and this really was his mission for the center For the society according to our charter from 1903 We're supposed to be celebrating Amherst history collecting its objects and papers and engaging in programs that bring this heritage to the wider public to the community and So Arthur sets the net a very Ambitious agenda of things he wants to do over the next coming years and he says of course It's not doesn't have to be labor intensive or expensive That may not be actually true But he's thought about publications about new exhibitions about photography about press reports and so forth But probably the most important single thing he did was to come up with the idea of Founders Day Celebrating the anniversary of the town Amherst becoming an official town February 13th 17 for H 59 because what he wanted to do was to make this a local holiday So that we would literally be at everyone's calendar and it'd be a day and we think about Amherst history and also By means of the conch shell award named after the seashell that the colonists used to call people to meeting in the 18th century We would also honor and thank those who've done much to preserve and share the history of the town of Amherst I think it's really both sad and fitting that Arthur died on Christmas Day a holiday He dearly dearly loved many of us for the recipients of the elegant cards that he designed every year combining each time a different work of Renaissance literature and Renaissance art I Think it's there for fitting that on this Founders Day the first one without Arthur We recall his role in creating the event and we now therefore attach his name to the word that he conceived for this occasion Thank you Thank you very much Jim Arthur was a remarkable man. It would take a long time to even list all of his accomplishments and honors um, but thank you for that Brief summary of his connection with the historical society and his vision for our future now Ann Tweedy is going to introduce this year's Founders Day program So we are so proud to present the 2022 Arthur F. Kinney conch shell award to the family of Dudley Bridges senior Dudley was born in Springfield, Mass and moved to Amherst in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Army in World War two In Amherst he was employed as Bayou Mass as the director of building operations and he ultimately became the director of building services His civic engagement in the town includes being a co-founder of Amherst Better Chance ABC is a national residential high school program that prepares students from underserved school districts for higher education and future leadership roles Dudley Bridges also got the West Side Historic District along Snell Street listed on the National Register of Historic Places It was during Dudley's time as a trustee with her own Amherst Historical Society that he started the process of getting the five Civil War tablets once housed in the basement of Town Hall properly displayed Dudley's family includes Christopher and Charles Thompson members of the regiment that braved capture and worse to arrive in Texas in 1865 to let people know that the Civil War and slavery had ended With us today accepting this award is Deborah Bridges Dudley's daughter and Annika Lopes Dudley's granddaughter William Harris president and CEO of Space Center Houston is Dudley's nephew and Edith Roberts Harris is the sister-in-law of Dudley and the daughter of Gil Roberts. We thank you so much for your family's ongoing contributions to Amherst Thank you. I would like to thank the Amherst Historical Society for honoring my grandfather Dudley Bridges for his efforts to daylight the Civil War tablets and find permanent home for them So the significance that they represent can be learned, revisited and celebrated as part of the very fabric of Amherst and beyond They represent unmatched courage and sacrifice that led to my sitting here before you all today with my family as free human beings My grandfather was a humble giant. His good deeds were done in silence He showed for results that honored Amherst history and uplifted future generations He gave second chances to those who no one else would And he preferred his recognition to be visible through the success of those that he helped and the causes he supported And in this case initiated He took pride in the fact that our ancestors are represented on these tablets and was committed to sharing these stories Which we will continue to do one story at a time and one life changing gift at a time Through a non-profit profit being created in their name called ancestral bridges I would also like to thank the Civil War tablet committee That this recognition and these efforts would not be possible without And lastly, I would also like to thank town manager Paul Backelman who came in at a final hour And helped move these tablets so they could serve as the ducaliest for last year's Juneteenth celebrations And with that we'd like to share this with you. Thank you very much And I'd like to hand it over to cousin William Harris. Thank you Great. Thank you, Anika. And thank you, Debbie. And I'm so humbled and honored to join all of you today And uncle Dudley would be so mad about getting this public recognition But in his heart of hearts, he would absolutely be thrilled Because as Anika described, he was the silent giant. He really believed that action spoke louder than words And he was very committed to the community. He was committed to Amherst And he was always committed to doing the right thing And he would give people more than two chances He would give people three chances and four chances because in his heart of heart He believed that everyone was good and could have a positive impact in the lives of others Again, we're so thrilled by this recognition Our committee has a long our family has a long history In Amherst and I think as many of you know because you participated in the events of Inaugural Juneteenth celebration last year while we held up our ancestors Of the Thompson family There really were some 300 residents of the Amherst region who were part of defending the union And they're all represented on these important plaques But it was historic that the 54th was the first African-American regiment And even though the African-American community Amherst was fairly small about 100 individuals Thousands and thousands joined that regiment in defense of the union in the hopes of a better life And I think for the case of our ancestors hoping that their descendants would have better lives I think we're living testament that we do have better lives because of all of their sacrifices I shared last year at the ceremony that I was particularly moved now living in Houston To be in a community where my great-great-great grandfather And his son and brother all went as part of juneteenth in 1865 and spent five months there Informing former slaves that they were freed and also guarding Confederate soldiers And our great-great-great uncle actually succumbed to diphtheria Five days before he was to be discharged and returned to Amherst So they of course may be ultimate sacrifice in support of hoping their again their descendants would have a better life We're particularly excited about being part of the effort to create a historic walk in Amherst Because Amherst is so rich in American history to me It's a microcosm of America and the journey of our country from the early days of europeans arriving here The conflicts that happened over the many years and of course All the sacrifices that people made all hoping for a better life And so we really want to celebrate Amherst and the individuals who helped create the community that we all live in And we get to enjoy I'm particularly proud of our ancestors Who established hazel avenue and the snel street area and other parts of the community who are really dedicated I have to recognize as well when hearing about The work of uh, or of course the very famous Emily Dickinson One of our ancestors charles tomson who was actually Christopher's son was a well-known fiddler and he used to play for parties at Emily Dickinson's house And she's actually Documented it in some of her diaries that he was such a good fiddler. You had to get up and dance So it's wonderful to know that we have music in our genes Of course manifested in our grandfather gill roberts who is commemorated on the stork mural So again, we're so excited about moving forward and working closely with the stork society Amherst historical society and specifically and tweedy and all have our great research As we identify these important sites and see it as a Way for people to come to amherst and really embrace the important history and the role it's playing In the evolution of america So thank you for having me here today. I'm so excited to be part of this conversation And again, so humbled to be part of the celebration of uncle bubbly Thank you so much. William. Thank you I wanted to also add um I urge people to take the tour For the plaques at the bank center because of the history they represent This is a way to honor all the ancestors of amherst Who fought in the civil war Including the 54th the 55th and the fifth calvary It's amazing to see family members who come there When i'm showing them the tablets, especially children And they see their names and it could be their three or four or five times great grandfather and It's just the look on their face Is you could see it all there. So I really urge people To really come in and then look at these plaques and look at the history Thank you Thank you Deborah And I guess um I don't know if anyone else from the family wanted to speak Anika did you have one more guest that wanted to come on or We had a few people who had trouble with the link I know um, I believe on eddie had trouble with the link And um, I'm I'm not sure there are probably a few others that weren't able to come on Okay So maybe we can open it up to question and answer if you guys are comfortable That might be great to start a dialogue. That would be wonderful So we can't accept questions and answers from the attendees I believe Cindy, do you know if we can? Yes, we can you can either raise your hand and we can allow you to talk Or you can type it in the q&a box. Okay Great Deborah, what are the hours now for the civil war tablet display? That's one question that I had The hours are Tuesday Wednesday Thursday from 10 a.m. To 3 30 Um downstairs at the bank center Excellent And that display is ever changing in some ways. I mean the tablets are there, but I think you're adding more to um the gallery Yes, I had I researched a lot and and I have um historical pictures um that tell also tell the story about um the soldiers the commanders The 54th I have all historical pictures that When I research and find new things I change change it up all the time. So the exhibit is Very exciting Excellent So I have a question I I'm just wondering what are the um main sources that you use to do your research Is it family records or the jones library or what are the sources that you use? Follow the oh Yeah, so this kind of an interesting genesis of the story and I think it's very um Typical of american families where my late brother and I some 15 years ago We had oral history about the background of our family and a lot of it didn't make sense And so we started to actually Do research and he was a software engineer and designer was very agile at doing digital research and That's actually how we started building our family pedigree chart And in fact, some of our ancestors were lost to us. We had we have we didn't have the information that had not been passed down And so, uh, we did everything from the traditional Uh contacting city halls getting copies of births and death certificates merit certificates um, and then probably one of the greatest resources of information was once we had Uh a mass enough information about our our ancestors my sister and I made two trips to the national archive in washington dc And if anyone has ancestors who served in the military It was remarkably easy to To to get their records You can register and get a library card. It takes about 15 minutes And then you watch an orientation video and then there's they're converting still from microfiche to digital but we actually went through microfiche and identified the file numbers and And this was only like a good maybe five or six years ago And we actually pulled Out on a piece of paper like the old index cards and we wrote down the reference numbers And submitted them to the reference librarian And within 45 minutes, I don't know where they came from they pulled the original files and we went to reference library and we were actually holding the original records And how we learned a lot about the lives of these veterans and our ancestors was that um, they were technically volunteers When they served in the 54 55th and 5th cavities And once they were honorably discharged After the war they were eligible to receive a pension But they had to prove that they were honorably discharged and were a sound character And they made it actually quite hard for them to our benefit because They had to reach they had to obtain Depositions about their character With a lawyer so you can imagine And you know the 1870s that you had to somehow Get an attorney you had to pay that fee you had to get others in the community to vouch That you were a sound mind and character, but we have all these narratives about them that were part of their files And that's how we learned about their lives their achievements And then they also did profiles about the people who wrote testimonials about them And that's actually how I found the file of one of our ancestors who was part of the Fort Wagner assault And it was his medical file from and and many of you know that They they ended up sending many of the african-american soldiers ahead and it was hand-to-hand combat And he they had it showed where he had been bayoneted in the battle. He survived That battle But we actually saw it was holding his actual medical record from the field hospital Where they were documenting his wounds So I thought it was remarkable that we could get access to original documents and see them. They allow you to photograph them They allow you to they have a photocopier there to make copies. You're not allowed to bring in ink pens. You can bring in pencils But but again, it was absolutely remarkable. We could get the access to these original documents In some cases you can be really lucky and Find in a file the photograph of that person Many soldiers knew because they knew a lot of people died in the civil war is one of the bloodiest wars in history And so they they didn't know if they would know who that what you know If the court who the courts belong to you know, some soldiers pin their names inside of their clothing In case they were killed But others had pictures taken and added to their files their their military files So their bodies could be identified and returned to their families We did not find any photographs in those files, but the ones that we looked at but again, it was an incredibly rich source of information Thank you so much for sharing that story. It's At the richness to the whole story just keeps developing Again, I encourage anyone doing family research Uh, particularly if you have ancestors who serve in the military to go to the national archives in dc It's it's a really fun experience to be in that building and uh right on pennsylvania avenue And they have both volunteer genealogists And reference librarians who are experts and they were incredibly helpful to us In identifying information about our family members There's another resource that we tapped into the new smithsonian museum of african-american history and culture They actually have a family research center And um, they have a full-time genealogist there as well And as a free service you can make an appointment and have A half hour to an hour appointment with them and they help direct you to resources and identify Other digital resources and not actually assist you with doing some of that research on your families And I see that we have five questions. I think in the in the question the q&a Okay, so I can read these off. Um, we have one question What will the foundation ancestral bridges seek to accomplish? So ancestral bridges will help to we'll seek to rather uh accomplish not only uh continuing to daylight The uh substance behind these tablets and as it pertains to the area But also the the the rich culture and history of amherst that is you know, it hasn't been invisible uh for many parts. I mean they're um There's so there's music and arts and in culture That has you know been lost behind between the lines here I have one of my best friends even grew up near these areas and was unaware That these families lived there And so, you know, we've had for instance We had a discovery that you know, we found Throughout our ancestors that I do wish uh, Arangidi was here to be able to share the story, but you know, there was a time where Uh, she was awarded a scholarship from the dar and we were found that that was revoked check canceled upon uh, learning that she was black and so One of the ways that we would do that is moving forward and ensuring that there are scholarships put in her name You know, we will assist people from anywhere from connecting youth with with internships that will impact their lives Home ownership anything that we can do giving gifts and these people's names that are really intertwined in this this fabric of Amherst and really celebrating the freedom that they represented and the lives that they wanted us to live. Um I recently shared a story of my mother here While she was in the fourth grade at the Kellogg school Her teacher asked her during history class.  What did it feel like? to be a slave and You know, we have to reimagine what if that question had been How did it feel that your Four times three times are my four times three times where grandfather Was a hero and was among the brave to put an end to slavery in America. Like what what message does that set? And so we here at this time we have the ability to change that projection for the youth What does that say about who they are? What does that say to other children who are next to them? You know, so when you that does that those steps break down our racial barriers And so we will do that and more of that and they're on That's excellent. And it's also What Dudley had done with Amherst a better chance too. It's sort of like the next stage Which is awesome There is a question. Um, what are the plans to display the tablets permanently? Well, we are actually working with we have a civil war tablet committee that we had Established I want to say this was Later 2019 or it's it's been a blur basically when I came back to Amherst And we have just reconvened Meeting so we will definitely be updating folks In the near future This is something that will I'm sure take a village a village of input but It will happen and we'll be happy to keep folks updated as we go along and You know happy to connect with people who want to stay informed and may want to be of assistance Thank you There's a question for Deborah Deborah. Could you say a little bit more about the 54th regimen in Amherst? The 54th there are A few relatives That we're in Amherst, but I believe that uh, William could probably answer that question a little bit better than I could Yes, and in fact, I know watching today We have Robert rummer who has been an incredible resource to us and our family and Helping learn about our history and in fact, he was one of the first people I contacted And of course he has now published several books about the history of african americans and other important people from Amherst in the in the civil war era But we know that at the time of the the civil war there are about 100 african americans most of them are his ancestors living in the Amherst region and Again, it was decided to begin to allow african americans to serve on behalf of the union, but there was a lot of anxiety There was a concern about Where these people would would these african americans be good soldiers? Would they be capable? And in fact, most of them had to practice with sticks. They would not actually give them arms until they went into battle And so they were at a huge disadvantage, but proved that they were really valiant they were committed to the union and this cause and actually um african americans and and slaves free both freed and enslaved flocked to join the 54th and then that caused the creation of other units across the country that Enabled african americans to organize and former slaves to be part of it. We have another branch of our family. I'll share robert side, so our ancestors hamsen are on um the robert side of the family but up the maternal line Up the bakeman line And then on the robert side of the family were actually descended from slaves from eastern shore mariland who were slaves on the wily plantation and owned by the lord family and the lord supported the The union and said to any of their male slaves if you will join The the cause of the union you have your freedom and so our great great great grandfather peri roberts was One of those he was part of a group that are known as the The unionville 18 they were 18 men who fought for The union and afterwards returned to eastern shore mariland On his son decided he wanted to have nothing to do with staying in eastern shore and left for amherst and that's actually how peri roberts came to live with several his siblings And and amherst and built his own home on His lab in it as one of the first houses And so that's kind of part of the the genesis of the family how we ended up with many of our ancestors living on his lab name Did anika did you want to invite? Someone else to join robert romer Yes, he wanted to speak so cindy. Can we um get robert romer on as a presenter? I think cindy is working at the north amherst library. So maybe somebody's called her away Oh no So I don't know if we can text her or or just wait for her Yeah, why don't you skip to the next question and then so we have a couple of um Let's see we have a couple of messages to you guys carly tartikov So that gary and i are here and want you to know how proud we are to celebrate this with you today Thank you for your contributions to us into the town of amherst um And thank you to them both gary and carly tartikov are part of the civil war tablet committee along with umbra car and dmitry sabaz And jennifer moison benjamin bregger uh and david zomek They're all part of that committee. So thank you all and then there's just general well wishes And great thanks from a number of folks watching um Are there any other questions that And if I if I can make a question I just again want to say what a great experience it was for all the juneteenth festivities last summer In such a hard time It was just so much fun to see people out and to have people learning about juneteenth and to See the ceremonies and the reenactors. It was just great and I really appreciate all the effort it took to put all that together And I wondered if something is going to be planned for next for this coming summer if you have any news to share about that and Well, we are we're planning a historic walking tour Um, and actually we're going to go walk it on monday to make sure that it makes sense But it's going to be fantastic and share lots of stories Um of these neighborhoods that I don't think people really realize how historic and valuable and interesting they are um And I think we're hoping to do that for one day This juneteenth is now a federal holiday Everyone's going to have monday off. So we're trying to time it so that One day could be historic tours I think there's going to be uh, peter brace brigade who was around last year Is coming back and so we might have an opportunity to have them at the history museum Doing a camp out But Maybe anika you can talk to more of the broader sense. I think it's going to be like last year, but More parts involved and more folks involved Uh, definitely more folks involved and uh, you know, this is forming into a weekend event Which would also include as we know now Both the folks up at the military and also the drake. Um, but the gammas is in very premature stages. So we will Keep everyone updated That's terrific Okay, I don't see any more questions Do any of our panelists have any more questions? I just want to say that the the comments in the chat are building up and I hope you get to read all of them They're very very appreciative and I know you're trying to focus on the screen and answering the questions, but You have a lot of admirers Showing their appreciation in the comments. So if you click on the q&a, you'll see them Thank you all so much. Yeah. Thank you guys. I don't know if Cindy is with us to put rub Robert rumour on We could wait a little bit or how is everyone feeling about that? If Robert could join us, it would be fantastic because he's such an incredible resource and uh, it's uh His love of amherst of course and the documentation and And you know, his most recent book about a young man who left amherst college to fight The side of the union and was driven to help end slavery. It was his motivation And it of course relates to the snell family and of course, you know snell house and snell street And it's a it's a wonderful book and I encourage you all to to obtain copies of it But I know robert has also written the book about the history of african-american families and the western part of the state and uh, so I'm sorry. He's not able to to usually do he make sure that he keeps me correct and the things that I say research Uh, because he of course has become quite history in himself We can try to text cindy Give you uh permission because she may be make you host. Yeah, I don't know I think I can only share screen. I don't think I can admit people Does anyone happen to have cindy's? cell phone number I just Nobody's picking up Oh, dear. Sorry. I'm back Oh Could you admit robert romer? Absolutely. Yes. Sorry. Thank you so much. There was an emergency in the basement. Oh, no So sorry about that everybody. That's okay. Hi robert. Welcome. Hi Can you guys can you guys hear me? Yep? Yes Thank you for joining us I'm happy to be here. Good to see william Other members of what I regard as the Harris branch of my family. Yes. Great to see you, Bob Love it So I think there were some questions before that we were hoping that you could share some of your knowledge on The connections of the family and your research William, did you have a specific question that you wanted to ask bob? Yes, I was going to ask bob if you could share a little more about Um, kind of the origins and growth of the 54th regiment and ultimately then the 55th and fifth calorie I mean, I think I think we know the 54th was the first of the african-american formally sanctioned african-american Units. I mean blacks and other african-americans were joining the the war effort for the union informally and um, but this was I think the first recognized african-american unit Yeah, I'm not quite sure about that, but it was certainly one of the very first and As you know, william you had Ancestors in the massachusetts 54 sometimes People thinking about black soldiers in the civil war are surprised to learn that it wasn't only the 54 I there were I think I said this at the juneteenth ceremony A number that I wish every high school student would learn 200,000 200,000 black men fought for the union And So it's a a lot a lot bigger than the 54. There was something like 10 Amherst men in the 54th and then A dozen in the mass fifth cavalry, which was formed later. There was One of my I think up as my Thompson ancestors of course, he's Williams ancestor officially but So it was one of the many Thompson's from Amherst who fought in the union who was in the 54th and Um Four more Thompson's Christopher Christopher's son Charles John and One more whose name escapes me with five Thompson's all together And I think many of you know that I Took advantage of being on historical commission a few years ago to persuade the town as an official town act to erect a belated gravestone for Christopher in west cemetery. We know he was died there, but he was probably too broke for his family to afford a stone at the time he died and We made a gravestone that was a gravestone. He would have had If he had gotten one back in 1898 when he died and we listed on the back side all the Thompson's who fought for the union And we meant it to be implicitly a recognition of the many many Amherst men who fought for the union That's how Well, it was before that that I got to meet the Harris family Steve Conner the veterans agent and I organized the ceremony in 2011 For the black civil war soldiers from the town I expect quite a few of you were at that ceremony and That's where I first met William and Edie and Oh Lori wasn't there But Dan was there Dan was there. Yes so in Perhaps it's Unseemly of me to be plugging my book, but I took advantage of Publishing a book which had nothing to do directly with the Amherst 54th or the fifth cavalry, but I It's a short book. It's 50 pages of text and then a hundred pages of notes and appendices Which may be the I don't know some of my physics friends have always referred to me as footnote happy, but I I put in as an appendix my best estimate of who the 22 black soldiers total from Amherst were and How I came to that conclusion and I also a list of the 23 White Amherst college students who Like the main subject of my new book became officers in black of black regiments, which is a Basically unknown sidelight to Amherst college history I also included some appendices like I listed the Amherst college students that I know of I could find who became soldiers for the Confederates Anyhow it's been great fun and interesting during the 20 Who 21 years since I officially retired from being a physicist although I've kept that some of that uh Learning about new things this way and meeting a lot of people I wouldn't otherwise met So I I really appreciate being part of the Called the Amherst history community Even though I'm All I do for the historical society is is my wife and I give money and I also give them quite a few talks their history bites and whatnot Anyhow, thanks for inviting me on Oh, yeah, thanks for coming on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Robert Thank you So I think we are now at 315. Um, I think we're just supposed to go to three Are there any other questions or does anyone want to announce anything or? well Let's see. Um I mean, I just hope that The historical society board will Keep learning about the activities that you're planning and please keep in close touch with us and let us know if There are ways that we can get your message out and get information out This is really impressive what your family has done and what you've learned and Uh, we I hope we can promote it in multiple ways Thank you Thank you so much I do want to say one final thought if I may and I think it is so important to understand these historic The history and understand how decisions were made Uh, but I think it's also important to acknowledge we do live in contemporary times And we need to take away those lessons and our aspiration in all of this and this understanding is that Our you know our family and many other families care deeply for the community And so all these efforts are to create a more harmonious community and one that Continues to improve society and make it a better place And so it's not to pass judgment about people in the context of their time As much to understand the dynamics of what happened and what are those residual elements that might be affecting How we perceive others and how we conduct ourselves today So I think you know awareness and knowledge is really important a powerful way of helping us Formulate how we want to conduct ourselves now and into the future So that really is a lot of what drives me is uh taking away those lessons And understanding that we can make decisions today that are really going to benefit the entire community and make it An even better place than it is currently Well excellent words, thank you Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Everyone. George. Do you have any final announcements or statements? Do you want to Officially close the meeting or first I have to unmute This has been wonderful hearing these stories and I stand with gigi we want to hear the stories of black people in amherst You're all we are all part of the same community and We all have our stories to tell This particular presentation has been recorded and An edited version perhaps leaving out the parts where we're waiting for Cindy to come back online Amherst media is interested in doing a cable cast Amherst history is interested in linking to this so these stories Your stories will be told to the larger community So we thank you very much for coming on today, and I hope this is the beginning of A very fruitful partnership. So that's thank you. Thank you very much Thank you. Thank you So we'll see you all Soon soon very soon Come back next year for progress report at the next founder's day great Okay, and thank you