UNOFFICIAL COPY AS OF 12/27/1813 REG. SESS.13 RS BR 1731

A RESOLUTION recognizing the Green River Academy Historic Site and honoring its efforts to provide equal educational opportunities for women and as an historical school that produced notable Kentuckians to the nation.

WHEREAS, the movement to establish facilities for the education of children in the pioneer regions of Kentucky was important to early 19th century Kentucky settlers; and

WHEREAS, Todd County, Kentucky settlers Reverend Matthew Houston Bone, Elizabeth Phillips Bone, Congressman Francis Marion Bristow, Edward Shanklin, H. G. Boone, Congressman Finis E. McClaine, and Willis L. Reeves dedicated their time, efforts, and skills to ensure that women could receive an education equal to that of men; and

WHEREAS, Green River Academy was commissioned in 1835 by the these great Kentuckians for the purpose of providing an institution of learning under the name "Green River Female Academy"; and

WHEREAS, the Green River Academy was constructed with funds allocated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky's 1835 General Assembly, the Governor of Kentucky John T. Breathitt, and Todd County citizens including B.E. Gray, T.G. Greenfield, F.M. Bristow, T. G. Greenfield Jr., N.E. Gray, W. Greenfield, W. M. Lansdale, F. M. Ewing, H. H. Roberts, Roberts & Green, John L. Anderson, Dan'l Grumbley, H. B. Grooms, I. Ayers, T. H. Harris, J. W. Kendall, J. Crabb, F. M. Drew, Edward Shanklin, T. A. Anderson, John Roach, W. Fort, William Gowl, H. Scott, T. W. Gray, F. E. McLean, T. A. Bailey, A. Alexander, J. C. Hardin, Jesse Russell, John Foster, John M. White, Thomas Cross, Caleb N. Bell, Roberts, Petrie & Campbell, Reeves & Witherspoon, D. V. Robinson, and Willis L. Reeves; and

WHEREAS, the Green River Academy is evidence of the Commonwealth's progressive commitment to the advanced study of science, mathematics, languages, and arts, specifically for women; and

WHEREAS, Green River Academy is architecturally significant due to the building's integration of the Federal and Greek Revival styles and as a vestige of Early American school design; and

WHEREAS, the Green River Academy was constructed through the labor of unnamed enslaved African-Americans who toiled for what would become one of the most important buildings in Kentucky history, and to whom an insurmountable debt of honor is owed; and

WHEREAS, the Green River Academy allowed men to matriculate in 1861, and the Green River Academy attracted additional instructors and an enhanced student body; and

WHEREAS, the Green River Academy honors its greatest student, United States Supreme Court Justice James Clark McReynolds, who learned under the tutelage of West Point graduate Major William Crumbaugh in 1879; and

WHEREAS, in 2009 the Green River Academy Preservation Society purchased the Green River Academy and secured state funding to protect and restore it in order to interpret, preserve, and educate the public in regard to its rich history by the founding members Matthew Colin Bailey, John E Walton, Evelyn Bell Boone, Laura Brock, Sharon J. Shanklin, Stacey Sadler Young, Brent Traughber, Jeff Traughber, and Michael McGhee; and

WHEREAS, community partners and supporters have made significant investments in the restoration of the Green River Academy, which will bring new opportunities to promote heritage tourism, business recruitment, career training, and education for the Pennyrile region of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, such recognition will complement existing historic attractions, stimulate the economy, and enhance the property and business values recognized in the area; and

WHEREAS, the people of Kentucky and the nation are encouraged to visit the Green River Academy, one of the Commonwealth's most important sites, to commemorate its service in the advanced education of hundreds of early American women and to those who helped shape the United States during the 19th century;

NOW, THEREFORE,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:

Section 1. The House of Representatives honors the Green River Academy Historic Site and its efforts to foster public interest in the role the institution played in equal educational opportunities for women in the early 19th century, and as a school that notable Americans attended, and recognizes the Green River Academy as an important Kentucky historic landmark.

Section 2. The House of Representatives recognizes the efforts to preserve the Green River Academy made by supporters and community partners, and extends its appreciation to those willing to invest time, resources, and financial assistance to an important Kentucky landmark.

Section 3. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit copies of this Resolution to Representative Martha Jane King for delivery to each member of the Congress of the United States elected from this Commonwealth, to the State Historic Preservation Officer, and to the Officers of the Green River Academy Preservation Society.

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BR173100.100 - 1731 - 5722Jacketed