01/12/2026
The Mission of the Whitwell Education and Heritage Center
The Whitwell Education and Heritage Center is a 501c3 non profit seeking to preserve the rich Heritage of Whitwell while providing cultural and educational opportunities for the community.
The purpose of the Center is to have one major facility to serve the community. The condition of the buildings currently housing these non-profits make this a sound move. The Children’s Holocaust Memorial is housed inside Whitwell Middle school, making it very difficult for visitors. The Coal Miner’s Museum rents a very small, old building needing repairs often. The Orena Humphreys Library had to move from a building that was falling down. Currently, they are paying rent on a temporary facility. The Veterans Group does not have a place to hold their meetings or display their artifacts. The Senior Center has been sharing a space to serve the community seniors located in the basement of the Coal Miner’s Museum. There is almost no parking and is not a good choice at all for the Seniors.
The goal of the Center is to have one facility housing for these five with adequate parking and handicap facilities to serve all.The building will be a 14,000 Square Foot. state-of-the-art structure located on the right as you enter Middle School property. The Whitwell Education and Heritage Center owns the property on which it would be built. The center also has an architectural drawing. The estimated cost is estimated at approximately three million dollars. We are currently accepting donations through
Venmo or donations may be mailed to:
Whitwell Education and Heritage Center
PO Box 125
Whitwell,TN 37397
We would appreciate your sharing this information as we work together to make this center a reality.
For more information contact: Linda M Hooper @gmail.com.THE ORENA HUMPHREYS PUBLIC LIBRARY
Directed by Cathy Black
The library offers communities: free WIFI, computer workstations, archive collections, job hunting tips, homework help, language learning, story times, digital programs, streaming music, magazines, newspapers, eBooks and audio books, DIY crafts, legal aid, compassionate human connections, special programs, local artist exhibits, guest speakers, after school programs and many other valuable functions and events.
The Children’s Holocaust Memorial
Directed by Taylor Mc Daniel Kilgore
The Children’s Holocaust Memorial Museum has a beautiful beginning, has gained worldwide recognition and is a source of pride for Whitwell residents and Tennessee. This Museum consists of a collection of artifacts from the Holocaust as well as 11 million paper clips collected to remember the victims. Currently, there’s a need to move it out of Whitwell Middle School to allow more visitors.The authentic transport cattle car has been out in the elements and in order to preserve it, the community fervently desires to house it at an indoor location.
In 1998, a middle school class in a community of 1600 people with almost 70 % of its children qualifying for free or reduced lunches became the subject of a documentary film, created the Children’s Holocaust Memorial, and become an international phenomenon.
Sheltered in the Sequatchie Valley, Whitwell, Tennessee is a community where neighbors know and care for each other. This is a place where generations of families have lived and raised their children, teaching by example the basic values of decency, caring, and tolerance. It is a town whose people want their children to have a better life and a better education than they were able to have.
In 1998 the School Improvement Council at Whitwell Middle School examined all facets of their school program. Realizing that the students were academically well prepared the council began to look at areas where improvements could be made. Because of the nature of the diverse society that the students would be exposed to when they left the shelter of the valley, the group concluded that their children needed to study other cultures and to learn about the evils of hate and intolerance. That summer the assistant principal was asked to attend an I*E*A*R*N conference to learn about projects that would connect the students via the Internet to students around the world. As a result of the material presented at the conference, in the fall of 1998, a study of the Holocaust was begun at Whitwell Middle School with Sandra Roberts as the leader.
In the fall of the 1999 school year as the study progressed, the new students were trying to come to grips with the overwhelming numbers of people whom the N***s murdered. There was just no way that a group of children from a town of sixteen hundred people could visualize six million Jewish exterminated souls. Attempting to grasp the concept that the N***s kept meticulous records of the method, time, and place of the murders for a total of eleven million souls was devastating to our students. Realizing that 1.5 million of these victims were children under the age of 14 was heart breaking. Out of their dismay over the exterminations grew a desire to find something they could collect to symbolize the enormity of the loss. The students approached the principal and asked if they could collect something that would help them to visualize the six million Jewish victims.
Having a firm belief that every aspect of education should be meaningful the principal agreed with the idea and directed them to find an object to collect that had significance to the Holocaust. The students’ search unveiled the story of Joseph Valler the Norwegian man who invented the paper clip and Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels and collars in protest against N***s and their cruel methods to eradicate Jews.
The Coal Miner’s Museum
Directed by J. T. Shadrick
The Coal Miner’s Museum is this community’s treasured safeguard of the town’s mining history. John T. Shadrick first had the dream in Feb 2011 to bring together mining artifacts and form the Coal Miners Museum. It has had a profound impact on the local and wider community and has had visitors from all over the United States.
The brave men are memorialized and their families’ pride are displayed inside the walls of this museum.
Currently, they rent their building on Main Street from the Town of Whitwell. The need for a larger space is important to the leadership as well as the town’s people.
The Veteran’s Group
Led by SharonMedina
Veterans here in Whitwell have a saying, “Remember, only two defining forces have given their life for you…Jesus for your sins and veterans for your freedom.”
In 2008 there were enough veterans residing in Whitwell to form a Veteran’s Group. They soon realized that they had a collective vision to do something to recognize veterans. They determined that a first step could be to build a Veterans Park in Whitwell to show appreciation for Veterans past, present and future. The City of Whitwell and leaders of Marion County agreed with them, so in that same year, the Marion Veterans Park was underway. Improvements to the Park are continued today as dedicated veterans and volunteers find new ways to add to its beauty and features of interest.
The many veterans and volunteers in the Group have no building to hold meetings or functions. Veteran’s bonds with one another are strong and they represent the very fabric of freedom. Their selfless and sacrificial service is something that needs to be honored, supported, and always remembered.
The Center will be a great assist to our local Veterans. The Group supports and can continue supporting veterans with guidance, information, and education. It is also a moral and emotional support for surviving spouses and family members of deceased Veterans.
The Whitwell Senior Center
Directed by Sandra Tennille
The Senior Center is very active and enjoyed by many residents. Trips, games, programs, and special events are just some of the things that a senior can expect to find when they enter the Senior Center.
The center offers activities such as BINGO, exercise, movies, a game center which includes a pool table, and air hockey table. It has a crafts area, games and cards tables, cooking classes and other interesting demos. The Senior Center hosts informational visitors from hospice, Medicare, and Social Security. Health check-ups are performed free of charge monthly from local licensed nurses. The Senior Center provides a hot lunch daily for its members, as well as Meals on Wheels.
Each of the components that will make up the Center are and have been managed with excellence over the years. The Children’s Holocaust Memorial has been recognized throughout the world and has touched the lives of many.
As briefly mentioned, the current buildings which house the various units are old with costly repairs needed. They are small and or non-existent as in the case of the Veterans Group. The Children’s Holocaust Memorial needs to stay preserved, and it will continue to deteriorate if not properly housed. Strategically, combining the groups is the soundest, most cost-effective decision. Whitwell’s elected officials have made this determination, also.
Management and Operations
The City of Whitwell is very excited for the Center to be built and feel that it will be an excellent and preeminent part of the Whitwell community. They are so proactive for the project to succeed, that they have contracted with the Board of the Center to Maintain the building, and the grounds and to pay the utilities incurred by the Center for the life of the building.
This commitment will greatly reduce the need for massive fundraising by each non-profit of the Center. Of course, they will each continue to hold campaigns for funding and gain grants as they have to date.
