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Campus Review
May 14, 2012
History Class Helps
Clean Up Fayette County Cemetery
Environmental Toxicology Students Visit Atlanta EPA Office
Although it’s not typical for college class-
es to meet on a Saturday, Assistant
Professor of History Dr. Randall
Gooden’s Clayton State University
History 4450 class, Introduction to
Historic Preservation, did just that on
Saturday, Apr. 28.
HIST4450 members Rebecca Grammer,
Terrell Johnson, Mark Nadratowski,
Anitrea Payne and James Woodfin
weren’t in the classroom, though, they
were doing field work and meeting with
members of the Hartford United
Methodist Church and the Whitewater
Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints to do maintenance work
at the Hartford Church Cemetery in south-
ern Fayette County.
According to Gooden, who is a resident of
Peachtree City, the historically African-
American cemetery includes graves dat-
ing back to the Reconstruction Era.
During this field experience for the
Clayton State students, class members
met with longtime church member
Pauline Fletcher to learn about the history
of the graveyard and about some of the
preservation challenges the graveyard
faces.
Gooden also notes that the church and the
graveyard each have their own history.
Although the cemetery has a Senoia post
office address, it is located in Fayette
County, the original home of the Hartford
United Methodist Church, which is now
located in Atlanta.
“The church and cemetery are located in
the ancestral area of most of the current
members, rather than in the area where
they now live,” he notes.
Clayton State Associate Professor of
Biology Dr. Jacqueline Jordan recently led
her Environmental Toxicology students to,
if not a major toxicological site, a major
superfund site in downtown Atlanta.
The students were invited to visit the
United State Environmental Protection
Agency inAtlanta, the office being a major
superfund site that controls said activities
for all the southeastern United States.
“This office sets limits for exposure to air
pollution, pesticides, solvents, metals,
etc.,” explains Jordan. “They also respond
to environmental disasters in all the south-
eastern states.”
The Clayton State students were able to
discuss air and water pollution in Atlanta
with several EPA officials, and to meet
with the emergency response personnel to
understand how they train and response to
chemical spills, explosions, oil spills, and the
like. Jordan also points out that the trip also
gave her students the opportunity to inquire
about internships and jobs at the center.
“The students were able to link what they
had learned in the classroom to real world
application of environmental toxicology,”
she adds.
L to R (Front) James Webster, section chief, Emergency Response Section of U.S. EPA, Region
4; Phalla Ou; Natasha Dixon; Brion Edwards; Sheneka Williams; Brad Hill; Tim Frederick, life sci-
entist, U.S. EPA Region 4. (Back) Dr. Jacqueline Jordan; Tomeika Hill; John Onyekaba; Beverly
Hardy
((Upper Right) Dr. Gooden, James Woodfin, Anitrea Payne, Mark Nadratowski, Pauline Fletcher,
and Terrell Johnson