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The Thomas Community Service Award 2001 Recipients
PURE Center Volunteers Receive The Thomas Community Service Award Zanesville residents Kathy Rowan Brantley and Mary Ann Bucci are the 2001 recipients of the prestigious Thomas Community Award for their efforts with the Putnam Underground Railroad Education (PURE) Center, 522 Woodlawn Avenue.
The award is named for Ray Thomas, the founding President of the Muskingum County Community Foundation (MCCF), and is given to individuals who have donated their time and talents to improve the quality of life in Muskingum County. These volunteers have been instrumental in the success of one particular organization or community project.
The PURE Center will preserve and bring to life important local and national history. The Putnam Historic District of Zanesville has a rich history of abolitionist activity. MCCF and the Putnam Underground Railroad Education (PURE) Center are in the process of converting the Putnam residence (circa 1838) at 522 Woodlawn Avenue into an underground railroad education center and museum. The PURE Center will provide a positive learning environment and will promote harmony among diverse groups. The schoolchildren of Zanesville and the surrounding area will benefit from the free educational programs and services designed and provided for them by the Center. The PURE Center will be a working monument that will again and again teach the lesson of cooperation in the pursuit of a noble cause.
Mrs. Brantley has provided the initial vision and direction for the Center and has worked to achieve the construction of a permanent monument to the work of those who conducted and traveled to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
Mrs. Bucci has taken the lead in marketing Brantley's dream through her artwork and her network that includes relatives of the late Harley Flack, a Zanesvillian who became President of Wright State University. His widow, Mignon Still Flack, is a descendant of William Still, the author of "The Underground Railroad."
Brantley and Bucci lead a group of individuals including the PURE Center Board members who have worked to make this dream come true. One highlight of the successful fund raising campaign for the PURE Center was the inaugural Lincoln Day Luncheon this February at the Zanesville Country Club which was attended by more than 300 supporters of the project.
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