A Franklin Community High School student is writing her first book, and hopes it will keep Franklin’s history alive for generations to come.
Senior Abby Titara’s non-fiction project, “Franklin through the Decades,” will tell the story of the city from the 1940s to today.
Melissa McCain, the innovations director at the high school, knew about Titara’s enthusiasm for writing and told Titara about the 10x grant program, a Franklin Schools initiative that funds projects and experiences for teachers and students.
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After Titara received a 10x grant award of $500 last summer, money she could use to publish and advertise the book, she talked to high school English teacher Becky Hart, who has served as her mentor throughout the research and writing process. Hart helped her narrow down her focus, Titara said.
There are few constants from the eight decades of history that the book will span. The Willard and Artcraft Theatre still stand, and families still venture just west of U.S. 31 every summer to experience the festivities and traditions of the county fair, but there has been a lot more change.
Since its redevelopment, Downtown Franklin became a place people wanted to spend time on nights and weekends, Titara said.
“On Saturday afternoons, people are sitting at Benjamin’s and outside the courthouse. Before, I heard it was very dead,” she said.
Through online research, a map of 1940s Franklin from the Johnson County Museum of History and several interviews with people who have knowledge of the city, Titara is piecing together the story of a place she grew up and most of her living family members were raised.
“The original idea was wanting to commemorate Franklin in some way, it was very broad,” Titara said. “We started narrowing it down to see what’s most important to me and other people: family and friends, the same recurring places and events. From those experiences and events, I decided to divide (the book) into each place, each moment in time.”
Titara talked to teachers Leslie Hash and Janet Kirby. She talked to Rob Shultz, manager of the Artcraft Theatre and Rhoni Oliver, the community development specialist at the Johnson County courthouse. She talked to Jane Huey, who works at the Johnson County Museum of History, and will soon talk to Lisa Lintner, director of the Johnson County Public Library.
Through her conversations, she’s learned about things that fundamentally changed the composition of Franklin, such as a fire that burned down the block northwest of the Water Street and Jefferson Street intersection in the 1930s, including the beloved Brown’s Grocery Store, Titara said.
The high school she’s attended for the past three years is also representative of change in Franklin. The building has been open for classes since 2007, but most living graduates took their high school classes in the building on U.S. 31.
As a 4-H member, she feels compelled to add a chapter on the Johnson County Fair, something generations of residents have attended and participated in. She’ll also include chapters on sporting events at Franklin Community High School and Franklin College, Titara said.
“Depending on who you talk to, the high school or the college was more central when it came to sporting events,” Titara said. “The high school football games were more central to my grandparents, but people came a lot to homecoming for the college.”
Titara plans to finish her book in May, before she graduates. Throughout the process, Titara has demonstrated persistence and dedication, Hart said.
“I’ve known Abby since she was in kindergarten. Our daughters attended Union Elementary School together. My daughter’s a senior and Abby’s a senior. I know her family, and it’s a lot of fun working with her outside the classroom and working with students in other contexts,” Hart said. “It’s fun to hear about her other interviews and work with her through some struggles.”
Titara hopes her book can preserve the memories of the locals, and help tourists see a side of the city they didn’t know about before, she said.
“I’m hoping a lot of Franklin residents will get to see the hard work and love for the Franklin community in this book and help establish a sense a pride,” Titara said. “If tourists are passing by, they can see a copy of what the local town feels like. If they don’t live here, hopefully they’ll experience a smidgen of what we do.”
