Table of Contents/Cover Letter 1
Kennesaw State University Honors English 1102 Composition Students:
Mary Hannah Root Holleman and Portfolio draft Group
William Root, Jr., Henry Root, James Root Group and
Volunteer Letter Group
William Root, Sr., Mrs. Martha Green, and Introduction
Group
Elsay Blake and African-American Research Group
Mrs. Root and Conclusion Group
Paige Ferrara-Rodgers
Leah Sexton
Ashley Hughes
Emily Hollingshead
Jake Welch
Christian Rogers
Neenah Cutler
Alejandra Garcia
Kinchen Duffy
Erica Keishe
Bianca Popla
Jessica Guy
Monique Bailey
Freddy Sanchez
William Bailey
Devin Ward
Kennesaw State University Masters Student and Teaching Assistant:
Crystal Rast
Kennesaw State University Honors Faculty and Lecturer in English:
Dr. Rochelle L. Harris

Table of Contents/Cover Letter 2
Portfolio Table of Contents
Cover Letter
Main Tour Script
Introduction
Martha Green/William Root in Parlor
Mary Hannah Root Holleman/William Root Junior in the Bedroom/Dining Room
Hannah Root/Elsay Blake in the Garden/Kitchen
Conclusion
Alternate Script and Volunteer Letter
Introduction Martha Green
William Root in Parlor
William Root Junior in the Dining Room
Mary Hannah Root Holleman in the Bedroom
Hannah Root in the Garden
Elsay Blake in the Kitchen
Conclusion
Volunteer Letter to solicit Male and African-American Docents
English 1102 Honors Composition II Spring 2012 Class Assignment for Root House Project
Works Cited

Table of Contents/Cover Letter 3
4 June 2012
Dear Jenny Goldemund,
We are excited to submit this portfolio of our work on the Root House 8 th grade tour to you and the staff of the Root House Historic Site and Museum.
Overview: What you have in this portfolio is the final draft of the tour script that the English
1102 KSU Honors students from my Spring 2012 Composition II course have written. The students set the tour in 1871 and the narrators include: Mrs. Martha Green, Mary Hannah, and
Mrs. Root, with each of these narrators playing dual roles in the script. In addition, with the optimistic outlook that the Root House may have in the future additional male and African-
American docents, the students have included alternate scripts for William Root, William Root,
Jr., and Elsay Blake. The following chart provides more details about these narrators for the
1871 setting.
(based on Root House genealogy and 1870 Census)
Name Age Location in RH
Family Members
Script
William Root 56 Parlor (Kinchen, Alejandra, Erica) Alternate
 His sons working with him in the store
 Also had his wife’s brother William Simpson (64) and a nephew, Leonard (12), living in his household
William K.
Root, Jr.*
30 Dining Room (Jake, Emily, Neenah, Christian)
 In 1870 census, living in his own household
 Wife, Julia Talula (29), died in 1871,
 Newborn daughter: Julia Talula
 Children: Julia Jeanette (4) and John, 3
Alternate
Hannah Root 63 Garden, Kitchen, Conclusion (Freddy, William, Devin)
 Had 5 grandkids, 4 years and younger
 Her daughter pregnant, her son lost a wife and has a newborn
 Trying to take care of a household all dependent on her husband’s business
Main

Table of Contents/Cover Letter 4
Mary Hannah
Root
Holleman
21 Parlor, Upstairs Bedroom (Leah, Paige, Ashley)
 Married to Charles Holleman (28) and has a daughter, Mary (1)
 Pregnant with her second child (Richard born in 1872)
Main
Additional Family Members
Henry Root 21 N/A (Jake, Emily, Neenah, Christian)
 unmarried
 Works with his father and brother in the store
N/A
James Root
28 N/A (Jake, Emily, Neenah, Christian)
N/A
 Married to Caledonia (22) for 4 years
 Has one daughter, Mary (3)
 In 1870 census, he is in his own household and has two domestic servants, James
(27) and Eliza Julian (24); they have two children: Isabella (5) and Olive (5). His wife’s sister, Mary Leverton (17), lives with them.
Persons Connected with Family
Elsay Blake 51 Kitchen (Jessica, Bianca, Monique) Alternate
 Is listed on the 1880 census as a resident of the Root household
 An “Elsa Walker” is listed in the 1880 and 1883-1884 Marietta Business Directory as a domestic servant employed by the Roots
 Working theory for the tour: Elsay may have been a freed slave of the Roots, or she may have been someone known to them in the community; she represents the Af-
Am servant in the household
 Employed in a household dependent on the Root store, with extended family, a newborn, grief, difficulties providing food, etc.
Mrs. Martha
Green c. 60s Introduction, Parlor (Kinchen, Alejandra, Erica) Main
 Is listed in local newspaper and business records as a contemporary of the Roots
 Is associated with church membership in connection with the Roots
 Working theory for the tour: Mrs. Martha Green happens to “stop by” the Root home
 to bring a present for Mary Hannah’s new baby
Provides an outside perspective on Root family, Mr. Root’s work in the community, and Marietta’s Reconstruction efforts.

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Research: This tour script is based on the students’ research at the Root House archives, KSU sources/microfilm, online sources, census records, the Marietta History museum, the Georgia
Room at the public library in Marietta, interviews and tours at the African Zion church, probate court records, and numerous history publications.
Focus of the draft: Each group of students focused on 1) learning about a specific person or group associated with the Root House, 2) discovering facts about daily life in Marietta relevant to that person or group, and 3) connecting these details to Reconstruction Era politics and policies as well as the effects of Reconstruction in Marietta itself. In addition, the students discussed and decided several additional goals for the script drafts. These are:

Have a question/idea/interactive element for 8 th graders to discuss in each script

Have a primary document or artifact associated with each script

Connect each script to an 8 th grade educational goal

Connect each script to the Root House mission
“Movement” of the Tour: Students also discussed how to transition from one location in the house to another. They operated on the assumption that each narrator does a “handoff” to the next setting in the script, such as Mrs. Root bringing the vegetables (and 8 th graders) into the kitchen.
Since students weren’t sure of the actual logistics of one of your tours, this element is of course very flexible and can be easily adapted.
Thanks: We’ve really enjoyed the opportunity, and we hope that you find valuable ideas in the script. As the professor guiding the students through the primary research, secondary research, discussions and negotiations with you, and the specific writing and rhetorical techniques needed to compose a tour from seven points of view and set in 1871 Reconstruction Era
Marietta, I can say that my students have learned immense amounts of information and gained exceptional writing ability. I sincerely hope that the students’ positive experiences with this material translate into a useful script for you, the docents, and the Root House interpretation.
We understand that scripts are organic—adapted for different contexts, evolving to cover new needs, and tailored for different docents’ styles—and we hope that the script includes this flexibility.
Special Thanks to Root House Staff: We want to say how much we appreciate the personal tour given by Katie and volunteer docents, and we want to thank Jenny for answering our emails, visiting the Wiki we set up, offering advice, and reading the first draft of the tour.
Sincerely,
Kennesaw State University Honors 1102 Class: Dr. Rochelle L. Harris, Crystal Rast, Paige Ferrara-
Rodgers, Ashley Hughes, Emily Hollingshead, Jake Welch, Alejandra Garcia, Freddy Sanchez, William
Bailey, Monique Bailey, Kinchen Duffy, Erica Keishe, Bianca Popla, Devin Ward, Christian Rogers, Leah
Sexton, Jessica Guy, Neenah Cutler