Editor’s Note: The Times received this statement from Wallace State officials Saturday afternoon.

“Wallace State is not aware of the source of the sign indicating that the Genealogy Department is closed but that sign is incorrect and has been removed. The Genealogy Collection and its materials for research and reference remain open to the public and staffed during regular operating hours. Visitors should inquire at the Library’s main desk for access to this special collection.”

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HANCEVILLE — Wallace State Community College students and local residents hoping to formally research their family trees will now need to seek out alternative resources after the college canceled current genealogy classes and closed the department for the foreseeable future.

Robert Davis, the now former head of the WSCC Genealogy Department, received notice from the head of academic affairs, Beth Bownes-Johnson, on Friday, June 23, that the genealogy course would be removed from the fall schedule. The news came less than a week after The Times reported on the uncertainty of the WSCC Library’s future as officials with the school revealed plans to “expand its digital learning resources.”

“Due to low enrollment and the uncertainty of the plans for the library at this time, I have been instructed to remove Genealogy from the fall schedule until further notice,” the email, obtained by The Times, read.

WSCC maintained it has no immediate plans to do away with the library, which houses significant genealogy print and other resources.

Davis first began voicing his concerns about the future of the library to WSCC president Dr. Vicki Karolwics earlier in June when, after learning Karolwics had instructed the library staff to not make any future purchases of all paper documents, he reached out through an email dated June 5.

In the email, Davis urged Karolewics to reconsider her decision against book purchases, as well as his protest against rumored plans to relocate the library.

“Please reconsider the order against book purchases. If it is true that plans are being made to demolish the library building and to throw away the library’s million dollar research collection, I think that would be a terrible mistake. The library building is the most popular building on campus except those in use as classrooms. Replacing the building with one room in the 1970’s library building by the highway is doing the students no favors,” Davis wrote.

The Times was unable to verify Davis’ claims of relocating the library to one one.

Davis said he has not received a response to that email — nor a separate enquiry as to the reasons Karolewics denied a request from a local nonprofit to use the library’s basement auditorium as a meeting space in September. In an emailed statement to The Times on Thursday, vice president for Students and Chief Marketing Officer Kristen Holmes confirmed the decision to cancel the class was made after several years of low enrollment and to shore up resources needed for other departments.

“We review class enrollments each semester, and particularly prior to the start of a new academic year. In this case, the full-time faculty member who previously taught the genealogy class also had other duties, which allowed us to offer the class without extra cost to the college. That person has since retired, which would now require the college to hire an adjunct to teach the class. Due to extremely low enrollment in the genealogy class and great demand for other history courses, we will not be hiring an adjunct to teach the genealogy class for the fall semester.”

After receiving notice that the program would be removed from the fall schedule, Davis continued with his plans to lead the department’s Continuing Education course, but said those plans were interrupted: After returning from lunch on June 28, he began gathering materials for the class when, Davis said, two security guards arrived and informed him that the class would be cancelled.

“They were very nice, although they were both heavily armed and each with about 50 pounds more on me, and they came to tell me my genealogy class was canceled. They said they didn’t know why, but they just had orders from Dr. Karolwics to cancel the class,” Davis said. “I knew I couldn’t argue with them, they were just the messengers. In fact, they were all upset about the library and specifically the genealogy program because they were so proud of it.”

Davis said he remained on campus to inform students he had been unable to contact that the class had been cancelled. He said the first to arrive had driven just more than an hour, from Gadsden, and was followed by around three to four additional students. Davis said rather than have the students immediately turn around, they decided to remain on campus.

“We were talking about this and that and I said we would just sit down as five private citizens on public property and we’re just going to happen to talk about genealogy,” Davis said.

The group was later instructed by campus police officers to disband.

Calls to campus security were redirected to Holmes who, in a statement, said all non-credit courses are subject to the college’s policy and require prior approval and that campus police often assist with after-hours activities on campus. Davis said he received no prior notice of the class’s cancelation other than the information delivered by security.

Davis also said he received approval to hold the class despite only having one student enrolled — additional students attended at the invitation from Davis after being instructed to continue the course.

“This was a class taught by an employee of Wallace to persons who paid tuition to Wallace State. It is not a program by some private group and doesn’t require permission from anyone any more that the math class requires permission for the math teacher to hold a scheduled math class,” Davis said.

The following morning, June 29, Davis received a phone call from Johnson, terminating his contract for employment and he would need to leave campus by 4 p.m. After returning from lunch, Davis said he had just finished delivering the news to members of his genealogy mailing list when Johnson and Campus Police Chief Shane Drake, along with an additional officer, visited Davis to escort him off campus.

Kimberly Harris, who has been using the department’s resources for the past 25 years, said she has been able to connect with living family members through her research at WSCC. She said she has been organizing family reunions in Double Springs since 2010 and attributes her discoveries more to Davis himself than the department’s archive collection, saying “he did wonders.”

“He was very knowledgable. He could tell you where you could go to find your military … or where to find your Native American ancestors. There’s going to be people who can’t get that information now because he’s not there to sit next to you or assist or talk about certain things you’ve probably never heard of,” Harris told The Times by phone on June 30.

On June 29, a local researcher, Lynda Davis Brown, told The Times by phone that Davis was an invaluable resource.

“I just can’t think of enough words to describe him. He is such a learned man. Anytime I hit a brick wall in studying about my ancestors, I could just go to him and let him know I had reached the end of my rope. He would always, just immediately, take that up and advise me on what I needed to do. I’ve never encountered anyone like him in this area of study,” Brown said.

Davis said this news came somewhat suddenly and the department has been praised both regionally and nationally. It has been recognized by the Archivist of the United States for the cooperative program to microfilm Alabama federal records, was the first non-Mormon institution allowed to borrow microfilm from the Salt Lake library and has received the American Association for State and Local History Award.

The department also assisted with research performed by Dr. Rachel Martin for a recent article in Oxford American on the Cullman County inspiration for “Minnie Pearl.” It also aided nationally syndicated television series such as “Who Do You Think You Are?,” “Finding Your Roots” and the Hulu docuseries, “The 1619 Project.”

Holmes described the genealogy collection as one of the college’s “prized possessions” and Davis said he had previously been under the impression he would remain on staff through the summer and fall to run the genealogy department and to set up a historical archive, but on June 29 expressed concern about the future of the department.

“If they’re not going to allow me in the genealogy room, I’m sure they wouldn’t have a problem just locking the doors to the genealogy room and telling everyone to take a hike,” Davis said.

As of June 30, signs were posted at each entrance of the library announcing that all scheduled genealogy classes were canceled until further notice. In the library’s basement, a second notice was posted on the door to the genealogy department announcing it would be closed until further notice. Holmes said a reimbursement payment has been processed for the student who paid for the course.

Brown said she suspects she will continue her research at the Cullman County Public Library, but said “they can’t touch the resources Wallace has to do your family genealogy research.” The other option, she said, was to visit the larger libraries in Birmingham and Montgomery.

On morning of June 30, Davis was issued a trespass notification by Drake while attempting to return a laptop and retrieve several personal paintings located in the library’s basement. Drake gave Davis a memo he had received from Karolewics stating he was no longer allowed on campus for “any reason until further notice.”

According to Davis, Drake said he was under the impression a time would be arranged to allow Davis to retrieve any personal belongings and said a campus policy requires all former employees receive permission from Karolewics before returning to campus.

WSCC has not provided this policy or reasons for Davis’ termination saying, “We cannot comment on specific personnel matters.”

Messages left with Beth Bownes-Johnson were not returned by press time.