East Tennessee Historical Society

Last updated
East-tennessee-historical-society-logo.jpg
AbbreviationETHS
PredecessorEast Tennessee Historical and Antiquarian Society (c. 18341852)
FormationMay 5, 1834 (1834-05-05)
Type Historical society
Headquarters Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Coordinates 35°57′51″N83°55′04″W / 35.96411°N 83.91780°W / 35.96411; -83.91780 Coordinates: 35°57′51″N83°55′04″W / 35.96411°N 83.91780°W / 35.96411; -83.91780
Region served
East Tennessee, Southern Appalachia
Chairman
Jerome Melson
President & CEO
Warren Dockter
Main organ
Journal of East Tennessee History
Website easttnhistory.org

The East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS), headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of East Tennessee history, the preservation of historically significant artifacts, and educating the citizens of Tennessee. The society operates a museum and museum shop in the East Tennessee History Center on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. The East Tennessee Historical Society was established in 1834, 38 years after the establishment of the state of Tennessee, to record the history of the development and settlement of the area. [1]

Contents

History

The East Tennessee Historical and Antiquarian Society was founded by Tennessee historian J. G. M. Ramsey (17971884), who sought to archive the papers and correspondence of the state's pioneers. [2] The first meeting of the society was May 5, 1834. East Tennessee College president William B. Reese was elected as the first president and the executive committee included John Hervey Crozier and Thomas William Humes. [2] As the society's recording secretary, Ramsey acquired a collection of papers and correspondence from early Tennesseans such as William Blount, John Sevier, Samuel Wear, Alexander Outlaw, and James Hubbert. The "Antiquarian" was dropped from the society's name by 1852. [2]

Ramsey kept the society's archives at his plantation, Mecklenburg, east of Knoxville. The archives were destroyed when Mecklenburg was burned in the Civil War. [2] By the end of the war, the society had disintegrated. [2]

In January 1883, Confederate veterans, led by Moses White and William Henderson joined Ramsey and Crozier in reviving the East Tennessee Historical Society as an auxiliary of the Southern Historical Association. [2] In 1885, University of Tennessee professor William Gibbs McAdoo served as president and future Knoxville mayor Samuel G. Heiskell served as vice president. [2] Other members included newspaper editor William Rule and scholar Eben Alexander. [3] The society began admitting women and hosted lectures on Fort Loudoun, Irish nationalist John Mitchel, and the state of Franklin, and featured speaker Fitzhugh Lee. [2] By the end of the century, the second incarnation of the ETHS was no longer active. [2]

In December 1924, Knoxville-area educators and librarians met at the Lawson McGhee Library to discuss reviving the ETHS and a new society met on January 16, 1925. [2] Charter members included U.T. professor Philip Hamer, Lawson McGhee librarian Mary U. Rothrock, and U.T. president James Hoskins. The society began publishing its annual scholarly journal in 1929 and hosted lectures by historians Stanley J. Folmsbee and Samuel Cole Williams. The society published its first book, Folmsbee's Sectionalism and Internal Improvements in Tennessee, in 1939. [2]

In 1946, the society published a comprehensive history of Knox County, The French Broad-Holston Country, as part of the state's sequicentennial celebrations. The book, edited by Rothrock, included a history of the county written by Folmsbee with contributions by Harvey Broome. A revised edition was published in 1972.

In 1976, the society published a comprehensive history of Knoxville, Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee. The book was edited by Lucile Deaderick, and included a history of the city by William MacArthur. MacArthur's history was republished in the 1982 book, Knoxville: Crossroads of the New South, which included photographs from the McClung Collection.

In the late 1970s, Knox County acquired the Old Customs House to house the McClung Collection and the Knox County Archives. [2] The ETHS set up its headquarters in the building and hired a professional staff. Under the directorship of Charles Faulkner Bryan and Mark Wetherington, the society’s membership doubled in the 1980s. [2] With W. Todd Groce as executive director (1990-1995), the ETHS renamed its scholarly publication as the Journal of East Tennessee History, created the First Families of Tennessee project in 1992, and established the Museum of East Tennessee History in 1993. [4]

Publications

Since 1929, the society has published an annual collection of scholarly essays on the history and culture of East Tennessee. Initially known as Publications, the essays have been published as the Journal of East Tennessee History since 1990. The journal covers topics on historical and cultural issues related to East Tennessee and the southern Appalachian region, including the American Civil War, the early settlement of East Tennessee, post-Civil War Reconstruction, the Great Depression, World War I, World War II, and the 1982 World's Fair. The society publishes the tri-annual magazine "Tennessee Ancestors" and the quarterly newsletter "Newsline".

Books

List of books published by the ETHS

  • Sectionalism and Internal Improvements in Tennessee, 1796 - 1845 by Stanley J. Folmsbee, 1939.
  • Three Outstanding Lawyers of a Former Generation by John W. Green, 1943.
  • The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee, edited by Mary Rothrock, 1946, reprinted 1972.
  • The Early Career of David Crockett by Stanley J. Folmsbee and Anna Grace Catron, 1956.
  • The Mercurial Sam Houston by Ernest Shearer, 1963.
  • Knoxville's First Graveyard: Tombstone Inscriptions in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, 1800-1879, 1965.
  • The Arts of East Tennessee in the Nineteenth Century, compiled by the Dulin Art Gallery, 1971.
  • Valley So Wild: A Folk History by Alberta and Carson Brewer, 1975.
  • Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee, edited by Lucile Deaderick, 1976.
  • The Terror of Tellico Plains: The Memoirs of Ray H. Jenkins by Ray Jenkins, 1979.
  • Dear Margaret: Letters From Oak Ridge to Margaret Mead by Thelma Present and Margaret Mead, 1985.
  • Tennessee Towns: From Adams to Yorkville by Tom Siler, 1985.
  • Quiet Places: The Burial Sites of Civil War Generals in Tennessee by Buckner and Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, 1992.
  • Early Inns and Taverns of East Tennessee: A Photoessay by Jane Gray Buchanan, 1996.
  • Art and Furniture of East Tennessee: The Inaugural Exhibit of the Museum of East Tennessee History by Namuni Hale Young, 1997.

Reprints and revisions

  • Occupation of East Tennessee and the Defense of Knoxville by Orlando Poe, 1963. Originally published in 1888.
  • The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century by J.G.M. Ramsey, 1967. Originally published in 1853.
  • Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee by Digby Gordon Seymour, 1984 (2nd ed.), 2002 (3rd ed.). Originally published in 1963.
  • A Facsimile Edition of the Half-Century of Knoxville: The First Published Account of the Founding of Knoxville by Thomas William Humes, 1990. Originally published in 1852.
  • Knoxville by Betsey Beeler Creekmore, 1991. Originally published in 1958.

East Tennessee History Center

Museum of East Tennessee History
Established1834
Location601 South Gay Street
Knoxville, Tennessee 37901
TypeHistory museum
Public transit accessKAT Bus Lines 13, 14, 20, 21, 23, 31

The headquarters of the East Tennessee Historical Society is located in the East Tennessee History Center in the Old Customs House in Knoxville, which is owned by Knox County. This building, depicted in the ETHS logo, is home to the Historical Society's Museum of East Tennessee History, which features cultural and historical exhibits from the region. Displays include items owned by Davy Crockett and John Sevier, memorabilia from the Appalachian Expositions of 1910 and 1911, artifacts from the Battle of Fort Sanders, a complete trolley car, a drugstore display, and early country music instruments and memorabilia. The center displays works by regional artists such as Lloyd Branson, Adelia Armstrong Lutz, Catherine Wiley, and Joseph Knaffl.

The history center contains the Knox County Archives and the Calvin M. McClung Collection of the Knox County Public Libraries. [5]

First Families of Tennessee and Civil War Families of Tennessee

The East Tennessee Historical Society maintains two honorary organizations for genealogical research. The First Families of Tennessee is an organization of individuals who can trace their ancestry to families who lived in the area that became Tennessee prior to statehood. The Civil War Families of Tennessee is an organization of individuals whose ancestors fought in the American Civil War.

See also

Related Research Articles

John Hervey Crozier was an American attorney and politician active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, during the mid-nineteenth century. Described as "an orator of uncommon brilliancy" and "one of the brainiest men ever sent by Tennessee to congress," Crozier represented Tennessee's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1849. While originally a member of the Whig Party, Crozier switched his allegiance to the Democratic Party in the 1850s, and supported the Confederacy during the Civil War. Crozier retired from public life after the war, and spent his remaining years engaged in scholarly pursuits.

<i>The Knoxville Gazette</i>

The Knoxville Gazette was the first newspaper published in the U.S. state of Tennessee and the third published west of the Appalachian Mountains. Established by George Roulstone (1767–1804) at the urging of Southwest Territory governor William Blount, the paper's first edition appeared on November 5, 1791. The Gazette provided an important medium through which Tennessee's frontier government could dispense legislative announcements, and the paper's surviving editions are now an invaluable source of information on life in early Knoxville.

Statesview Historic house in Tennessee, United States

Statesview, or States View, is a historic house located on South Peters Road off Kingston Pike in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1805 by early Knoxville architect Thomas Hope and rebuilt in 1823 following a fire, Statesview was originally the home of surveyor Charles McClung (1761–1835). Following McClung's death, newspaper publisher Frederick Heiskell (1786–1882) purchased the house and estate, which he renamed "Fruit Hill." The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and political significance.

James Park House Historic house in Tennessee, United States

The James Park House is a historic house located at 422 West Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The house's foundation was built by Governor John Sevier in the 1790s, and the house itself was built by Knoxville merchant and mayor, James Park (1770–1853), in 1812, making it the second-oldest building in Downtown Knoxville after Blount Mansion. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and currently serves as the headquarters for the Gulf and Ohio Railways.

Old Customs House (Knoxville, Tennessee) United States historic place

The Old Customs House, also called the Old Post Office, is a historic building located at the corner of Clinch Avenue and Market Street in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1874, it was the city's first federal building. It housed the federal courts, excise offices and post office until 1933. From 1936 to 1976, it was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority for offices. Expanded in 2004, the building is home to the East Tennessee History Center, which includes the Lawson McGhee Library's Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, the Knox County Archives, and the East Tennessee Historical Society's headquarters and museum. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance.

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Tennessee.

Charles McClung McGhee

Charles McClung McGhee was an American industrialist and financier, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the latter half of the nineteenth century. As director of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway (ETV&G), McGhee was responsible for much of the railroad construction that took place in the East Tennessee area in the 1870s and 1880s. His position with the railroad also gave him access to northern capital markets, which he used to help finance dozens of companies in and around Knoxville. In 1885, he established the Lawson McGhee Library, which was the basis of Knox County's public library system.

Lloyd Branson American painter

Enoch Lloyd Branson (1853–1925) was an American artist best known for his portraits of Southern politicians and depictions of early East Tennessee history. One of the most influential figures in Knoxville's early art circles, Branson received training at the National Academy of Design in the 1870s and subsequently toured the great art centers of Europe. After returning to Knoxville, he operated a portrait shop with photographer Frank McCrary. He was a mentor to fellow Knoxville artist Catherine Wiley, and is credited with discovering twentieth-century modernist Beauford Delaney.

Fidelity Building (Knoxville) United States historic place

The Fidelity Building is an office building in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Initially constructed in 1871 for the wholesale firm Cowan, McClung and Company, the building underwent an exterior renovation and was converted to Fidelity-Bankers Trust Company in 1929 and has since been renovated for use as office space. In 1984, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and its role in Knoxville's late-nineteenth century wholesaling industry.

J. G. M. Ramsey

James Gettys McGready Ramsey was an American historian, physician, planter, slave owner, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods. Ramsey was also a major advocate for development in East Tennessee, leading efforts to bring railroad access to the region, and helping to organize the region's first medical society.

Thomas Hope was an English-born American architect and house joiner, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Trained in London, Hope moved to Knoxville in 1795, where he designed and built several of the city's earliest houses. At least two houses built by Hope— the Ramsey House (1797) in East Knoxville and Statesview in West Knoxville— are still standing, and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Samuel Carrick

Samuel Czar Carrick was an American Presbyterian minister who was the first president of Blount College, the educational institution to which the University of Tennessee traces its origin.

William Rule (editor)

William Rule was an American newspaper editor and politician, best known as the founder of The Knoxville Journal, which was published in Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1870 until 1991. A protégé of vitriolic newspaper editor William G. "Parson" Brownlow, Rule established the Journal as a successor to Brownlow's Knoxville Whig. Rule twice served as mayor of Knoxville, and published the city's first comprehensive history, Standard History of Knoxville, in 1900.

James Churchwell Luttrell II was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, during the Civil War. His eight-year term (1859–1867) was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century, when it was surpassed by Victor Ashe's 16-year term. Luttrell also served as state comptroller in the late 1850s, and was elected to the state senate following his term as mayor.

The Knoxville Register was an American newspaper published primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the 19th century. Founded in 1816, the paper was East Tennessee's dominant newspaper until 1863, when its pro-secession editor, Jacob Austin Sperry (1823–1896), was forced to flee advancing Union forces at the height of the Civil War. Sperry continued to sporadically publish the Register in Atlanta, and later Bristol, until he was finally captured by Union forces in December 1864.

Medical Arts Building (Knoxville, Tennessee) United States historic place

The Medical Arts Building is an office high-rise located at 603 Main Street in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1931, the 10-story structure originally provided office space for physicians and dentists, and at the time was considered the "best equipped" medical building in the South. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the region's best examples of a Gothic Revival-style office building. It has recently been renovated into mixed-use, principally residential use.

Charles Warner Cansler was an American educator, civil rights advocate, and author, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. A grandson of William Scott, a pioneering Black American publisher, and the son of Knoxville's first Black American teacher, Cansler was instrumental in establishing educational opportunities for Knoxville's Black American children in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His 1940 biography, Three Generations: The Story of a Colored Family in Eastern Tennessee, remains an important account of black life in 19th century East Tennessee.

History of Knoxville, Tennessee

The History of Knoxville, Tennessee, began with the establishment of James White's Fort on the Trans-Appalachian frontier in 1786. The fort was chosen as the capital of the Southwest Territory in 1790, and the city, named for Secretary of War Henry Knox, was platted the following year. Knoxville became the first capital of the State of Tennessee in 1796, and grew steadily during the early 19th century as a way station for westward-bound migrants and as a commercial center for nearby mountain communities. The arrival of the railroad in the 1850s led to a boom in the city's population and commercial activity.

Mary Boyce Temple

Mary Boyce Temple was an American philanthropist and socialite, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the first president of the Ossoli Circle, the oldest federated women's club in the South, and published a biography of the club's namesake, Margaret Fuller Ossoli, in 1886. She also cofounded the Tennessee Woman's Press and Author's Club, the Knoxville Writer's Club, and the Knox County chapter of the League of Women Voters. She represented Tennessee at various international events, including the Paris Exposition of 1900 and at the dedication of the Panama Canal in 1903.

Mary U. Rothrock American librarian and historian

Mary Utopia Rothrock, was an American librarian and historian.

References

  1. East Tennessee Historical Society:ETHS home Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 W. Todd Groce, "A Brief History of the East Tennessee Historical Society," Journal of East Tennessee History Vol. 66 (1994), pp. 1-9.
  3. Jack Neely, "A Short History of the East Tennessee Historical Society," Knoxville Mercury, 13 August 2015.
  4. "Museum of East Tennessee History Opens Tuesday," Knoxville News-Sentinel, 14 March 1993.
  5. "East Tennessee Historical Society:East Tennessee History Center". Archived from the original on 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2007-07-15.