East Tennessee Historical Society
Encyclopedia
The East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS), headquartered in Knoxville
, Tennessee
, USA, 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 also 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, only 38 years after the establishment of the state of Tennessee, to record the history of the development and settlement of the area.
(1797–1884), who was concerned that many of the state's early pioneers were dying off, and sought to archive their papers and correspondance. The first meeting of the Society was held on May 5, 1834. East Tennessee College
president William B. Reese was elected as the first president. The executive committee included Ramsey's brother-in-law John Hervey Crozier
and stepbrother Thomas William Humes
. Ramsey, as the Society's recording secretary, gradually acquired a sizeable collection of papers and correspondance from early Tennesseans such as William Blount
, John Sevier
, Samuel Wear, Alexander Outlaw, and James Hubbert. The "Antiquarian" had been dropped from the Society's name by 1852.
Ramsey kept the Society's archives at his plantation, Mecklenburg, just east of Knoxville. During the Civil War, Ramsey was a very vocal Confederate and secessionist, and was forced to flee when the Union Army occupied Knoxville in 1863, leaving behind his library and the Society's archives. An arsonist (allegedly hired by Ramsey's rival, William "Parson" Brownlow
) burned Mecklenburg, effectively destroying the archives. By the end of the war, the Society had largely disintegrated.
In January 1883, several Confederate veterans, led by Moses White and William Henderson (with some assistance from the aging Ramsey and Crozier), revived the East Tennessee Historical Society as an auxiliary of the Southern Historical Association. An 1885 ad for the group shows U.T. professor William Gibbs McAdoo as president and future Knoxville mayor Samuel G. Heiskell as vice president. The Society hosted lectures on Fort Loudoun
, Irish nationalist John Mitchel
, and the State of Franklin
, and featured speakers such as Fitzhugh Lee
. The Society also admitted women for the first time. By the end of the century, however, this second incarnation of the ETHS was no longer active.
In December 1924, several Knoxville-area educators and librarians met at the Lawson McGhee Library to discuss reviving the ETHS. The first official meeting of the new Society took place on January 16, 1925. Charter members included U.T. professor Philip Hamer, Lawson McGhee librarian Mary Rothrock, and U.T. dean (and later president) James Hoskins. The Calvin M. McClung Collection offered the Society use of its office space and staff. 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.
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, and contributions by Harvey Broome
and several other ETHS members. A revised edition was published in 1972.
In 1976, the Society published a comprehensive history of Knoxville, entitled, Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee. This book was edited by Lucile Deaderick, and included a general history of the city by William MacArthur. MacArthur's history was republished in the 1982 book, Knoxville: Crossroads of the New South, which included several hundred photographs from the McClung Collection.
In the late 1970s, Knox County acquired the Old Customs House (which had been used by the Tennessee Valley Authority
prior to the construction of the TVA Towers), and allotted the space to the McClung Collection and the Knox County Archives. The ETHS set up its headquarters on the building's second floor, and hired a professional staff. During the 1980s, under the directorship of Charles Faulkner Bryan and Mark Whetherington, membership virtually doubled. The ETHS established the Museum of East Tennessee History in 1993.
n region, including the American Civil War
, the early settlement of East Tennessee, post-Civil War Reconstruction, the Great Depression
, World War I
and World War II
, as well as more recent events such as the 1982 World's Fair
. The Society also publishes two more magazine format titles, the tri-annual "Tennessee Ancestors" and the quarterly newsletter "Newsline".
and John Sevier
, memorabilia from events such as 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 History Center also contains the Knox County Archives and the Calvin M. McClung Collection of the Knox County Public Libraries
. The McClung Collection is one of the preeminent genealogical research facilities in the Southeastern United States. Free lectures and courses designed to encourage individuals to research their family histories as well as educate them in the proper way to conduct such research are given on a regular basis.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, USA, is a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
dedicated to the study of East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
history, the preservation of historically significant artifacts, and educating the citizens of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. The Society also operates a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and museum shop in the East Tennessee History Center on Gay Street
Gay Street (Knoxville)
Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural...
in downtown Knoxville. The East Tennessee Historical Society was established in 1834, only 38 years after the establishment of the state of Tennessee, to record the history of the development and settlement of the area.
History
The East Tennessee Historical and Antiquarian Society was founded by early Tennessee historian J. G. M. RamseyJ. G. M. Ramsey
James Gettys McGready Ramsey was an American historian, physician, and businessman, active primarily in East Tennessee during the nineteenth century. Ramsey is perhaps best known for his book, The Annals of Tennessee, a seminal work documenting the state's frontier and early statehood periods...
(1797–1884), who was concerned that many of the state's early pioneers were dying off, and sought to archive their papers and correspondance. The first meeting of the Society was held on May 5, 1834. East Tennessee College
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
president William B. Reese was elected as the first president. The executive committee included Ramsey's brother-in-law John Hervey Crozier
John Hervey Crozier
John Hervey Crozier was an American attorney and politician active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, during the mid-nineteenth century...
and stepbrother Thomas William Humes
Thomas William Humes
Thomas William Humes was an American clergyman and educator, active in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the latter half of the 19th century. Elected rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in 1846, Humes led the church until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was forced to resign due to his Union...
. Ramsey, as the Society's recording secretary, gradually acquired a sizeable collection of papers and correspondance from early Tennesseans such as William Blount
William Blount
William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...
, John Sevier
John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
, Samuel Wear, Alexander Outlaw, and James Hubbert. The "Antiquarian" had been dropped from the Society's name by 1852.
Ramsey kept the Society's archives at his plantation, Mecklenburg, just east of Knoxville. During the Civil War, Ramsey was a very vocal Confederate and secessionist, and was forced to flee when the Union Army occupied Knoxville in 1863, leaving behind his library and the Society's archives. An arsonist (allegedly hired by Ramsey's rival, William "Parson" Brownlow
William Gannaway Brownlow
William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...
) burned Mecklenburg, effectively destroying the archives. By the end of the war, the Society had largely disintegrated.
In January 1883, several Confederate veterans, led by Moses White and William Henderson (with some assistance from the aging Ramsey and Crozier), revived the East Tennessee Historical Society as an auxiliary of the Southern Historical Association. An 1885 ad for the group shows U.T. professor William Gibbs McAdoo as president and future Knoxville mayor Samuel G. Heiskell as vice president. The Society hosted lectures on Fort Loudoun
Fort Loudoun (Tennessee)
Fort Loudoun was a British colonial fort in present-day Monroe County, Tennessee, near the towns of the Overhill Cherokee. The fort was reconstructed during the Great Depression and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.-History:...
, Irish nationalist John Mitchel
John Mitchel
John Mitchel was an Irish nationalist activist, solicitor and political journalist. Born in Camnish, near Dungiven, County Londonderry, Ireland he became a leading member of both Young Ireland and the Irish Confederation...
, and the State of Franklin
State of Franklin
The State of Franklin, known also as the Free Republic of Franklin or the State of Frankland , was an unrecognized autonomous United States territory created in 1784 from part of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains that had been offered,...
, and featured speakers such as Fitzhugh Lee
Fitzhugh Lee
Fitzhugh Lee , nephew of Robert E. Lee, was a Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, the 40th Governor of Virginia, diplomat, and United States Army general in the Spanish-American War.-Early life:...
. The Society also admitted women for the first time. By the end of the century, however, this second incarnation of the ETHS was no longer active.
In December 1924, several Knoxville-area educators and librarians met at the Lawson McGhee Library to discuss reviving the ETHS. The first official meeting of the new Society took place on January 16, 1925. Charter members included U.T. professor Philip Hamer, Lawson McGhee librarian Mary Rothrock, and U.T. dean (and later president) James Hoskins. The Calvin M. McClung Collection offered the Society use of its office space and staff. The Society began publishing its annual scholarly journal in 1929, and hosted lectures by historians Stanley J. Folmsbee and Samuel Cole Williams
Samuel Cole Williams
Samuel Cole Williams was a noted 19th and 20th century Tennessee jurist, historian, educator, and businessman.-Early life:...
. The Society published its first book, Folmsbee's Sectionalism and Internal Improvements in Tennessee, in 1939.
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, and contributions by Harvey Broome
Harvey Broome
Harvey Benjamin Broome was an American lawyer, writer and conservationist. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Broome was a founding member of The Wilderness Society, for which he served as president from 1957 until his death in 1968, and played a key role in the establishment of the Great Smoky...
and several other ETHS members. A revised edition was published in 1972.
In 1976, the Society published a comprehensive history of Knoxville, entitled, Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee. This book was edited by Lucile Deaderick, and included a general history of the city by William MacArthur. MacArthur's history was republished in the 1982 book, Knoxville: Crossroads of the New South, which included several hundred photographs from the McClung Collection.
In the late 1970s, Knox County acquired the Old Customs House (which had been used by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
prior to the construction of the TVA Towers), and allotted the space to the McClung Collection and the Knox County Archives. The ETHS set up its headquarters on the building's second floor, and hired a professional staff. During the 1980s, under the directorship of Charles Faulkner Bryan and Mark Whetherington, membership virtually doubled. The ETHS established the Museum of East Tennessee History in 1993.
Publications
Since 1929, the Society has published an annual collection of scholarly essays on the history and culture of East Tennessee. Initially known simply as the Society's Publications, this work has been published as the "Journal of East Tennessee History" since 1990. The journal covers topics on a wide range of historical and cultural issues related to East Tennessee and the Southern AppalachiaAppalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n region, including the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the early settlement of East Tennessee, post-Civil War Reconstruction, the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as well as more recent events such as the 1982 World's Fair
1982 World's Fair
The 1982 World's Fair, formally known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."...
. The Society also publishes two more magazine format titles, the tri-annual "Tennessee Ancestors" and the quarterly newsletter "Newsline".
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 BrewerCarson BrewerCarson Brewer was an American journalist and conservationist, best known for his work documenting the folk life of Knoxville and the surrounding Appalachian communities in East Tennessee...
, 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 JenkinsRay JenkinsRay Howard Jenkins was an American lawyer, active primarily in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the surrounding region, throughout much of the 20th century...
, 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 PoeOrlando PoeOrlando Metcalfe Poe was an United States Army officer and engineer in the American Civil War. After helping General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea, he was responsible for much of the early lighthouse construction on the Great Lakes.-Early life:Poe was born in Navarre, Ohio...
, 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 HumesThomas William HumesThomas William Humes was an American clergyman and educator, active in Knoxville, Tennessee, during the latter half of the 19th century. Elected rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in 1846, Humes led the church until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he was forced to resign due to his Union...
, 1990. Originally published in 1852. - Knoxville by Betsey Beeler Creekmore, 1991. Originally published in 1958.
East Tennessee History Center
The headquarters of the East Tennessee Historical Society are located in the East Tennessee History Center, Old Customs House building in downtown Knoxville, which is owned by Knox County. This building, which is depicted in the ETHS logo, is home to the Historical Society's Museum of East Tennessee History, which depicts cultural and historical exhibits from around the region. Displays include items owned by early Tennesseans such as Davy CrockettDavy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
and John Sevier
John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
, memorabilia from events such as 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
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
instruments and memorabilia.
The History Center also contains the Knox County Archives and the Calvin M. McClung Collection of the Knox County Public Libraries
Lawson McGhee Public Library
The Lawson McGhee Public Library is the main library for Knoxville, Tennessee. It is located at 500 West Church Avenue in downtown Knoxville. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center, the East Tennessee Historical Center and numerous library branches are also associated with the Lawson McGhee Public...
. The McClung Collection is one of the preeminent genealogical research facilities in the Southeastern United States. Free lectures and courses designed to encourage individuals to research their family histories as well as educate them in the proper way to conduct such research are given on a regular basis.