Lectures

Love history and want to learn more? Explore a variety of historical topics as authors, scholars, and local historians present the latest research and books, as well as new looks at old subjects. Lectures are open to the public and are free of charge unless otherwise stated.

Previous Lectures

  • A Roundtable Discussion with Title IX Trailblazers in East Tennessee
    April 27, 2023 - 6:00pm to 7:00pm

    In her new book Title IX, Pat Summitt, and Tennessee’s Trailblazers, Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel introduces readers to past and present pioneers in women’s sport. Join us for an evening book talk and roundtable discussion with key Trailblazers Dr. Joan Cronan, Ann Baker Furrow, and Missy Kane. Additional Trailblazers will be present...

  • April 26, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

    Following years of work as a news stringer and cameraman for hire, Sam Orleans opened Knoxville’s first motion picture production studio in 1946. Throughout the next two decades, his company produced over 100 educational and industrial films, focusing on such subjects as driver's education, agriculture, health and nuclear power. Calvin M....

  • April 12, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

    In her book East Tennessee Newsmakers, columnist Georgiana Vines pays tribute to 47 remarkable individuals and their contributions to Knoxville and the history, civic and cultural life, and politics of East Tennessee. Anyone who has resided in the region knows that it derives its glow from its people— the ones who built it and...

  • Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South
    March 29, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

    Kami Ahrens will introduce us to the women featured in Foxfire's newest publication, The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women: Stories of Landscape and Community in the Mountain South. This edited volume features twenty-one oral histories from Appalachian women from the Foxfire archive, magazine, and book series. These remarkable...

  • From a Small Coal Camp to Olympic Podium to Courtside with Michael Jordan
    March 27, 2023 - 6:00pm to 7:00pm

    Bill Schmidt discusses his new memoir Southview to Gettysvue, which begins with his childhood growing up in the small Appalachian Pennsylvania coal camp Southview. Though he suffered from family tragedy and personal struggles his interest in sports helped create a path forward. After graduating from college he made the 1972 US Olympic...

  • The Past, Present, and Future of Film Preservation in East Tennessee
    March 15, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

    Join Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound (TAMIS) archivists past and present as they explore the history of the audio-visual division of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection. With audience favorite films and recently discovered footage, they will explore the past, present, and future of TAMIS, a unique Knoxville institution....

  • February 15, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

    Robert J. Booker will delve into the history of the African American moviegoing experience in Knoxville, Tennessee, in a conversation with Knoxville History Project Executive Director Jack Neely. Booker will discuss the city’s segregated Black theaters from the early 1900s to the 1960s, as well as his experiences at the Bijou Theatre, where...

  • The Art of Jim Thompson & Laura Thornburgh
    February 1, 2023 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm

     “What is there to see in the Great Smokies? That depends upon what you want to see. These are the friendliest mountains in the world, and offer a never-ending series of surprises for those who visit them.” – Laura Thornburgh

    In 1925, Assistant Director of the National Park Service Arno B. Cammerer ascended Gregory Bald on a special...

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