Programs & Current Projects

Knoxville’s history in the present: Current occasions of historical interest

A NEW PUBLICATION FOR LATE 2019: HISTORIC BEARDEN

Bearden is one of Knoxville’s oldest and best-known communities, with an economically and racially diverse background and deep roots in the 19th century. However, to date, except for some short monographs and personal memoirs, it has never been the subject of a comprehensive history, description, or overview in book form.

A new full-color historical guidebook, to be written by Jack Neely, and designed by the awarding winning team at Robin Easter Design, will be released towards the end of 2019 by the Knoxville History Project.

For more information on this project please click here for KHP’s Historic Bearden book page which also contains links to our community history and oral history pages.

 

MAKING KHP PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC

Thanks to generous funding from the Friends of the Knox County Public Library, KHP has been able to make a number of its publications available to readers through the library system. Special hardbound copies of the following titles are now available to check out at the Downtown Lawson McGhee Library and branch libraries:

  • Knoxville History: Volume 1
  • Knoxville Holidays & Festivals
  • Knoxville Blues: Stories from Knoxville’s Lively Musical Past
  • A Knoxville Christmas
  • The Legend of the Gold Bricks and other Knoxville Stories
  • Knoxville’s National Cemetery: A Short History 

HISTORIC KNOXVILLE PLAYING CARDS

 

KHP is proud to showcase a  new set of illustrated playing cards designed by the talented Tara Guin.

Playing with this sumptuous set will inspire you to learn a thing or two about some truly interesting, creative, successful, and altogether quirky and unforgettable characters from Knoxville’s past featured on the face cards. Meet the face cards on our Historic Knoxville Playing Cards page.

NEW!!! – HISTORIC KNOXVILLE: 

The Curious Visitor’s Guide to its Stories and Places

The Knoxville History Project’s new book, written by Jack Neely, is a comprehensive and engaging 200-page guide for both visitors and residents offers a wide-ranging guided tour to scores of places and institutions relevant to the city’s little know but endlessly fascinating history.

Knoxville will just come alive  after you’ve read this book and explored some fascinating places!

Available from KHP and local book shops and retailers. Price: 24.95

Learn more on the HISTORIC KNOXVILLE GUIDE page.

2019 WORK PLAN

For an overview of KHP’s core programs and priority projects in 2019 click here. 

KNOXVILLE’S NATIONAL CEMETERY: A SHORT HISTORY 

For Memorial Day Weekend 2018, KHP completed the first-ever published history of Knoxville’s National Cemetery.

A solemn destination, National Cemetery which lies adjacent to Old Gray Cemetery off Broadway, is the resting places of more than 9,000 American soldiers from every major war in the last 155 years and, in some cases, their close families. It’s so well kept, white stones in green grass, it doesn’t look very old, but it may be Knoxville’s best-preserved artifact of the Civil War. It was founded in September, 1863, when the Union-held city was anticipating a Confederate siege.

 

The Union monument, one of the largest in the South outside of battlefield memorial parks, has an extraordinary story behind it– about why it looks very different in old photographs. It also holds the simple grave of an especially well-known general who’s memorialized much more extravagantly elsewhere in town.

Learn more about the National Cemetery and other noteworthy cemeteries on our Historic Cemeteries page through the Knoxville History Portal.

WALK WITH ME PODCASTS

If you want to hear an unusual take on Knoxville’s history and culture, try Walk with Me.

This creation of musician, filmmaker, and former television host Bob Deck, through his company, Wide Lens, along with singer/songwriter/poet R.B. Morris. The newest ones, about the Tennessee and Bijou Theatres, the Knoxville Museum of Art, St. John’s Episcopal Church, and the Jig & Reel– all venues used in the recent Big Ears festival– include some historical context provided by the Knoxville History Project.  It’s an interesting idea, and we hope to participate in more projects like it in the future. Go to WALK WITH ME

Downtown Art Wraps

Expanding every month, Downtown Art Wraps engage the public to discover the city’s rich artistic heritage by showcasing some of the important artwork made by Knoxville artists from the past. View the wraps on an interactive map and learn more on our Downtown Art Wraps  page.

What’s Inside Your Shoe Box?

Most of us have a shoe box filled with old photos, clippings, and assorted memorabilia from our own lives and families.

You might have something in there that has distinct local importance and would also enhance KHP’s ability to tell a more comprehensive story of this special town. Old family photos might show interesting scenes or buildings. Posters and photos from musical shows here in Knoxville also have fascinating stories to tell, especially when coupled with others.

Learn how you can help KHP and enrich local history on our Knoxville Shoe Box page.

Kicking things off we have new information about Emory Place as well as the new Lib Cooper Knoxville Digital Postcard Collection to share!