Stories

Researched narratives from Knoxville’s past
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Knoxville, 1960
January 16, 2016
Dr. King inspired his supporters here in 1960, but Knoxville’s civil rights effort began many years earlier. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in Knoxville on Memorial Day, 1960,...
The Cal Johnson Building: New Hope for a Neglected Landmark
January 13, 2016
Last month, the Rogero administration made an executive decision about one of the very few decrepit buildings left downtown. The three-story brick building on State Street...
Save Our Cultural History: Buy an Advertisement
January 6, 2016
Last month I attended a holiday event in Holly’s 135 upstairs. As I was offering a short presentation to a dinner crowd, I was asked about a large mural on the wall behind...
Knoxville City Council’s Bicentennial
January 6, 2016
The Board of Aldermen, forerunner of Knoxville City Council, began meeting 200 years ago. Although Knoxville was considered a city as early as 1791, when it was the capital...
The Advent of Electric Illumination in Knoxville
December 23, 2015
Knoxville’s first electric lights were turned on 130 years ago this week. Later, a former Knoxvillian used electric lights to change the way America celebrated New Year’s...
Andie Ray, 1967-2015
December 21, 2015
This darkest season is darker with an unimagined loss. Twenty-odd years ago, Andie Ray was a familiar face at the checkout desk at Lawson McGhee Library. Even if you never...
Winter in Knoxville
December 21, 2015
Contrary to some assumptions, Knoxville has a winter. Cold weather has played a big part in Knoxville’s history. Some Knoxville industry was oriented toward contending with...
Christmas in 1915: The Garden of Allah, Creeping Babies, and the Blue Rabbit
December 16, 2015
Dread was in the air that December, threats of terrorism and gruesome stories of mass killings in Europe. Even the pope was saying the level of killing was “unprecedented.”...
Jennifer Niceley Balances a Country Life and a Complicated Music Industry
December 16, 2015
When we tracked Jennifer Niceley down, early this week, she was driving back home from a show at the Nashville club known as the Basement and pulled over near Mt. Juliet to chat....


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