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

  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    October 10, 2018 - 7:00am to October 11, 2018 - 7:45am

    Join the Knox County Public Library and the East Tennessee Historical Society and hear a noon presentation by John Stewart, Legislative Director for Senator Hubert Humphrey, as he speaks on the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

    Lunch will be available, but pre-orders will need to be made through the Library's webpage.

  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    October 8, 2018 - 7:00am to October 9, 2018 - 5:45pm

    One of the most extraordinary units in military history trained in Tennessee, then went to Europe in 1944 to put on a traveling road show of deception on the battlefields of Europe, with the Germany Army as their audience. Armed with inflatable tanks, sound effects, and more than a few tricks up their sleeves, these men of the Twenty-Third...

  • Presented by the University of Tennessee History Department
    September 20, 2018 - 12:00pm to September 21, 2018 - 12:45pm

    People in the South have never stayed still for long. From the founding of the nation to today, people have moved to, through, and from the South. By tracing these movements in the eras of slavery, segregation, and the present, we trace the countours of Southern history over two centuries.

    Edward Ayers, Ph.D., is the Tuceker-Boatwright...

  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    August 23, 2018 - 1:00pm to August 24, 2018 - 2:45pm

    Edward Terry Sanford was born in Knoxville and is one of only six Tennesseans to have served on the United States Supreme Court (1923-1930) and the only one who obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee.

    Stephanie L. Slater's important work covers Sanford's early upbringing, the lasting impression a largely pro-...

  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    August 22, 2018 - 7:00am to August 23, 2018 - 7:45am
    While the term "Code Talkers" is often associated with World War II, the story actually begins in WWI, when to avoid German deciphering of messages, the U.S. military employed Native Americans fluent in both their native language and English, to send secret messages in battle. The first known use of Native Americans in the American military to...
  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    August 19, 2018 - 9:30am to August 20, 2018 - 9:45am
    Ellen Berry (1894-1992), a descendant of Knoxville founder James White, was a southern aristocrat who lived a life of love, riches, world travel, and royal connections. Yet her life was marred by tragedy, sorrow, and a misplaced trust that took her fortune and became an episode of the television series Unsolved Mysteries.    ...
  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    July 19, 2018 - 7:00am to July 20, 2018 - 7:45am

    From the fronteir taverns and saloons to upscale dining and continental cuisine and a return to our roots of local eating experiences, Knoxville dining has now come full circle over the past 225 years. In a Brown Bag lecture, author and historian Paula Johnson will share stories ranging from the early country music stars frequenting Harold's...

  • @ East Tennessee History Center
    July 11, 2018 - 11:30am

    The Friends of the Knox County Public Library and Union Ave Books will host an evening with journalist and author Vince Vawter on Tuesday, August 7, at 7 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center. Vawter will speak about and sign copies of his latest book, Copyboy...

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