William Francis Yardley: Knoxville Trailblazer | Brown Bag Lecture by Joe Jarret

A lawyer, politician, civil rights advocate, and gubernatorial candidate, William Yardley achieved a number of “firsts” at a time when it was unacceptable for an African American to do so. He was born in Knoxville to an Irish mother and an African American father and was befriended and mentored by the Yardleys, a prominent white family from whom he likely took his name. The famed statesman and abolitionist Frederick Douglass referred to him as “one of the most remarkable men that I have met.” Joe Jarret is a Tennessee attorney and a lecturer with the University of Tennessee, Department of Political Science.

The program is sponsored by Harriet Z. Albers Memorial and is and free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824.