Calendar of Events

Time: 7:00 pm Eastern
Registration: tiny.utk.edu/CC_King2023
Lisa King: A Sense of Indigenous Place at UT

About the talk:
Landmarks like Ayres Hall or Neyland Stadium are considered the defining features of UT’s Knoxville campus, but they aren’t actually the oldest or the even the most important sites with stories to tell. The Indigenous mound on the UT agricultural campus rarely receives the attention it deserves. UT faculty and staff are now working with Tribal Nations to tell the stories of the mound and this land, centering Indigenous perspectives for the first time. This talk will discuss some of those stories, as well as preview the McClung Museum’s forthcoming exhibition dedicated to the mound and indigenous culture in East Tennessee.

About the speaker:
Lisa King is an associate professor of rhetoric, writing, and linguistics in the Department of English at UT. Her work is interdisciplinary, based on cultural rhetorics with an emphasis in contemporary Native American/Indigenous rhetorics. She is co-editor of Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story: Teaching American Indian Rhetorics, and author of Legible Sovereignties: Rhetoric, Representations, and Native American Museums. Her current projects include a co-edited collection with Andrea Riley Mukavetz, titled Decolonial Possibilities: Indigenously-Rooted Practices in Rhetoric and Writing, and an upcoming exhibition at McClung Museum tentatively titled “A Sense of Indigenous Place.”

https://humanitiescenter.utk.edu
Questions at humanitiesctr@utk.edu or 865-974-4222

*UPDATE 3-28-23 - this event already took place on March 23*

Learn about the importance of Repatriation from a Native perspective. Hear how representatives of three Native Nations work to reclaim cultural materials and ancestors from institutions across the US, and how their Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (TPHOs) support Repatriation work. Presented by the McClung Museum in conjunction with the exhibition The Repatriation of Archaeology and the Native Peoples of Tennessee.

Speakers: RaeLynn A. Butler is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and currently serves as the Manager of the Historic and Cultural Preservation Department at the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Deanna Byrd is a registered professional archaeologist and completed her education at The University of Oklahoma and Illinois State University. She serves as the NAGPRA Liaison-Coordinator for The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Miranda Panther is the NAGPRA Officer for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office (EBCI THPO).

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 12–4 p.m.

CMOR @ 50: Past, Present, Future
in the Imagination Gallery

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge with this special exhibition that features historical photos, objects from the Museum’s collection, and a chance to think about what the Museum means to our community. This exhibition is curated by Mary Klages, CMOR’s Gallery Coordinator, with assistance from Caitlynn Fine, the Museum’s Collections Assistant.

Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, 461 West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Hours: T-Sat 10-4, Sun 1-4. Information: 865-482-1074, www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org

Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 10:00am - 4:00pm

Join the Historic Ramsey House during March for a special look at our quilt collection! "Piecing Together History: A look at the Ramsey House Quilt Collection" will highlight some of our rarely displayed collection pieces that showcase a rich and vibrant textile history! Throughout the month, we will have several different workshops and lectures happening, so be sure to mark your calendars!

The Historic Ramsey House’s permanent collection is home to more than 50 historic quilts and other textiles dating from the early 1800's to the mid 1900's. From the Pickle Dish to the Rose and Bud, these beautiful works of art, help to tell the story of East Tennessee families, from all walks of life, one stitch at a time. Our ongoing effort to protect and store the collection is integral to ensuring its survival for future generations.

https://www.ramseyhouse.org/system/events/view/38/piecing-together-history-temporary-exhibit

Historic Ramsey House, 2614 Thorngrove Pike, Knoxville, TN 37914. Information: 865-546-0745, www.ramseyhouse.org

A Colossal Experience, Millions of Years in the Making

Prepare for a Jurassic exploration at Zoo Knoxville! March 1 through September 4, a pack of prehistoric creatures will be stationed throughout the park. Bring your young paleontologists and discover hidden truths about the era "terrible lizards" walked the earth. https://www.wildlyfun.com/

Zoo Knoxville, 3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive, Knoxville, TN 37914. Open 9 AM - 4 PM everyday. Information: 865-637-5331, www.zooknoxville.org

The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture is proud to announce the special exhibition, The Sculpture of William Edmondson: Tombstones, Garden Ornaments and Stonework, in partnership with Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. The exhibition is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Division of Diversity and Engagement and will run from January 13 to May 14, 2023.

The exhibition reexamines and recontextualizes the life and work of African American artist William Edmondson (1874–1951). Edmondson is the most significant sculptor to emerge from Tennessee during the 1930s and 40s and remains one of the leading American artists of the twentieth century.

This is the first large-scale museum exhibition of the artist’s career in over twenty years. During Edmondson’s life, he was well known for his yard art, including whimsical birdbaths, fanciful "critters," sculptures of everyday people, and grave markers he carved for African American families.
https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/2022/12/13/mcclung-museum-to-feature-one-of-the-most-significant-collections-of-tennessee-artist-william-edmondson-in-new-exhibition/

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, 1327 Circle Park Dr on the UT campus, Knoxville, TN 37996. Information: 865-974-2144. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 12–4 p.m.

Our relationship to moving images is constantly evolving. Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, for example, our use of–and reliance on–streaming services to access Hollywood blockbusters not only changed how we watch movies but also disrupted traditional models for financing and distributing such productions.

How did our relationship with moving images begin? What technological and cultural events sparked our interest in motion pictures as entertainment? And what role has East Tennessee and its people had in moviemaking?

Lights! Camera! East Tennessee!, a new feature exhibition at the East Tennessee History Center, answers these questions by chronicling Knoxville’s contributions to film from the promotion of Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope in 1895 to its use as a location for major productions currently in development. At the heart of the story is 35 mm film, shown both in urban theaters and suburban cineplexes and shot by itinerant filmmakers, documentarians, industrial filmmakers, and news reporters. Multiple screens featuring highlights from these genres anchor the exhibition.

Equally intriguing are the stories of how Knoxvillians made Hollywood history. Learn about Clarence Brown, a graduate of Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, who became one of MGM’s most prominent directors. And see why James Agee, known to us today as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, was better known as a film critic and screenwriter during his life.

Lights! Camera! East Tennessee! will also spotlight the numerous actors from across East Tennessee who became Hollywood A-listers and the variety of films that were shot in East Tennessee, including A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970) and That Evening Sun (2009), both of which premiered in Knoxville.

East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Museum hours: M-F 9-4, Sa 10-4, Su 1-5. Information: 865-215-8824, www.eastTNhistory.org/lights-camera