East Tennessee Historical Society

ARTIFACTS AND EXHIBITS - ETHS maintains an extensive collection of cultural artifacts, historical documents, and folk art, concentrating on items of historical significance to East Tennessee. In 2023, ETHS spent $27,994 on new purchases and care of the collection, and received gifts valued at $4,895. Its permanent collection is valued at over $2.1 million, with additional items valued at $3.9 million on long-term loan. Depreciation and maintenance costs on a $3.5 million signature permanent exhibit completed in 2010 "Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee" totaled $183,852. Museum visitors to the permanent exhibit and two temporary exhibits totaled 20,248 in 2023, and generated revenue from admissions of $68,481. The temporary exhibits included "Lights! Camera! East Tennessee!", chronicling Knoxville's contributions to film, featuring highlights from 35 mm film and stories of how Knoxvillians made Hollywood history, and "They Sang What They Lived: The Story of Carl and Pearl Butler" the first retrospective exhibition of Carl and Pearl Butler, the iconic country music duo whose timeless lyrics and harmonious melodies left an indelible mark on country music. ETHS extends the life and reach of selected exhibits by making them available to museums, libraries and universities across the region and in other states. ETHS spent $11,572 on temporary exhibits in 2023.

PUBLICATIONS - ETHS develops, prints and distributes "Tennessee Ancestors" semiannually (document transcriptions, historical and genealogical articles), the "Journal of East Tennessee History" annually (scholarly magazine), and "Newsline" semiannually (information on ETHS and other regional organizations).

EDUCATION - ETHS provides educational programs for the general public (lectures, workshops, family days, genealogical workshops, and special events), student programs (at the museum and in classrooms), and teacher programs (variety of professional development offerings with associated materials and resources). In 2023, ETHS provided programs to over 27,308 members of the public, 5,648 students and 173 teachers. About 39% attended programs at ETHS; the rest were off-site. In addition, ETHS provided information and educational opportunities to over 484,000 persons through its media/online outreach and E-newsletter. Educational programs introduce students of all ages to East Tennessee's history in fun, hands-on, and interactive ways to enrich the Tennessee social studies and literacy standards. Students engage with the museum galleries as well as with programs such as Discovery Boxes and Objects Over Time. A new interactive program for preschoolers, Little History Lessons, was introduced in 2022. In 2023, ETHS initiated the Appalachian Sessions educational project with partner Appalachia Sessions, LLC. ETHS staff work with the LLC to provide participating students and their teachers regional content programming before live-performances produced for future broadcast. ETHS also continues its special heritage program "First Families of Tennessee", founded in 1993 to honor the state's first residents and to identify their descendants. The program has over 17,000 members from across the United States and eight foreign countries. Membership is open to anyone who can prove direct descent from a person living in Tennessee before or by the time of statehood in 1796. 150 new members received certificates in 2023, including certificates for the companion program Civil War Families of Tennessee, which has over 1,300 members.