By Steve Cotham, McClung Collection Manager This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 2 Fall 2019 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection was created in 1919 with the donation of Calvin McClung’s personal library to Lawson McGhee Library, Knoxville’s public library. McClung carefully built his outstanding private collection of local and regional history over the course of his lifetime, and the new library department became a significant resource for the community and researchers interested in East Tennessee subjects. The McClung Collection will celebrate its centennial on June 15, 2021. Today the collection has 75,000 books; 25,000 reels…
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Featured Collection: The National Park Service Collections Preservation Center at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
By Michael Aday, Librarian-Archivist at the Collections Preservation Center at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 2 Fall 2019 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. In May 2016 representatives of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Park Service Southeastern Regional Office, Senator Lamar Alexander, and local dignitaries gathered in Townsend, Tennessee to cut the ribbon on a project that had been over 10 years in the making. That project, The National Park Service Collections Preservation Center, officially opened that day, though it would be several months before collection items would be moved…
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Highlander Center Archives – An Update and History- An Interview with Susan Williams, coordinator of the Highlander Library/Resource Center
This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 2 Fall 2019 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. It’s a funny thing, because all of Highlander’s stuff is not in one place. Highlander’s stuff connects to lots of other people, to lots of other efforts, to other organizations. It’s kind of a curious collection. – Susan Williams, Highlander Research and Education Center A fire destroyed the main offices of Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN, on March 29, 2019. According to news reports, the fire “destroyed decades of historic documents, speeches, artifacts, and memorabilia.” The Appalachian Curator contacted Highlander…