Knoxville Chronicles

In 1856, before the Civil War, Dr. William J. Baker, with assistance from a few others including his suffering patient, hurried medical science along a bit by performing one of the first hysterectomy surgeries in the United States here on Gay Street.    Of that historic team of four surgeons, the youngest is the one best remembered today. Knoxvillians may recognize the name, even if they don’t rem...

This short account looks back on how Knoxville’s Christmas traditions were influenced by one of the most popular authors of all time, Charles Dickens, and his most beloved story, A Christmas Carol first published in England in 1843. Written by Jack Neeley and narrated by Todd Ethridge.  Produced by the Knoxville History Project. Sound design and editing by Pete Carty. Knoxville Chronicles is broug...

This short story focuses on the ghostly happenings at an old double-house, actually two small antebellum houses linked by a vestibule, at 309 East Cumberland Avenue, on the eastern fringe of downtown. The house was torn down at the onset of Urban Renewal in 1959, but part of its story remains. Originally written by Jack Neely for the Knoxville Mercury , and narrated by Rebecca Longmire.  Produced...

The pilot episode of Knoxville Chronicles tells the story of Adolph Ochs, a kid who was scared of a graveyard while he learned the ropes of newspaper publishing here in Knoxville as a Printer’s Devil. The lad went on to become the founder of a major American institution, a cultural leader who changed a whole profession, established a landmark, and introduced a new way of celebrating a holiday. The...

This short podcast looks back on how national and local events influenced the celebration of Thanksgiving in Knoxville, connecting seemingly disparate events such as the Siege of Knoxville during the Civil War, prohibitionist Carrie Nation’s visit in 1906, and later, even UT football. Written by Jack Neely and read by Todd Ethridge  Produced by the Knoxville History Project. Sound design and editi...

Three days before Christmas in 1893, Whittle’s sawmill by the river exploded and the disaster proved to be a portent of trouble ahead on the streets of Knoxville. While for some, Christmas was a quiet, family affair, with gifts and Christmas trees, for others it was a time for looking for some fun or for some trouble. The ensuing mayhem meant that it was a Christmas period like no other. Jack Neel...

One of Knoxville’s oldest buildings, the old deaf school (now Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law), with its 1848 date proudly on the front, still stands on Summit Hill Drive. The school had barely begun to prosper when it was commandeered during the Civil War for use as a military hospital. After the conflict, Prof. Ijams, one of the nation’s leading deaf and mute teachers, hired t...

From the day it was finished in 1903, the mortar had hardly dried between the bricks at the Southern Railway Station before people began complaining it wasn’t nearly big enough for the job. But there was one face that everyone got used to seeing every day–a woman in uniform and a white hat. Her name was Maggie Lattimore. Although she was an African American in a segregated train station, she often...

The man everyone knew as Walter Othmer, worked quietly as an electrician on Market Street near the Pryor Brown Garage. In 1944, he lived at the downtown YMCA, which offered simple, dormitory-like accommodations for guys who were new to town. He may have seemed like a regular guy –he was a thin man with wire-rimmed glasses and a very small mustache. A humble, friendly fellow who missed his wife and...