Scenic Roots

From the cover of “Eleven Myths About The Tuskegee Airmen.” (NewSouth Books / University of Georgia Press) The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black aviators to serve in the United States Armed Forces. When they trained and flew during World War II, the military was segregated - and segregation was the law here in the South. Dr. Daniel Haulman is a military historian who retired after several decad...

Alma Jean Benton looks at a photograph in a historical timeline at the grand opening of the Walker County African American Museum and Cultural Center in LaFayette, GA. (Andrew Wilkins / Chattanooga Times Free Press) In Northwest Georgia, there’s a new space that preserves local Black history. The Walker County African-American Museum and Cultural Center opened in December - at 309 N. Main St. in t...

Photo of a female Kodiak bear in the Alaskan wilderness taken by wildlife photographer and UTC alum Kim Hubbard, one of participants in this year’s “Photo Night.” (Kim Hubbard) Student Seth Carpenter is photo editor for the Echo - also an assistant editor with Rising Rock. This week, on our campus - the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Photo Night. The showcase of professional photographers...

Back in the frame for the return of “Photo Night” here at UTC. In Northwest Georgia, a new space preserves local Black history. Dr. Daniel Haulman, military historian on the Tuskegee Airmen. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

“Portrait of James Baldwin” by Beauford Delaney. (Hunter Museum) Tonight at the Hunter Museum here in Chattanooga, a celebration of Jazz Age Harlem and Paris for Black History Month. Kimmie J. Soul will be one of the creatives presenting “Vision + Verse: Jazz Age Nights,” starting at 6 PM.

Part of what will become the Alton Park Connector. (The Trust for Public Land) Here in Chattanooga, the Alton Park Connector project - when fully complete - will create a walkable and bikeable path across Chattanooga Creek to Crabtree Farms. It will extend from Clifton Hills to the intersection of West 33rd Street and St. Elmo Avenue, linking the Tennessee Riverwalk from its Wheland Foundry Trailh...

Paths ahead for Chattanooga’s Alton Park Connector project. Kimmie J. Soul on “Jazz Age Nights” at the Hunter Museum. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly (City of Chattanooga) On Wednesday afternoon, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly joined us live here on WUTC for our monthly conversation.

Kimberly Bowen (Unum) Kimberly Bowen is senior vice president of talent and inclusion at Unum. She moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Chattanooga four years ago to start her job with the insurance company. We last spoke during the summer of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.

Michael Bornstein and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat. (Chattanooga Public Library) The average lifespan of a child at Auschwitz - the most notorious death camp in world history - was just two weeks. Michael Bornstein was four years old when he arrived at the Nazi camp during the Holocaust. He managed to beat those odds and survive. Six weeks after he was liberated from the camp after World War II, Mic...

From a young prisoner at Auschwitz to “Survivors Club.” Kimberly Bowen, senior v.p. of talent & inclusion at Unum. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Bessie Smith (Carl Van Vechten / Library of Congress) Bessie Smith - the Black female singer known as the “Empress of the Blues” - was born here in Chattanooga more than a century ago, during the era of Jim Crow segregation. Next Monday, starting at 7:30 PM, a concert at Memorial Auditorium will present full orchestral arrangements of Bessie’s music, commissioned by the Chattanooga Symphony and Op...

For this Black History Month, Chattanooga Theatre Centre is presenting a musical adaptation of “The Color Purple” - starting Friday at 8 PM. Alice Walker wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the journey of an African-American woman in the South during the early 20th Century. Steven Spielberg directed the film based on the novel. Ric Morris is the director of CTC’s musical version of “The C...

Power C sculpture on UTC campus. (UTC) Internships give students the chance to learn and grow in the workplace, acquiring hands-on experience that can open the door to a job. Jaclyn York is assistant director for the Decosimo Success Center at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Lynn Chestnut is executive director of the Tennessee Smal...

Street clock along Cedar Ave. in South Pittsburg. (Brian Stansberry) Known for cast iron cookware and cornbread, the town of South Pittsburg sits in the southwestern end of the Sequatchie Valley between the Cumberland Plateau and the Tennessee River. This year, South Pittsburg is celebrating its 150th anniversary - and reporter Ben Benton looks at the sesquicentennial for an upcoming story in The...

A portrait of former TN State Rep. Joanne Favors, at left - with Janelle Reilly, CEO of CHI Memorial Health System, at right. (Nicole Brown) Now on display for Black History Month, the Chattanoogans exhibit at CHI Memorial honors the lives of prominent African-Americans in this city. The exhibit is the work of students from our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. History students r...

“Chattanoogans” - the art exhibit now at CHI Memorial. A small-town sesquicentennial for South Pittsburg, TN. At CTC, a musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.” These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Nate Ben-Horin and Jaclyn Grossman of The Likht Ensemble. (The Likht Ensemble / Facebook) Rarely performed music composed by Jewish artists during the Holocaust will be heard in Chattanooga this week. On Thursday, the Likht Ensemble will perform “The Shoah Songbook” with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera - starting at 7 PM at the Roland Hayes Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Center here at UTC. On F...

The Westside area of Chattanooga in 2022. (Olivia Ross / Chattanooga Times Free Press) Works by two Black artists - Beauford Delaney and Nellie Mae Rowe - are now on display in special exhibitions at the Hunter Museum. Both artists grew up in cities neighboring Chattanooga during segregation. On Thursday, starting at 6 PM, the Hunter will present a program inspired by the Rowe exhibition, titled “...

Karen Guinn (Hamilton County Mayor’s Office) Karen Guinn is a registered nurse who started her career with the Hamilton County Health Department nearly forty years ago. Today, she is director of the county’s homeless health care center - and we recently spoke about her elevated role.

Hamilton County’s Karen Guinn on homeless health care. “A Sense of Place” at the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga. The Likht Ensemble tells the story of “The Shoah Songbook.” These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”

Michael Crosa (Michael Crosa) Michael Crosa is a podcaster here in Chattanooga. He’s the director of “Jollyville Radio” - and his new podcast is “My Part of Town Chattanooga.” On Tuesday, February 21st, starting at 6 PM, he’ll teach an Introduction to Podcasting class at The Chattery at 1800 Rossville Avenue.

A work by LaRissa Rogers, part of “Territorial.” (Stacey Evans / via Stove Works) A group exhibition coming to Stove Works here in Chattanooga examines our relationship with land - and with each other - through art. “Territorial: The Land and Us” - curated by Haley Clouser of Lincoln, Massachusetts - premieres on Friday, February 24th, featuring a reception at 6 PM. I spoke with Haley - and Josiah...

Bernice Radle (Buffalove Development) What can a Sun Belt city learn from a Rust Belt city about developing vacant spaces? Start small. Scale incrementally. Neighborhoods - and the people in them - first. Those are some of the values that Bernice Radle has applied in Buffalo, New York. She is the founder and CEO of Buffalove Development and Little Wheel Restoration Co. On Thursday here in Chattano...

The place for small-scale development in Chattanooga. “Territorial: The Land and Us,” an exhibition at Stove Works. So, you want to be a podcaster? Ask Michael Crosa. These voices - and more - on this edition of “Scenic Roots.”