Lisa Oakley, Curator of Education at ETHS

LISA OAKLEY, CURATOR OF EDUCATION AT EAST TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The East Tennessee Historical Society is a unique resource for tourists, researchers, writers, students, genealogists and history buffs. A new exhibit, “Voices of the Land,” will open in August, presenting aspects of the history and culture of the region, its influence on the daily lives of its inhabitants and its role in the state and nation.

While many visitors are familiar with its holdings and exhibits, fewer know that each year ETHS holds a week-long institute for educators from Tennessee to learn more about a specific topic in history. This year, 15 teachers were selected to take a trip to the other side of the state and back to participate in “Freedom Spirit: Tennessee and the Civil Rights Movement.” Knoxville Voice sat down with Lisa Oakley, the curator of education for ETHS, to find out more about this year’s institute and the Society.

What does your job involve as the curator of education?

I am responsible for all of the programming that is targeted toward teachers, educators, as well as students. And that would also include family events, that sort of thing. We do a lot of programs and in-services for teachers, as well as programs for children.

Tell me about the importance of ETHS to Knoxville and the East Tennessee area.

Well, I think the history center is sort of a one-stop shop. It’s the place to go to find out about East Tennessee’s history. Of course, it’s not all about Knoxville. Knoxville is just centrally located, so it’s a place where folks can easily get here. Where we are, we feel we have a responsibility to share the story of the whole region. And the thing that’s great about the history center is there are all kinds of partnerships here — East Tennessee Historical Society, the Knox County archives and the McClung Historical Collection. So, we handle everything from genealogy to court records for Knox County and other local counties to museum programming. Through that partnership we’re allowed to provide lots of different resources. I think it’s a great thing for Knoxville and East Tennessee.

Every year the Historical Society sponsors an institute directed toward educators. Tell me about that.

Well, we call it an institute because it’s a little bit more work than a seminar or a workshop and is a whole week. This was the 10th annual teachers’ institute. Basically we started offering these back in 1998 and each year has been funded through Humanities Tennessee, an organization that receives funding through the National Endowment for the Humanities and kind of spreads on down to groups in Tennessee for programs. Each year we apply for the grant and we don’t know from year to year if we will receive it, so we have to treat the institute as something new and develop a new theme and a new idea. We take a topic from Tennessee history that’s correlated to the social studies curriculum. We look over that topic intensively through the week while also providing the meals and lodging, so it’s a great chance for teachers to work together in a cohort. They go through the whole week together, which is a really nice bonding experience. We have a maximum of 15 teachers that we take from all over the state and they get a lot of great ideas from each other. And that’s basically how the institutes are set up.

The institute for 2008 was called “Freedom Spirit: Tennessee and the Civil Rights Movement.” Where did you visit and who were some of the people you met?

We really wanted to cover some of the key events in Tennessee during the Civil Rights Movement and we realized that in order to do that we were going to have to travel across the state. In each part of the state we spoke with individuals who were a part of the Civil Rights Movement. In West Tennessee we talked with the Rev. Billy Kyles, who was very involved with the movement in Memphis and was the only person standing on the balcony with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was shot. In Middle Tennessee the focus really went to the students involved with the movement and we spoke to Bernard Lafayette, who was a student at American Bible College in Nashville. He was very involved with the sit-in movements as well as the freedom rides. Those experiences were very powerful and we really gained a lot of insight. The instructor for the week was Dr. Cynthia Fleming from the University of Tennessee and she was able to put things in context before we heard a speaker or after. Having her with us the whole week, we were able to ask her questions about how things were related or tied together.

What are some of the things the teachers were responsible for on the trip?

They had to keep a journal during the week. They had to conceptualize and outline, if they were to do an in-service for teachers back in their school district, what the most important things through the week were and what they would share. But their biggest responsibility is to go back into their classroom in the fall and develop a lesson plan to pilot and evaluate. They will then submit them and we will publish them. It’s kind of a legacy; it’s how the institute can continue.
 
Do you have any programs for college students?

We have a lot of students that utilize the History Center as a resource, but we actually haven’t done anything for college students yet. I certainly think that would be something to think about doing, though. We do offer internships and a volunteer program for students that want to get credit or just get experience.

Do you have other workshops?

We do. We have in-services for teachers, and with the new exhibit opening in August I will be having workshops focusing on that. We do a number of different things and formats.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If there is anyone interested in getting more information or getting involved with the Historical Society, they can feel free to contact me. We are going to have a lot going on, especially in the fall, with our new exhibit and all the workshops.

ETHS will host two recruitment events for new volunteers July 12 and July 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at the East Tennessee History Center, providing a sneak peak into the new exhibit as part of both sessions. The program is the same on both dates, so prospective volunteers should call the Society to RSVP. Lisa Oakley can be contacted by phone at 865-215-8828 or by e-mail at oakley@east-tennessee-history.org.