East
Tennessee State University
University Archives
Box 70295
Johnson City, TN 37614-0138
E-mail:
archives@etsu.edu
Telephone: (423) 439-4338
INTRODUCTION
Title:
Lillian Poe Interview
Collection Number: Accession No. 118
Physical Desciption: 1 audio reel-to-reel tape
Creator: Dr. Frank B. Williams, Jr.
Repository: University Archives, East Tennessee State University
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Provenance:
Dr. Frank B. Williams, Jr., Professor, Department of History, East Tennessee
State University (ETSU), interviewed Lillian Poe on November 17, 1981. Dr. Williams
donated the tape to the Archives of Appalachia on November 20, 1982. The tape
became available for research in November 1987.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processing Information: Marie Tedesco completed processing the collection in 1987.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Born in Hickory, North Carolina in 1891, Lillian Field Poe was the daughter
of Thomas and Lillie Wilson Field. She attended North Carolina State Normal
College, Greensboro (now the University of North Carolina, Greensboro), 1907-1911.
From 1907-1915 she taught in the elementary schools of Wilson, North Carolina,
and, from 1915-1919, in the elementary schools of Hickory, North Carolina. In
the fall 1919, Ms. Field began teaching at the Training and Observation School
(later University School), East Tennessee State Normal School.* Shortly thereafter,
she met and married W. H. Poe. Ms. Poe furthered her education by taking summer
courses at East Tennessee State Teachers College in 1926, 1927, and 1928. She
also received a master's degree in education in 1937 from George Peabody College
for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee. She retired from teaching in 1961.
A long-time Johnson City resident, Ms. Poe was active in the First Christian
Church and in the Business and Professional Women's Club. She died at the age
of 92 on March 4, 1983.
*East Tennessee State Normal School was founded in 1911; in 1925 the school
became East Tennessee State Teachers College. The name changed again in 1930
to State Teachers College, Johnson City, in 1943 to East Tennessee State College,
and in 1963 to East Tennessee State University.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The interview concentrates on Ms. Poe's remembrances of former East Tennessee
State presidents Sidney G. Gilbreath (1911-25) and Charles C. Sherrod (1925-49),
and of relations between the training school and the college. The tape is approximately
40 minutes in length (30 minutes, side 1; 10 minutes, side 2). Side 1 begins
abruptly, with no introduction, and ends with the voices muffled and unclear.
Side 2 ends abruptly, cutting off the interviewer in mid-sentence. The tape
is stored in the audio-visual storage area.
Important subjects covered in the collection include:
East Tennessee State College. Training School East Tennessee State University--History
Gilbreath, Sidney G. (Sidney Gordon), 1869-1961
Poe, Lillian F. (Lillian Field), 1890-1983--Interviews
Sherrod, Charles Chester, 1885-