"When I speak to groups about the stereotype of the Appalachian people, I always ask the group to describe the Appalachian attitude toward education. The reply is always the same --- they don't care about it or it isn't important to them. The image in their mind is like this picture of barefoot children in a one-room, run-down schoolhouse. There were some one-room schoolhouses. But the truth is that education has been important to people of the region and that historically the educational experience ranged from the one-room schoolhouse, to the folk school, to small colleges."

Browse our Suggested Reading List for books of interest.

Manuscripts

Boone's Creek Male and Female Seminary Papers
Consists of minutes of this Washington Co., Tenn. school's board of trustees (1854-58; 1860; 1863; 1881); constitution and by- laws; lists of students (1855-56); and a financial statement for 1855.

Nora C. Carter Collection
Contains documents related to Carter's education and teaching experience with the Elizabethton, Tenn. school system in the 1920s.

Cynthia A. Cornwell Tapes
Contains eight audio recordings of interviews conducted as part of Cornwell's research on the history of Milligan College.

East Tennessee Education Association Records
Contains organizational documents, correspondence, committee reports, financial records, minutes, newspaper clippings, press releases, and publications related to the association's efforts to promote improvements in education (1909-84).

Charles Gunter, Jr. Collection
Includes oral history interviews on school teaching during the depression of the 1930s and in the years following.

Gretchen Hyder Collection
Papers of this educator and school supervisor (Carter Co., Tenn. and East Tennessee State University) include correspondence with educational officials and teachers and materials related to various educational workshops and in-service teacher training programs.

Oris Hyder Film Collection
Includes footage of the Milligan College campus in the 1940s-50s and of various campus activities, including May Day, baseball, picnics, and graduation.

Joe Jennings Collection
Papers include personal and professional records related to Jennings' career as a public school teacher, school superintendent, and college professor, as well as a long-time administrator with the Department of the Interior.

Johnson City Press Newsclippings
Includes newspaper clipping files on area schools and institutions of higher education as well as on education in general.

Isabel Martin Papers
Contains materials related to Martin's annual (1950-70) nature retreat to Buffalo Mountain Conservation Camp with the University School (ETSU) fifth grade class.

Lillian Poe Interview
Consists of a recorded interview of Poe's reminiscences during here tenure as a teacher at University School (ETSU) from 1919- 61.

Tennessee Congress of Parents and Teachers Collection
Organized in 1911 to work for cooperation between parents and teachers, the collection includes correspondence, minutes, reports, financial records, charters, and scrapbooks and covers the period 1926-46.

Tennessee Survey of Higher Education Collection
Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, surveys, and other materials related to this study of higher education (1955-72), with the emphasis on East Tennessee State University.

Unicoi County, Tenn. Retired Teachers Association Collection
Consists of a 30-minute television program with guests discussing education, especially documenting prominent women in Unicoi County's history.

Washington County Court Records
Includes various educational records (1805-1936), including attendance records, reports, contracts, census of scholastic population, receipts, payment warrants, applications, and correspondence related to the county schools.

Appalachian Photographic Archive

The Appalachian Photographic Archives has photographs under the following headings: Education; Johnson City, Tenn.--Schools; Milligan College; Universities and Colleges.

Suggested Reading from Special Collections

The following is a list of selected titles relating to education. For a complete listing, consult Sherrod Library Online Catalog.

Barnes, Thelma Gray. Adventures in Education, Sullivan County, 1773-1983. 1985.

Calhoun, William Gunn, compiler. Samuel Doak, 1749- 1830. 1966.

Carr, Howard Ernest. Washington College: a study of an attempt to provide higher education in eastern Tennessee. 1935.

Duberman, Martin. Black Mountain College: an exploration in community. 1972.

Fuhrmann, Joseph T. The Life and Times of Tusculum College. 1986.

Govan, Gilbert E. and James W. Livingood. The University of Chattanooga: sixty years. 1947.

Horton, Aimee I. The Highlander Folk School, a history of its major programs, 1932-1961. 1989.

Rogers, Lucille. Light From Many Candles: a history of pioneer women in education in Tennessee. 1960.

Seales, P. David. A College for Appalachia: Alice Lloyd on Caney Creek.

Stuart, Jesse. To Teach, To Love. 1970.

Sullins, David. Recollections of an Old Man: Seventy Years in Dixie, 1827-1897. 1910.

White, Robert H. Development of the Tennessee State Educational Organization, 1796-1929. 1929.

Wigginton, Eliot. Sometimes a Shining Moment: the Foxfire experience. 1986.

Williams, Frank B., Jr. A University's Story, 1911- 1980. 1991.

University Archives

The Archives also houses selected records of East Tennessee State University. This material is useful in documenting 20th-century educational development in the region. The University Archives includes records of administrative offices, departments, societies, groups, and individuals, along with vertical file material (University Vertical Files), photograph collections (University Photographic Archive), publications (University Publications Files), and papers of University presidents, including Sidney Gilbreath, Charles C. Sherrod, Burgin E. Dossett, and Delos P. Culp. Finding aids to the University Archives can be found under Collections.