June has been a busy month for the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library (Old College) on campus.
The museum received an Award of Excellence from the East Tennessee Historical Society for an event last fall to commemorate the President Andrew Johnson bicentennial in 2008. It also became a part of the Tennessee Civil War Trails.
The East Tennessee Historical Society presented the museum the award for demonstrating excellence in public history programming with the work accomplished in creating and presenting “Andrew Johnson: Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution,” in September 2008.
The presentation included an education program for the community celebrating the Bicentennial of Andrew Johnson and the 221st Anniversary of the U.S. Constitution that featured the 113th U.S. Army Band. About 900 people attended the stirring performance by the band and the telling of the story of Johnson’s rise from ordinary circumstances to the nation’s leader by Chris Small, founder of the Lincoln Project and a Lincoln reenactor.
The award also recognized the museum for hosting and coordinating a symposium held on the campus of Tusculum College, which featured four historians in a discussion of the life and accomplishments of Andrew Johnson. Speakers included Dr. Eric Foner, one of this country’s most prominent historians who is considered the leading contemporary historian of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period.
The award was presented during the East Tennessee Historical Society’s annual membership meeting on June 2. Celebrating 175 years of service in 2009, the East Tennessee Historical Society is widely acknowledged to be one of the most active history organizations in the state and enjoys a national reputation for excellence in programming and education.
The keynote speaker for the annual membership meeting was Walter T. Durham, the Tennessee state historian, who also has ties with Tusculum College. Durham has contributed materials for a rare book collection in the Thomas J. Garland Library named in his honor and his wife, Anna Coile Durham ‘49, is a descendant of Tusculum College’s founders, the Doaks, and briefly attended the college. Their son, Jim Durham, is a 1979 graduate of the college and serves on the Board of Trustees.
The award from the East Tennessee Historical Society is the second recognition that has been received for “Andrew Johnson: Heritage, Legacy and Our Constitution.” The event also received an “Award of Excellence” form the Tennessee Association of Museums earlier this year.
The Andrew Johnson Bicentennial was a year-long focus for the President Andrew Johnson Museum and the Doak House Museum, both operated by the Tusculum College Department of Museum Program and Studies. The Doak House Museum’s educational programming for school children focusing on the Bicentennial received a Pinnacle Award in Special Projects from the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association last month and also received an Award of Commendation from the Tennessee Association of Museums. The Doak House Museum also received a Pinnacle Award in Multimedia for its new interactive Web site.
The museum ended its award-winning week with another recognition. A sign was installed June 5 in front of the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library marking the inclusion of the museum and Tusculum College as part of the Tennessee Civil War Trails.
The interpretive sign details the College’s experience during the Civil War and provides information about Andrew Johnson’s connection to the College. At the installation were, from left, George Collins, director of the College’s Department of Museum Program and Studies; Tammy Kinser, director of tourism at the Greene County Partnership, and Mitch Bowman, executive director of the Civil War Trails.
The Tennessee Civil War Trails is part of the national Civil War Trails program that has installed nearly 800 markers at Civil War sites in the country to increase awareness of these sites and enhance tourism to the sites. Driving tours of sites have been created. Maps and other information about the Tennessee trails can be found at this site.