The Knoxville Holstons Vintage Baseball Club. Image courtesy of the East Tennessee History Center.

KNOXVILLE — On Wednesday, April 9, 2014 Adam Alfrey will present a Brown Bag Lecture at the East Tennessee History Center. Alfrey’s presentation will cover the topic “The Rebirth of Civil War-Era Baseball in East Tennessee”.

19th-century base ball fever is sweeping the state, with two teams recently formed in East Tennessee—the Knoxville Holstons Vintage Base Ball Club and the Dry Town Boys of Roane County. Adam H. Alfrey will discuss the roots of baseball in Knoxville and what “cranks’ will experience if they attend a vintage baseball match—no spittin’, no swearin’, and no gloves! The vintage base ball season will kick off in East Tennessee on Saturday, April 12, at the historic Ramsey House.

Adam H. Alfrey, is the co-captain of the Knoxville Holstons and is a native of Knoxville and a graduate of The University of Tennessee. He currently serves as operations manager and curator of exhibitions for the East Tennessee History Center and is active within the state’s museum community, volunteering with the Tennessee Association of Museums, Humanities Tennessee, and the American Association for State and Local History. Alfey is also the author of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, part of Arcadia Publishing’s popular Postcard History Series.

The program is sponsored by the Harriet Z. Albers Memorial Fund and is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available for purchase. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.