Mark Blevins pictured with ETHS Director, Cherel Henderson. Image courtesy of ETHS.

Anne Bridges, Ken Wise, and Russell Clement pictured receiving their award from Steve Cotham, manager of the McClung Historical Collection.	Julia Springer of the Andrew Bogle Chapter, DAR pictured with Cherel Henderson.
Calvin Chappelle, director of Mabry-Hazen House, Anna Chappelle, director of Marble Springs, and Sam Maynard, director of James White’s Fort, representing the Historic Homes of Knoxville pictured with Cheryl Henderson.	Lisa Belleman, ETHS Director of Membership & Communications presenting the award to the Knoxville UDC Chapter 89 with representatives Diane Greene, Rebecca Sardella, and Brenda Hall McDonald.

KNOXVILLE – The East Tennessee Historical Society’s (ETHS) annual Awards of Excellence were presented at its Annual Meeting on June 4, 2015 at the Foundry on the Fair Site. Since 1982, the Society has been annually recognizing individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation, promotion, programming and interpretation of the region’s history. Five Knoxville initiatives and their leaders were among the 27 awards presented.

• Mark Blevins, an 11th and 12th grade history teacher at Bearden High School, was the recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award from the East Tennessee Historical Society. Mr. Blevins developed the class “Americans at War” for the Knox County School System, designing the curriculum and supplemental materials. Trips to area historic sites throughout the semester are a requirement for his students, and Mr. Blevins brings in speakers to discuss various historical topics and serves as a reenactor both inside and out of the classroom, instilling a desire for further knowledge in his students.

• Anne Bridges and Ken Wise, both from the University of Tennessee Libraries, along with Russell Clement of Northwestern University, were the recipients of an Award of Distinction for their book Terra Incognita: An Annotated Bibliography of the Great Smoky Mountains, 1544-1934. Terra Incognita is the most comprehensive bibliography of sources related to the Great Smoky Mountains and is the culmination of 15 years of research, covering from de Soto in the 16th century to the creation of the park. Each chapter includes a substantive essay and details published works.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, Andrew Bogle Chapter received an Award of Distinction from the East Tennessee Historical Society for their efforts to place a marker at the foot of The Treaty of the Holston Statue at Volunteer Landing that commemorates this historic treaty, signed July 2, 1791, by 41 Cherokee chiefs and Southwest Territorial Governor William Blount on behalf of President George Washington. The statue and marker are at Volunteer Landing on the Tennessee River in Knoxville.

• Historic Homes of Knoxville were the recipient of an Award of Distinction from the East Tennessee Historical Society for their “Unlock Knoxville’s Past” brochure. The beautiful new pamphlet is the anchor to a larger campaign to promote the sites of the seven Historic Homes of Knoxville (James White’s Fort, Blount Mansion, Marble Springs, Ramsey House, Crescent Bend, Mabry-Hazen House, and Westwood).

• Knoxville Chapter 89, United Daughters of the Confederacy received an Award of Distinction from the East Tennessee Historical Society for their “150th Commemoration of the Siege of Knoxville and the Assault on Fort Sanders,” a three-day event with a service and wreath-laying remembering the Confederate soldiers at Fort Sanders, a daylong historical symposium, and living history tours of Bleak House, headquarters of this UDC chapter.

Currently, the East Tennessee Historical Society has 2,000 members throughout the United States. Its active publications program includes the biannual genealogy magazine Tennessee Ancestors; the annual Journal of East Tennessee History; and Newsline, as well a other books pertaining to the region’s history. The Society also sponsors the Museum of East Tennessee History, East Tennessee National History Day, and the family heritage programs “First Families of Tennessee” and “Civil War Families of Tennessee.”