Maryville College sprang from the vision of Reverend Isaac Anderson to fill what he saw as a great need for trained pastors and churches on the frontier. As pastor of Maryville's New Providence Presbyterian Church, Anderson led efforts to establish the "Southern and Western Theological Seminary," the forerunner of Maryville College, and for six years served as the school's only teacher and officer. In a Brown Bag Lecture on April 3, Dr. Aaron Astor will discuss Isaac Anderson, his importance and legacy in the fields of religion and education in Tennessee.

Dr. Aaron Astor is Associate Professor of History at Maryville College, where he covers a wide range of topics in American history, from the Revolution to the present. He has written numerous articles, conference papers, and book chapters and authored several books, Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri and The Civil War Along Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, and also contributed articles for the award-winning Civil War Sesquicentennial series Disunion in the New York Times.

The program is sponsored by the Harriet Z. and Bud Albers Memorial Fund and is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon on Wednesday, April 3 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 more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.