KCME Welcomes our New Executive Director!
Danielle Sherrell, Executive Director
Hello Friends of the Knox County Museum of Education!
I'm delighted to introduce myself as the new Executive Director of the Knox County Museum of Education. My name is Danielle Sherrell and I am ecstatic to begin this journey with the museum and all of you! I personally have a deep love of education and history from my own family history of educators spanning four generations of women. I carry a profound commitment to education and preserving our local history from that as well as a passion for museums as an educational tool.
My own academic journey led me to earn a degree in Anthropology with a minor in Classical Archaeology from the University of Tennessee here in Knoxville. Through hands-on experience in archaeological surveys, excavations, and archival work, I'm well-prepared to breathe new life into our museum's archives. I also have been working at another Knoxville historic site at Marble Springs State Historic Site for the past two years as their Education and Programming Coordinator.
If you're curious about my archaeological or other museum adventures, I encourage you to visit me at the museum on a Monday or Tuesday! I'd be thrilled to share more about my experiences in person. I'm enthusiastic about meeting all of you, whether you've been longtime friends of the museum or are new to us. Your support is invaluable as we embark on the task of modernizing our museum and envisioning fresh exhibits and experiences.
Together, we can ensure that the educational legacy of Knox County remains vibrant and inspiring for generations to come. Your support and partnership mean the world to us.
I look forward to the opportunity to meet you in person and work together in making history come alive for our community. If you want to find me, I will be here at the museum holding office on Mondays and Tuesdays during our open hours.
Warm regards,
Danielle Sherrell
Executive Director
Knox County Museum of Education
Danielle meets our Board!
KNOX COUNTY MUSEUM OF EDUCATION Honor Roll
Earl Hoffmeister -- deceased, former teacher, coach and Knox Count Schools Superintendent.
Ron Allen -- deceased, self-motivated Knox County and Knoxville City Historian and major KCME contributor.
Michael van Vuuren -- volunteer, contributor, former Board Member and current KCME Administrative Clerk
Walter Mencer – former teacher, school band director and school administrator.
Anne Meek – former teacher, school principal and major contributor.
Dr. Margie Le Coultre – former teacher, school principal, school administrator, volunteer, contributor and current Board Member.
Loretta Crowder – volunteer, contributor and display designer.
Wayne Smith – volunteer, contributor and current Board Chair.
Wayne Keener – volunteer, contributor and board member.
Dick McPherson – volunteer, contributor and board member.
Horace Grissom -- volunteer, contributor and ‘white notebook’ specialist.
Alan Webb – volunteer, contributor and inventory entry specialist.
The evening’s Master of Ceremonies will be Sue Boyer, school supervisor, school accreditation, volunteer, contributor, KCME co-founder, and KCME Board member. Performing the honor of handing out medallions and certificates is former School Administrator and Superintendent, and KCME co-founder, Roy Mullins. The evening’s ceremony includes light horderves and ticket price is a tax deductible donation of only $25 per person. This donation can be used as yearly membership to Friends of the Museum, an In Honor of donation, or an In Memory of donation. Help us celebrate this special occasion with your attendance. To RSVP or for more information about the Induction Ceremony, contact the Director, Mrs. Benna van Vuuren at the Museum at (865)579-8264, ext. 5., or via e-mail at museum@knoxschools.org.
The Need for Funds
The Museum needs money to stay operational. We have several methods for fundraising. We currently offer a membership called "Friends of the Museum," the base membership being $25 a year and goes up to about $1000. We have a small membership compared to the number of people who visit the museum and use our resources.
We also hold a yearly "Sock Hop," we just held our fourth one. It's a good social occasion with some further fundraising options like the Silent Auction and Raffle. Normally, it brings in a fair amount of funds but even the Sock Hop is not providing enough income as our needs at the Museum continue to expand and grow.
What we need is for you to help us. Our website takes direct one time or recurring donations. We need volunteers to not just help to run the day to day operations but also to solicit donations and help us to find the means to preserve this effort to preserve our pasts. It is our history of what most of us will look back on as the best years of our lives.
Adopt-A-Case Donors
Adoptee: Honoree:
Knoxville High School
Alumni Association Knoxville High School Alumni Association 2016
Jerry Askew In Honor of Jerry Askew 2016
Horace Grissom (2) In Memory of La Vada Grissom 2016
Beecher Clapp In Honor of Beecher Clapp and Fretta M. Bunch 2016
Gayle Burnett In Memory of Connie (Phifer) and Inslee Burnett
by Gayle Burnett 2016
Dessa E. Blair In Honor of Dessa E. Blair 2016
David Huntsinger In Honor of Judy Huntsinger 2016
Fulton High School
Alumni Association Fulton High School Alumni Association 2016
Harvey Sproul In Honor of Harvey and Sylvia Sproul 2016
Knox County Retired
Teachers Association Knox County Retired Teachers Association 2017
Jack Williams In Honor of Floyd "Junior" Sharp Rule High School Killed in Okinawa June 17, 1945
South High School
Class of 1966 In Honor of South High School Class of 1966
Patricia Hunter In Memory of Reuben Hunter 2017
La Noka Rhodes In Memory of Dr. Donald Rhodes 2016
Harold Mays In Honor of the South High School Faculty
South High School
Alumni Chorus In Honor of Harold Mays 2017
Gene Akers In Honor of Our Parents Anne and Franklin Akers
The Hoffmeister Family In Memory of Earl Hoffmeister 2017
Beecher Clapp In Memory of Mildred Doyle 2017
KCME Unique and Largest Donation: The Ron Allen Donation
The Museum received its first donation the first week it was open in 2005. Ron Allen brought labeled, ready to display historical documents, including a yearbook from Baker Himel, dated 1897-1898, Mynders School Certificate ofHonor 11/17/1879, Karns yearbook 1915, Sequoyah yearbook 1927 (Central High), Kalendar yearbook 1916 (Park City High School), 26 items in all. Ron’s daughter, Jennifer has donated multiple copies of books written by Ron including Knoxstalgia, which includes 300+ short histories of schools prior to 1950, theaters, churches, hotels and other buildings. Additional books include Theaters In Knoxville, Gay Street, The Street Has Changed, Same Old Smokies, Fairs and Circuses, Nose Guards and Wild Cards, Cas Walker to Downtown Hawkers, and 11 more! Jennifer also donated his files and equipment. One of the largest donations consists of Ron Allen’s private record collection of 78 vinyl records – over 200 albums of individual records. The albums range from Caruso to Voices of D-Day to Dinah Shore to Frank Sinatra.
The collection includes a description index!
BOOKS BY RONALD R. ALLEN KNOXVILLE,
TENNESSEE IN THE GAY NINETIES
GAY STREET: A History of Gay Street
OLD TENNESSEE SONGS
THEATRES IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, 1872 – 1982
THE STREET HAS CHANGED
RUNNING PLAYS AND PASSING DAYS KNOXVILLE 1948
KNOXVILLE MISCELLANY
FROM CAS WALKERS TO DOWNTOWN HAWKERS
SAME OLD SMOKIES
NOSE GUARDS AND WILD CARDS
FAIRS AND CIRCUSES IN KNOXVILLE
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, SUMMER 1915 – SPRING 1916.
DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 1792 – 1950
THE PLAY’S THE THING
TENNESSEE IMPRINTS 1791 – 1875
SOME TENNESSEE RARITIES
MORE TENNESSEE RARITIES
Feature: A peek at 1946 in KCS
Collections include over 100 school histories, over 200 biographical sketches and photographs of administrators, personnel lists of Knox County and Knoxville City Schools (many dating back to the 1800's ), old textbooks, yearbooks, school newspapers and memorabilia ( sweaters, class rings, trophies, etc.) as well as other collections
Knox County School Stats -1946
Only 32 teachers had Masters Degrees; 179 teachers had Bachelor's leaving 353 teachers with less than 4 years college and no professional licenses.
There were 8 one teacher schools, 13 two teacher schools; 37 of the other schools had less than 8 teachers apiece; Only 6 elementary schools had supervising principals; only one of the had a school clerk.
50 schools had no indoor toilet facilities or running water; 33 of them were still heated by pot-bellied stoves. One school has no electricity. Only 54 schools had telephones.
Central Office was located in the basement of the Old Court House and consisted of the Superintendent, 2 supervisors (Mack Davis and Gussie Hoffman), 1 secretary/receptionist and 1 bookkeeper. The Maintenance department had 3 employees and 1 truck.
If you had taught in Knox County prior to 1960 in most schools, you would have had furnished by the county: blackboards, white chalk, a green cardboard set of the alphabet, desks, chairs, a waste paper basket, a manual pencil sharpener, and a set of textbooks. you would have access to a record player, a 16 mm film projector and maybe a piano. An American flag and a framed picture of George Washington too.
What you would have found missing/without: air-conditioning, intercom, adding machines, calculators, photo copiers, encyclopedias, physical education equipment, physical education teachers, special area teachers, clinic, library, teacher manuals, curriculum guides, typewriters, filing cabinets, offices, security guards, coke machines, snack machines- federal aid to education hadn't happened yet. Anything above these items came out of your $2400 a year salary or through fundraising or from the P.T.A. organizations.
Notes/ notices sent home were all handwritten reports in triplicate requiring the use of carbon paper. Attendance was kept by individual teachers in a register. There was no standard accounting or school bank accounts.
Available at the museum- History, minutes, clippings of the Knox County Retired Teachers Association.
The Knoxville- Knox County Retired Teachers Association was organized April 8, 1954. Dr. John H. Thackston was its first president; Wilson New was its first Vice President with Lida Bell Gambill as Recording Secretary. Other officers included Mrs. Ruth Roe as Corresponding Secretary, W. W. Morris as Treasurer and Miss Delia Harris as Parliamentarian. The first regular meeting place was the S&W Cafeteria on Gay Street.