Knoxville Civil War Roundtable

GENERAL INFORMATION

Contact Information

KCWRT Officers

KCWRT Origins

CONTACT INFORMATION

For additional information about the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable, please contact:

Name:	Norman Shaw, President
Address:	Knoxville Civil War Roundtable P.O. Box 313 Knoxville, TN 37901-0313
Phone:	(865) 705-1127
Info Line:	(865) 671-9001

KCWRT OFFICERS for 2009 - 2010

President	-	Norman Shaw (865) 705-1127
Vice-President & Website Manager	-	Hugh Morgan (865) 577-5134
Secretary	-	Tammy Burroughs
Treasurer	-	George Lane (865) 380-9098
Past President & Director of Membership	-	Joan Markel  (865) 675-1897
Director of Programs	-	Dot Kelly
Director of Community Activities	-
Director of Preservation	-
Director of Promotions	-	Arlene Lynsky
Newsletter Editor	-	Laura Reagan
At Large Director	-	Brian Burroughs
At Large Director	-	Larry Moore  (865) 694-7787

KCWRT ORIGINS

[NOTE: The following essay on the origins of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable is by, and courtesy of, Norman C. Shaw, its founder and first president. This is an extract of a longer article, "The Founding of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable, " which was written by Mr. Shaw for the Roundtable's Tenth Anniversary in 1993.]

The creation of each Civil War Roundtable in the country has its own unique story. Ours is no different.

The concept of a CWRT in Knoxville surfaced as I conceived the idea of teaching a starter course on "Civil War Campaigns and Battles" for the University of Tennessee non-credit program during its winter session of 1983.

From this class and this nucleus of students came the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable. After polling the class to determine who would like to be involved in establishing a roundtable in Knoxville, I had the support of such fine individuals as Colonel John Brennan, George McGhee, David Schultz, Pat Freeman, Gary Balltrip, Howard Russell, and Walt Corey (as knowledgeable as anyone in Civil War history). After the class ended, we obtained the additional support of Jim Doncaster and Hayes Rochat. Including myself, this rounded out our number to an even 10.

Our first few meetings were rather informal, but enthusiastic, affairs in March 1983 at the United Methodist Church on Middlebrook Pike. Our ranks had increased now to 13. The initial Scout's Report, which proclaimed our existence to the world, was published in April 1983.

This first newsletter also announced that a promotional meeting would be held at the Second Presbyterian Church on Kingston Pike on the 21st of that month. A notice was also placed in the local newspaper. A large group of about 50 showed up to hear the excellent talk of Dr. Charles Bryan, Executive Director of the East Tennessee Historical Society, on "The Impact of the Civil War on East Tennessee." That was an exciting evening! We obtained 13 new members who joined that very evening, and a few more enrolled by mail the following week.

With this promising start, and with the talents and involvement of so many, our Roundtable grew to nearly 100 members before year's end. Our growth was enhanced by our location in an area rich in history which, in turn, provided us with both members and a variety of desirable speakers -- some from our own membership. We also strove to provide in that year a variety of activities for our members and area residents alike. We created the secondary meeting each month called the Gung Ho, established the commemoration ceremony of the Battle of Fort Sanders, and began sponsoring the Civil War Tours of Knoxville in association with the Dogwood Arts Festival the following year, in April 1984.

Despite some growing pains during that first year -- such as club organizational questions and repeatedly being forced to move our meeting location -- both in that initial year and in years since we have demonstrated our commitment to achieving the stated goals of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable: "Knowledge, commemoration, and preservation of our Civil War heritage."

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