We the People of Tennessee—Stories of Land and Place

We the People of Tennessee—Stories of Land and Place is a statewide, eighteen-month, project of oral history collection and provocative programming centering on the connection between land, place, and community in Tennessee.

The Elkton Historical Society, in cooperation with Humanities Tennessee, is collecting stories about local places from members of the community that seek to answer this and other questions about the nature and evolution of community life—the shared memories and multiple meanings of the surroundings central to the past, present, and future of our towns and cities.

The Elkton Historical Society is one of only six organizations to be chosen by Humanities Tennessee to participate in Stories of Land and Place, the purpose of which is to gather, and create an electronic database of stories that give land and place its meaning. This database will tie these stories to the places they explore on electronic maps, which are publicly accessible on the Internet. The Elkton Historical Society has collected twenty four interviews to date and is working with historian Jennifer Core of The Tennessee Sampler Survey to develop our community’s oral history database.

“We are very pleased to be a part of this important project,” said Carolyn Thompson, President. “It allows us to explore our local history and the cultural life of our community.”

Humanities Tennessee is a not-for-profit organization that provides public education in the humanities for all Tennesseans. For more information about Humanities Tennessee’s programming, please visit our website at www.humanitiestennessee.org.

Oral History Project Explores Issues of Land and Place