African American Cultural Museum opens
Julia Daniel, president of the Mayme Carmichael School Organization, shows off a photo of Joy Ann Allen Boyce, a member of the Clinton 12, the group of students who desegre- gated Clinton High School. Her ex- periences and those of the Clinton 12 are among the stories the Tri-County African American Cultural Museum hopes to tell. (photo:Ben Pounds )
It’s in the Tri-County African American Cultural Museum on Oliver Springs’ Anderson County side at 1069 East Tri-County Boulevard.
It’s open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The museum has exhibits on many themes, including schools, churches, farming, mining, hairdressing and military service.
Families covered have ties to national stories like school desegregation in Clinton and Oak Ridge as well as the World War II Tuskegee Airmen.
Julia Daniel president of the Mayme Carmichael School Organization, runs the museum.
She said it was important for relatives of the relevant families including herself to tell their own stories.
“I don’t expect anybody else to tell my own history; I’m going to tell it myself,” Daniel told The Courier News.
A framed quotation sits on a counter at the museum of an African proverb with a similar message: “Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
She called the museum a work in progress, and said she hoped to do more interviews to gather more information.
Anyone interested in helping with information or exhibits or wanting to tour the facility can call 865-789-0846.
“My main thing is to try and let my light shine,” Daniel said.