Community Calendar

Join us on July 3rd from 3–4 PM for a patriotic Ice Cream Party celebrating the United States of America! Enjoy festive activities, community fun, exciting giveaways, and complimentary Häagen-Dazs ice cream* as we honor this historic milestone together.

*Ice cream and giveaways available while supplies last.

Bring family and friends to an exuberant musical celebration featuring a 35-piece, American brass band, and special guests, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.

• Concert starts at 8:00 pm in the GSM Heritage Center’s Large Covered Amphitheater

• Doors open at 6:30 pm. Overflow to be seated on the lawn.

• Complimentary American Flags For the First 300 Guests!

• Enjoy live portrayals of historically relevant characters in 1776 revolutionary-era costume.

• Thrilling music, led by internationally-celebrated conductor, Danny Griffin, includes rousing John Philip Sousa marches, Appalachian-themed music, and a tuneful salute to active-duty military personnel and our beloved veterans.

• Fireworks Display in Downtown Townsend to follow! The concert ends with plenty of time to get there!

The Oak Ridge Community Band will present its FREE annual Independence Day concert on Saturday, July 4, 7:30 p.m. followed by the City fireworks show at A.K. Bissell Park, 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge. This year's concert will be extra special as we celebrate our county's 250th anniversary, and our musical selections will include patriotic tunes and other entertaining numbers. Bring your family and friends, bring chairs or blankets for outdoor seating and come early because the concert and fireworks attract a large audience. Mark your calendars now for July 4 because you do not want to miss this evening of inspiring music and awesome fireworks!

Blount Mansion’s Semiquincentennial Celebration Lecture Series: Doing History: Engaging with Revolutionary Stories in Classrooms and Museums

This lecture is sponsored by The National Society of Colonial Dames Knoxville Town Committee to honor America’s 250th Anniversary!

We are excited to present Lisa Oakley, Vice President and Curator of Education at the East Tennessee Historical Society.

She will speak on “Doing History: Engaging with Revolutionary Stories in Classrooms and Museums.” Public historians and classroom educators are responsible for transferring the scholarship of historians into engaging and interactive exhibitions and programs. Curator of Education, Lisa Oakley, has 35 years of experience sharing the stories of Revolutionary and Early Statehood East Tennessee with students and the public. She will share interesting sources and stories from her years teaching with the East Tennessee Historical Society.

• Lecture will start at 6pm
• The special speaking event will be at Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville TN 37902.
• Limited free parking onsite
• $10 Donation suggested at the door. Cash and card accepted
• RSVP to Rose@BlountMansion.org

Blount Mansion’s Centennial Anniversary Lecture Series: The Women Who Changed Blount Mansion’s History!

Blount Mansion is proud to present local living legend, Laura Still, for our Centennial Anniversary Lecture Series!

One hundred years ago, in a time of fluctuating values and new cultural concepts, a group of women banded together to salvage a piece of our disappearing past: the Blount Mansion.

Meet the women who had the vision to see a decaying old house as the birthplace of Tennessee and took on the tremendous challenge of saving it for future generations.

Native East Tennessean Laura Still is a published poet, playwright, and local history author. She created Knoxville Walking Tours in 2012 and works full-time as a storyteller and walking history guide. She has researched and written 15 tours, including three ghost walks. She is partnered with the Knoxville History Project and proceeds from her tours support KHP and other history-oriented nonprofits in Knoxville. Co-owner of Celtic Cat Publishing since 2016, she has four published books: Guardians (2009), Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 1, (2010), A Haunted History of Knoxville (2014), and A Fair Shake: The Leaders of the Fight for Women’s Rights in Knoxville (2021), in addition to several articles about notable women in Knoxville history.

• Lecture will start at 6pm
• The special speaking event will be at Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville TN 37902.
• Limited free parking onsite
• $10 Donation suggested at the door. Cash and card accepted
• RSVP to Rose@BlountMansion.org

Blount Mansion’s Semiquincentennial Celebration Lecture Series with Dr. Katy Chiles - Phillis Wheatley and the Black American Revolution

This lecture is sponsored by The National Society of Colonial Dames Knoxville Town Committee to honor America’s 250th Anniversary!

Blount Mansion is proud to present Dr. Katy Chiles of the University of Tennessee. She will speak on ”Phillis Wheatley and the Black American Revolution.”
Phillis Wheatley was a Black poet enslaved in Boston during the American Revolution.

This talk discusses how her poetry takes up the themes of liberty, freedom, and slavery and how she started the African American literary tradition.
Katy Chiles is an Associate Professor of English and Affiliate Faculty in Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee. Her first book, Transformable Race: Surprising Metamorphoses in the Literatures of Early America was published by Oxford University Press, and her scholarship has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Antiquarian Society. With Professor Cassander Smith (University of Alabama), she is Co-Editor of Early American Literature.

• Lecture will start at 6pm
• The special speaking event will be at Blount Mansion Visitors Center, 200 West Hill Avenue, Knoxville TN 37902.
• Limited free parking onsite
• $10 Donation suggested at the door. Cash and card accepted
• RSVP to Rose@BlountMansion.org