The history of a city is more than its buildings, businesses, and milestones. It is also the lives of the people who taught its children, built its businesses, served their churches, organized their communities, and worked to make Chattanooga a better place.
Those voices will take center stage October 3rd at the Downtown Chattanooga Public Library.
From 4 to 5:30 p.m., the Local History Department of the Library in partnership with Mark Making will host a staged reading of Echoes of Chattanooga: Twentieth Century Changemakers, a new book by Dr. Peggy Douglas that brings the experiences of twentieth-century Chattanoogans to life through powerful first-person monologues. The book is beautifully illustrated by Russell Robinson.
The collection is drawn from oral history interviews conducted between 1967 and 1992 by Chattanooga Times editor Norman Bradley and housed in the Library’s Local History archives. The interviews preserve the memories of people whose lives offer a deeper understanding of Chattanooga’s neighborhoods, struggles, triumphs, and remarkable community history.
Douglas, local playwright, oral historian, and educator, has transformed these historic interviews into stories meant to be heard as well as read. Through the staged reading by UTC First Year Experience students, audiences will meet educators, entrepreneurs, ministers, activists, workers, and community leaders whose experiences reveal the people behind the city’s history.
“These are not simply stories about the past,” Douglas said. “They are stories about the people who made Chattanooga what it is today. I want audiences to hear their voices, recognize their humanity, and understand that the history of this city belongs to all of us.”
- Event: Echoes of Chattanooga: Twentieth Century Changemakers — Staged Reading
- Date: Saturday, October 3
- Time: 4–5:30 p.m.
- Location: Downtown Chattanooga Public Library Auditorium
- Sponsor: Mark Making
The event is free open to the public. Books will be available for sale.