A portrait of Polly McClung, painted by Knoxvillian Edward Hurst (then of New York), was donated to the Polly McClung section of Strong Hall in 1945 by Mrs. Hugh Lawson McClung. Polly McClung was one of the UT’s first five coeds who attended Blount College in 1804. Hurst spent a year preparing the portrait. Since there were no photographs of Polly McClung, Hurst took the outstanding features of the McClung family and melded them into the portrait of a lady dressed in an Empire off-shoulder gown. The frame was especially built to fit the space in the residence hall’s lounge where it was placed. Ellen McClung Berry represented her mother at the presentation, and UT President James D. Hoskins received the portrait for the university.