This 42,860-square-foot building, designed by Barber and McMurry, was completed in 1928 as the Physics and Geology Building. It cost $215,000. A unique feature of the building was a two-foot-square shaft, which ran from the top of the building to the basement in order to provide sunlight and ventilation for the laboratories. It was the … Continued

The Earth and Planetary Sciences Department is the evolution of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy, which was established in 1907. Geography was added to the department in the 1920s. The department awarded its first graduate degree (the MS) to Berlin C. Moneymaker in 1929. The Department of Geology and Geography was separated into its … Continued

Earth Day is annually celebrated on April 22. Earth Day began in 1970. Its founder, Gaylord Nelson, then a US Senator from Wisconsin, reacted to the aftermath of a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, by proposing the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment.” He persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican congressman, … Continued

The Department of Earth and Planetary Science first held the annual Earth Science Fair, an activity part of the nationally proclaimed Earth Science Week, in 2000. The fair brings students, teachers, parents, and volunteers to campus for a one-day event of activities centered on earth science.

East College was a three-story structure, built in 1842 as a dormitory, along with West College and two houses intended to be residences for professors, but shortly used for institutional purposes instead (East Dwelling House and West Dwelling House), at a combined cost of $20,965.18. The contractor was Thomas Crutchfield, who had also built Old … Continued

This structure was completed in 1842 as a professor’s house, the Allison House. In 1871 the trustees leased the East Dwelling House to A. K. Foster (and the West Dwelling House to M. W. Janney) with the understanding that students would be provided with “wholesome fare” at a cost of $2 per week. Foster and … Continued

The Tennessee legislature passed an act on December 3, 1807, accepting the proposal of Blount College Trustees that the college assets become those of a new East Tennessee College, which would receive proceeds from the sale of the one hundred thousand acres as provided for in the Compact of 1806. The charter of the new … Continued

The East Tennessee Female Institute was originally established in Knoxville in 1826 as the Knoxville Female Academy, with the purpose of providing educational opportunities for girls. It was chartered by the legislature. In 1846 it was renamed the East Tennessee Female Institute. In 1892 it moved to a facility in the 700 block of West … Continued

In 1923 UT hosted the first East Tennessee High School basketball tournament, drawing 23 boys’ teams and 11 girls’ teams. By the fifth year, the tournament drew 52 boys’ teams and 30 girls’ teams.

The Knoxville Agricultural Experiment Station (since 2005, the East Tennessee Research and Education Center) was established on two farms—South Farm and College Farm—purchased by the university in 1869. The College Farm with its tools, livestock, and buildings was transferred by the university to the Experiment Station in 1890. The professors and their classes were to … Continued