John Washington Butler, a Primitive Baptist and admirer of William Jennings Bryan, was a prosperous farmer, thresher operator, and community leader in Macon County who represented Macon, Trousdale, and Sumner Counties in the Tennessee House of Representatives (1923–27). As a member of the House of Representatives, he served on a state legislative committee charged to … Continued
Instructor in sociology and doctoral candidate Robert C. Butler was accused and convicted of raping a student in the closet of his faculty office in East Stadium Hall on October 7, 1976. His first trial ended in a mistrial, and he was retried in September 1977 and convicted after an hour’s deliberation by the jury. … Continued
William Byas was appointed to the new position of dean of special student services in August 1979, effective September 1. At the time of the appointment, he was associate professor of guidance and student personnel services at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Before going to Memphis State in 1978, Byas had directed … Continued
One of Tennessee’s most accomplished swimmers, Catherine Byrne was the 1992 NCAA Woman of the Year, an honor that recognizes senior student athletes who have distinguished themselves in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service, and leadership. She also received the Woody Hayes Award for leadership in a varsity sport and academic excellence. She … Continued
In 1953, under a $22,000 research grant from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dr. Isabel Tipton of the UT Physics Department and her research staff mined with a spectrograph in an effort to find, identify, and measure all metallic elements present in tissue and bone. Previously unmeasured in human tissue, cadmium (the tin-white poisonous metal) … Continued
George Cafego had six dollars and a borrowed suitcase when he arrived at UT in 1936. Cafego considered it a miracle that Coach Robert Neyland came to a baseball field in the summer of 1936 to look at an infielder who played tailback in the fall. Cafego’s parents were deceased, and his married sister couldn’t … Continued
Joshua Caldwell graduated from East Tennessee University in 1875. He studied law in his father’s office and was admitted to the bar in 1877. He was city attorney of Knoxville for eight years, prepared a compilation of the city charter and city ordinances, was Judge Advocate General of Tennessee on the staff of Governor Turney, … Continued
In 1957 Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity first hosted a Calendar Girl party, in which 12 UT sorority members were contestants and one contestant (chosen previous to the event as the Calendar Girl by a prominent Hollywood personality) was crowned as the Calendar Girl. The fraternity then distributed calendars with the winner’s picture on the cover. … Continued
Now the site of the a UT Experiment Station and 4-H camp, Camp Crossville housed over 1,500 German and Italian prisoners of war between the first prisoners’ arrival in November 1942 and the camp’s closing in December 1945. The federal government purchased the land from former US Marshal Amos Wilkes in 1941. Wilkes was an … Continued
In 1923 UT Athletic Director M. B. Banks, botany professor (later, dean of liberal arts) L. R. Hesler, and Professor O. N. Smith began conducting a boys’ camp at Calderwood, Tennessee, in the Smoky Mountains. The camp was dedicated to the “physical development of the boy.” Tennis, basketball, track, volleyball, baseball, and football were offered. … Continued