Category: People
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Ross N. Robinson
Generations of Kingsport eastside students have grown up singing, “Let’s give a cheer to RNR, to the colors white and blue”. As a John Sevier alumnus, RNR’s archrival, I never gave much thought to the man behind the school’s name. In my formative years, RNR might as well have been in a neighboring city. The…
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The Little Girl of Rotherwood Mansion
Virgealia “Jill” Denny Looney Ellis was a leap year baby in 1928. Since 2024 is a leap year, I wanted to honor her. Mrs. Ellis was the counselor for generations of students at both Douglass High School (before integration) and Dobyns-Bennett High School (after integration), including me. She made a lasting impression, and I was…
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The Bachman Legacy: How a Kingsport son became Chattanooga’s ‘First Citizen’
The Brainerd Mission is featured on the cover of this month’s Tennessee Historical Quarterly magazine, published by the Tennessee Historical Society. So, how does this relate to Kingsport? Read on. The article is based on the remembrances of Chattanooga historian Anne Bachman Hyde (1868-1959) as told to her by her father, Jonathan Waverly Bachman. A…
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Roots of Change: Nancy Garrett’s Green Legacy
When I first began working as a naive city planner, I was under the false impression that the city had the ultimate say on all things related to building a city. I quickly learned that what matters most is private investment and the city’s ability to influence it. The city’s professional staff can propose practical…
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Who was Glen Bruce?
With all of the beautiful decorations in Downtown Kingsport at Glen Bruce Park, someone asked me how the park got its name. When I first heard, “Glen Bruce”, it sounded like the name of a Scottish manor house from Braveheart or Outlander, but in reality, it’s a first and last name. A 1968 Times-News article…
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Unraveling Appalachian Ancestry: The Untold Legacy of Dr. Brent Kennedy
In 1996 I read a book by Dr. Brent Kennedy about Melungeons, a mysterious, dark-skinned people living in the remote Appalachian Mountains on the edge of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky & West Virginia. In summary, Dr. Kennedy developed a mysterious, life-threatening illness while living in Atlanta. Emory University gave him a diagnosis that it was related…
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Social Media’s Surprising Boost: How One Comment Reinforces the Value of Home
The use of technology and social media is a two-edged sword. Sometimes we become disheartened by the seemingly perpetual barrage of negative comments on just about everything. On the bad days, it’s enough to make you want to stop trying. Then out of the blue something happens that restores your faith. Lately, I’ve been sharing…
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Kingsport’s First War Hero: Rogan Showalter
Every now and then you come across a story that needs to be told. I’ve lived here my whole life–an avid Kingsport history buff–and never knew. As I was preparing for the upcoming Betty Gibson Memorial Lecture at the Kingsport Archives and decided I wanted to know more about her. It turns out I’m very…
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Postcards – A Window to the Soul
A longtime childhood friend was going through a box of her late grandfather’s things and found several linen postcards of scenes from Kingsport in the early 1940s. She generously sent them to me. Long before text messaging, Twitter, Facebook, Zoom, or FaceTime, postcards were the shortest, simplest way to check-in, say hello, and express feelings…
Kingsport Spirit 