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8:05

Chattanoogans in recent years have become used to watching new downtown area hotels rise from the ground up, but the new Waymark Hotel has taken shape from inside out. That’s because the historic Chattanooga Bank Building, as it was known for decades, has been restored, remodeled and refurbished into a Hilton hotel. These words written by Chattanooga john Shearer who writes some incredible history stories for the Chattanoogan.com including this one.

8:35

Dr. Tommie Brown joined the UTC faculty in 1971. She became the head of the Social Work department in 1980, making her the first black woman to lead an academic department at the University. This trailblazer died recently in Chattanooga and what she left behind is a lot of historical memories…..actually One hundred twenty-five boxes worth to the utc library….she was not only a professor but she was a former state legislator ..in the boxes you will find most importantly the brown v. Board of Commissioners of Chattanooga lawsuit in which she was the lead plaintiff that  pointed to the all-white Chattanooga City Commission and said the city’s at-large voting did not allow fair political representation for Blacks. Welcome Carolyn Runyon from the school’s Special Collections