"Fountain City: People Who Made a Difference" | Brown Bag Lecture with Dr. Jim Tumblin

In a Brown Bag Lecture on Thursday, October 20, local historian and Shopper columnist Dr. Jim Tumblin will discuss his new book, Fountain City: People Who Made a Difference, the history of Knoxville’s most fiercely independent community as told through the stories of 56 extraordinary citizens. From pioneers to civic leaders and selfless heroes, he shares the history of his beloved community written in the lives of its people. Beginning with the first permanent white settlement in 1788, Tumblin traces the establishment and growth of the area through the people and families who left a mark on what prior to the 1962 annexation by Knoxville, was one of the largest unincorporated cities in the United States. Books will be available for purchase, and Dr. Tumblin will be sign them following the lecture.

Dr. J.C. (Jim) Tumblin is a lifelong Fountain Citian and a 1944 graduate of Central High School. He holds a degree from the Illinois College of Optometry and practiced behavioral optometry in Fountain City for forty-six years. He is the past president of the Tennessee Optometric Association, the American Optometric Association, and the Optometric Extension Program Foundation. Dr. Tumblin has received multiple honors including the Tennessee Optometrist of the Year, the Fountain City Man of the Year, the Claude C. Myers Lifetime Achievement Award, the Fontinalis Award for Outstanding Contribution in Writing, and the Knoxville Central High School Wall of Fame, just to name a few. His regular history column appears in the Halls Shopper, and he is the co-author of Images of America: Fountain City.

The program is sponsored by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC and is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824.