History Courses

Jack Neely

Jack Neely got his degree in American history at UT, but through other avenues has made a particular study of Knoxville. A former delivery-truck driver, during the 1982 World’s Fair he worked both as a Egyptian museum guide and crowd-control agent, and developed a broad perspective on that signal event. For two years after that, he was an investigator for one of Knoxville’s busiest criminal law firms, working on several high-profile cases. Then, as a journalist, working first for the local newspaper and later as an editor for Whittle Communications, the national magazine company, he helped newcomers make sense of his hometown while assigning and editing stories of international interest. He launched his “Secret History” column in the alt weekly Metro Pulse in 1992, and commenced a new career of studying Knoxville’s unique culture and digging up little-known but significant stories about the city’s often peculiar past.

He has produced nine books about Knoxville history, including Market Square: A History of the Most Democratic Place on Earth and The Tennessee Theatre: A Grand Entertainment Palace. He has won numerous awards for his writing work from the Society of Professional Journalists, the East Tennessee Historical Society, and UT Press.

He is currently executive director of the Knoxville History Project, an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and regularly leads tours and gives lectures about Knoxville and its history. He is also a contributing editor to the Knoxville Mercury, and author of the weekly column, “The Scruffy Citizen.” (As well as co-author of that weekly’s Knoxville-centric crossword puzzle, “Crooked Street Crossword”!)