The Medal of Honor Center in Chattanooga TN hosted a special screening of the Ken Burns PBS documentary on the American Revolution on June 5, 2026. Medal of Honor recipient Dwight Birdwell, Pulitzer prize winning historian Alan Taylor, and our own Director Chris Magra discussed the importance of military service with an audience of teachers […]
Center Director Dr. Chris Magra gave a lecture at the Salem Maritime National Park for the Essex National Heritage Commission on May 21, 2026. The lecture was part of a series of talks related to the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War. Dr. Magra talked about how and why commercial fishermen fought in the […]
Our Director, Dr. Chris Magra, was invited to present a research paper at the McNeil Center last week. The McNeil Center is part of the University of Pennsylvania. The Center is one of the premiere American history organizations in the United States. Dr. Magra discussed Manning the First American Navy: The Military Mobilization of Maritime […]
Today marked a milestone for the Center. We completed a two-year public history project to install some of the Center’s research in the Sharp’s Ridge Veterans Memorial Park in Knoxville, TN. We partnered with the Veterans Heritage Site Foundation and the Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department to complete this project. We held a dedication ceremony […]
The East Tennessee Historical Society held a symposium July 8-10, 2024 on historical connections between our region and World War II. Center Director Dr. Chris Magra was invited to talk about our archives. He partnered with Dr. John Romeiser and the East Tennessee Veteran Memorial Association to present stories of Tennesseans who fought in WW2. […]
The Veterans Heritage Site Foundation held a ceremony to honor WWII veterans who lived in the Smoky Mountains on Saturday, June 15 in Townsend, TN. Veterans invited our Director, Dr. Chris Magra, to speak about the history of the war and the ways in which the conflict changed the Smokies.
Center Director Dr. Chris Magra gave an invited lecture at the Blount Mansion in Knoxville, TN on September 28. He talked about his own research on one of the founders of the state of Tennessee. William Blount was an ardent Federalist, and he was one of a few dozen men to sign the United States […]
The Center was honored to interview Captain William Robinson on Friday, August 8, 2023. He is the longest held enlisted P.O.W. in American history. He was held prisoner in Vietnam for over seven years. You can listen to this Tennessean’s story on our YouTube Channel. Just click here.
The Center was honored to be invited to participate in the War Dog Ceremony at the UTK Veterinary College of Medicine on Saturday, July 15, 2023. Center Director Dr. Chris Magra talked about World War II and the history of war dogs. The U.S. Army officially started its K-9 Corps on March 13, 1942, in […]