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John Rice Irwin (December 11, 1930 – January 16, 2022) was an American cultural historian, and founder of the Museum of Appalachia in
Norris, Tennessee Norris is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee. Its population was 1,599 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Norris was built as a model planned community by the Tennessee Valley Authority (T ...
. His interest in history began at an early age, and was inspired by his grandparents to start a museum. He founded the Museum of Appalachia in 1968, which has since grown significantly in both its size and visitation. He was awarded several accolades and awards, and had eight different published books (seven of which are nationally and internationally distributed).


Life and career

Irwin was born on December 11, 1930, in
Union County, Tennessee Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 19,802. Its county seat is Maynardville. Union County is included in the Knoxville metropolitan statistical area. History Union Coun ...
. While he was an infant, Irwin and his family were forced to move because their land would be appropriated and flooded for the
Norris Dam Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been creat ...
. After settling on another farm near
Clinton, Tennessee Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, Tennessee. Clinton is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area. Its population was 10,056 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Early history Prehistoric Native A ...
, they were again forced to move for the development of
Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...
, in the early 1940s. They finally moved to a farm near
Norris, Tennessee Norris is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee. Its population was 1,599 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Norris was built as a model planned community by the Tennessee Valley Authority (T ...
, where he would stay until he was 18. There, Irwin and his brother were taught how to
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
,
hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
,
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
, and trap animals. In the late 1940s, Irwin served in the U.S. Army infantry. He completed his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
at
Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee and Knoxville, Tennessee. Its Harrogate main campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. , it had 1,605 undergraduate and 4,200 graduate and profe ...
with majors in history and economics. He earned his master's degree in international law at the
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
. At the age of 31, he was elected superintendent of schools in
Anderson County, Tennessee Anderson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the northern part of the state in East Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 77,123. Its county seat ...
, becoming the youngest superintendent in Tennessee. Irwin was also good friends with writer
Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and ...
, and inspired one of Haley's writings with his museum. He and his wife, Elizabeth McDaniel, were married from 1954 until her death in 2008. They had two children: Elaine Meyer and Karen Erickson (died 1999), and three grandchildren. In August 2009, he announced that he was leaving his position as owner of the museum. In an interview on August 28, 2009, Irwin stated: He lived his last years at Norris Health and Rehab Center. He died at a nursing home in
Clinton, Tennessee Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, Tennessee. Clinton is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area. Its population was 10,056 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Early history Prehistoric Native A ...
on January 16, 2022, at the age of 91.


Museum of Appalachia

Irwin's interest in human history was provoked by his grandparents' stories. His grandfather once advised him, "You ought to keep these old-timey things that belonged to our people and start you a little museum sometime." Eventually in the 1960s he took that advice to heart. At a public
auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...
in the early 1960s, he realized that the sales transactions were separating the artifacts of the past from the stories that his grandparents told. A person attending the sale told him that he was going to make a
coffee table A coffee table is a low table designed to be placed in a sitting area for convenient support of beverages, remote controls, magazines, books (especially large, illustrated coffee table books), decorative objects, and other small items. Most cof ...
from the old
spinning wheel A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning frame, ...
he had just purchased. Irwin said of this conversation, "I just plain hated the idea of that object being hauled to Terre Haute or Dayton and made into a table completely removed from the context of the region, and from the people who made it and used it." Meanwhile, he spent $4 at the auction to buy an old horse shoeing box that had been found in the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
in the aftermath of the deadly Big Barren Creek Flood of 1916. In later years, he said that he bought it not for its value as an
antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...
, but for the history it embodied. His collection grew from that beginning, as he began to travel around the countryside to find and "save the past" in the form of artifacts. In 1968, Irwin founded the Museum of Appalachia to house and display his growing collection. By 1980, the museum had grown so large that Irwin left his position as director of the Tennessee Appalachia Education Cooperative to devote all of his time to the museum. Although the museum started as only a small log building, as of 2010, it has grown to a village-farm complex, comprehending more than 35 original mountain structures, two large display buildings containing thousands of Appalachian artifacts, farm animals, and several gardens. The museum was converted to a non-profit organization in 2003 and in May 2007, the museum announced its formal association with the Smithsonian Institution's Affiliations Program.


Legacy and accolades

John Rice Irwin is generally known as the founder of the Museum of Appalachia. He was also the author of seven nationally and internationally distributed books. He lectured on the subject on Appalachian history throughout the eastern United States. In 1989, Irwin was one of 29 MacArthur Fellow grantees, which are provided to "extraordinary talented individuals." He was honored by the
East Tennessee Historical Society The East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS), headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of East Tennessee history, the preservation of historically significant artifacts, and educating ...
in 1992 as one of nine East Tennesseans "whose accomplishments have distinguished them far beyond East Tennessee," and in 1993, he was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Cumberland College. In 1994, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement of East Tennessee's Business Hall of Fame. Six years later in 2000, he was the recipient of the annual Outstanding Educational Service to Appalachia Award. He was the 2008 recipient of the Trailblazer Award, and in 2009 was named to the Anderson County Hall of Fame.


Works


References


External links


Oral histories » John Rice Irwin

Mountain Man; In the face of personal tragedy, Museum of Appalachia founder John Rice Irwin fights for the future of his creation
Metro Pulse, March 27, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, John Rice 1930 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Culture of Appalachia Cultural historians Lincoln Memorial University alumni MacArthur Fellows Academics from Tennessee Military personnel from Tennessee People from Anderson County, Tennessee People from Union County, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni