Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson has long been interested in history. But it was not just because he grew up around Chattanooga learning of its rich native American, Civil War, railroad, and industrial significance while on his way to becoming Mr. Red Bank High of 1968.
His interest in local history and possibly trying to get another history museum here after the previous one closed came in part due to learning about faraway history. But it was done in an up-close way through his serviceman uncle, J.C. Simpson, and his German wife, Elfie Simpson.
She had seen Adolf Hitler in person and experienced the country’s atrocities during World War II. She later had to visit along with other Germans a concentration camp by orders of American Gen. Dwight Eisenhower so that the citizens would never deny the Holocaust. As a result, Mr. Thompson was exposed to his aunt’s and uncle’s interesting stories growing up.
“My uncle was in the Air Force and was stationed in Munich at the end of World War II and met a German lady and got married,” said Mr. Thompson, adding that the family was initially against the marriage until they got to know her better. “He had a very interesting life.”
The popular and longtime Red Bank teacher and wrestling coach John Farr had also sparked an interest in history, he added.
“I had him for American history and he gave me the history award,” said Mr. Thompson, who also played basketball and baseball for the Lions. “I read everything I could find. I had this innate curiosity about how things became the way they are. I have a deep-seeded love of American history.”
So, after graduating from UTC, he began in the early 1970s teaching history and social studies first at the old Hixson Junior High, after being hired by the well-known principal Everett Fairchild, and later at Hixson High. He also taught some at UTC and Chattanooga State and even spent a year in Melbourne, Australia, learning a little geography while teaching some history.
He was also involved in developing the local Character Ed Program.
After retiring from teaching, he later got into real estate, where he currently works for Fletcher Bright Realty Co.
But his interest in history has remained. And not only does he want to continue learning it, but he also would like to rewrite an aspect of Chattanooga history. While he is quite aware of Chattanooga’s former local history museum that was around for decades before shutting down nearly 10 years ago after plans for occupying a visible building by the Tennessee Aquarium fell through, he still thinks this city needs a local history museum.
“Most of the other major cities in the state have a history museum, but not us,” he said.
Taking the initiative like some of the pioneering Tennesseans and Chattanoogans he has read about, he has been trying to drum up local interest. He said he has been meeting with such other interested Chattanoogans as Doug Daugherty, Robin Posey, Dr. Anthony Hodges and local national park historian Jim Ogden, and he has also talked with one or two others about possible financing ideas.
He also thinks a good place to put it might be on the grounds of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo former train station, due in part to that tourist complex’s connection to the local railroad history.
“We are just at the meeting stage,” he said. “But everybody I have spoken to is for it. I do think we can pull it off. It is probably a 50-50 chance.”
He realizes one major challenge they have relates to the unfortunate ending of the former museum, which had its own weaving history while trying to preserve the history of Chattanooga and the region.
The former Chattanooga Regional History Museum had its founding in late 1977, when the now-razed Missionary Ridge Elementary near Bragg Reservation became available by the city, and a group led by Jill M. Avel helped convert part of the school into museum space. There, the historical story of the larger Chattanooga region was told.
Future mayor Ron Littlefield was also involved early on as a board member, and the museum over the years gained the support of numerous volunteer supporters who have been among the city’s most dynamic civic workers.
The first paid director was Dawn Kesserling, and then Kay Parish oversaw it as it moved to the old Chestnut Street School by Fourth Street in 1984-85 and continued to grow and became a popular draw for Chattanooga and visitors. Later directors included David Estabrook, Norman Burns, Britt Brantley, and Gail Pollock.
The newspaper clipping files at the Chattanooga Public Library are full of stories of various special exhibits and programs at the vibrant and active museum during its first 20-25 years.
Museum officials eventually began dreaming even bigger and had looked at raising millions for a museum before moving around the corner to a Broad Street building in 2005. The old Chestnut Street school building where they had been since the 1980s was not feasible to renovate due to its small rooms and thick walls. It was eventually torn down as another local history chapter was being written with downtown’s growing popularity and demand for hotels.
In 2007, the museum started looking at moving to the more spacious and more visible Chattanooga Visitors Bureau building by the Tennessee Aquarium and possibly remodeling it into a higher-end museum to attract even more people to learn of the Chattanooga region’s historical journey.
It had also about that time looked at occupying part of a tall building planned by Henry Glascock near the Aquarium, although that building did not get built.
About 2008, the museum became the Chattanooga History Center as it relocated its offices to 615 Lindsay St. in anticipation of a move to the nice new facility. While it did not have a museum site at this time, it took aspects of the museum out to the schools and community. Some offices were eventually moved to the building by the Aquarium as the remodeling and redevelopment of the building was planned and initiated.
Dr. Daryl Black also became the museum director in 2009. But despite several nice financial gifts, the museum could not raise enough money to complete its planned museum, one article said, and River City Company eventually took back over the building in 2016. By then, Dr. Black had left to take a job with the Seminary Ridge Museum in Gettysburg, Pa.
The National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, which had its own history of slow-but-sure growth and popularity, later developed the currently popular center inside the building by the Aquarium.
“When the money evaporated and the museum didn’t get done, it left a bad taste in some of the benefactors,” said Mr. Thompson in understanding a hurdle his small group faces in trying to get renewed interest.
Currently, some of the administrative papers, photos, and other flat archives from the former museum are being stored at UTC, while some 3-D artifacts are at the Chattanooga Public Library under the care of the Local History and Genealogy Department.
As one who firmly believes that important history should not be forgotten, Mr. Thompson wants to see the idea of a museum not go by the wayside. But this one will be different, he thinks, while still preserving the same important history.
“I am totally open to suggestions,” he said. “We are just testing the water and looking for like-minded people.”
He welcomes anyone interested in learning more about the museum, wanting to become involved in some way, or wanting to offer suggestions to email him at flyingfort@fbright.com or flyingfort@me.com. Or those interested can check out his realty company full contact page at https://fletcherbrightrealty.com/agents/jim-thompson.
In some ways, Mr. Thompson’s efforts are a continuation of getting people to learn history in an outside-the-box way, just as he used to do in a class competition using a tub of water to teach how heavy supplies were moved across pontoon bridges in Chattanooga during the Civil War.
His life has simply benefited from knowing history, and he wants others to enjoy the positives of hearing the rich stories of the past as well.
“It has given me the confidence moving forward knowing where I came from,” he said. “I would hate to see our history die on the vine. If you don’t keep history alive, it dies at some point.”
* * *
Jcshearer2@comcast.net