Andrew Johnson

News Release

May 1, 2008      Lizzie Watts 423-639-3711

Discovering Andrew Johnson

During the week of May 1, 2008 a group of three scholars, hosted by the National Park Service in cooperation with the Organization of American Historians, will be visiting the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site to reflect on new scholarly perspectives that are related to Andrew Johnson’s life and times. Members of the group include Dr. Andrew Slap form East Tennessee State University, Dr. Benjamin Hufbauer from the University of Louisville, and Dr. Leigh Fought from Montgomery College.  Among the issues they will explore are how historians currently understand or define Andrew Johnson, placing him into context of the time in which he lived and what important themes in American history are represented during his lifetime at the historic site. Superintendent Lizzie Watts stated that the visit by the scholars coincides with the bicentennial celebration of Andrew Johnson’s birth providing a wonderful opportunity to evaluate the existing educational programming offered by the site and to discover new materials and insights.

The culmination of the scholars’ visit will be a panel discussion and public forum entitled

“Understanding Andrew Johnson in Today’s History” on Saturday, May 3, from 6:00 until

8:00 pm, at the General Morgan Inn, located at 111 North Main Street, Greeneville, Tennessee.

Members of the community are both invited and encouraged to attend, ask questions of the panel, and offer input, refreshments will be served. The program is free and open to the public. No advanced reservations are required.