Handwritten documents often pose a problem for genealogy and local history researchers. Besides the inevitable smudges and faded spots, old documents can also contain special abbreviations or styles from bygone eras that make them difficult to decode. Join us at the East Tennessee History Center as we welcome Dr. Chris Magra, Professor of Early American History at the University of Tennessee, for a short tutorial on reading handwritten documents from the 1700s. Copies of documents held by the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection and Knox County Archives will be available to view. Learn tips and tricks for reading early handwriting and try your hand at decoding documents from East Tennessee’s past. This program will help you make sense of historical handwriting discovered in your own research.

The East Tennessee History Center’s Genealogy Program is a partnership between Knox County Public Library and the East Tennessee Historical Society with support from Friends of the Knox County Public Library and East Tennessee PBS.