About Us:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
For more than 80 years the Reece Museum has told the many stories of Appalachia. Housing over 20,000 artifacts, the Reece collection captures the region's past as well as its contemporary art and culture.Â
As one of the first museums in Tennessee to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Reece continues to meet AAM's high standards of excellence. Â Currently, the Reece is one of only twleve museums in Tennessee to receive this accreditation.Â
Mission:
The Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University provides an understanding of Appalachian culture and its importance in civilization by celebrating the people and places of Appalachia through the permanent collection, exhibits, and public service programming.
History:
The Museum began in the late 1920s as a class project created by history professor Maxine Mathews. Under the supervision of ETSU President Charles C. Sherrod, the Museum continued to grow. During the 1930s and 1940s, librarians staffed the Museum and provided tours to visitors.Â
Dedication Outside the ReeceIn August 1961, Louise Geoff Reece, wife of the late Congressman Brazilla Carroll Reece, donated her husband's personal library, including congressional reports, files, and other materials of educational and historic value, to ETSU. Formally dedicated on October 10, 1965, the B. Carroll Reece Memorial Museum was established as a tribute to the memory of First District Congressman B. Carroll Reece as a "storehouse of knowledge ... for the use of the university's students and the citizens of the state."Â
