I stopped by
Johnson University this morning to ask if they might have any records regarding the 1921 basketball game between the University of Tennessee and then Johnson Bible College. Their holdings of yearbooks don't go back that far. I was referred to Denny Eaton, Periodicals Clerk at the
Glass Memorial Library. I've worked with Denny before. She was very helpful in providing resources for early baseball images and text about Johnson Bible College.
We took a quick look through the archives and nothing popped up, but I asked about early newspapers and newsletters associated with the school. She pulled out an archive box and graciously allowed me to take some quick snaps.
The School of the Evangelists was founded in 1893 by Ashley S. Johnson, so the first two papers,
The Christian Watchman and
The Querist, predate that. Here's a link to the
history of Johnson University.
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| The Christian Watchman - December 1, 1880 |
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| The Querist - January 1, 1890 |
From what I can tell, the publications were of an evangelical bent, with a bit of school news tossed in.
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| Kimberlin Review - September, 1902 |
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| Kimberlin Review - masthead (date not noted) |
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| The World-wide Witness - January, 1904 |
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| Johnson Bible College News Letter - October, 1912 |
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| Johnson Bible College News Letter - October, 1913 |
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| Blue and White - October 15, 1928 |
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| The Monthly Kimberliner - January, 1950 |
From what I saw, there wasn't much local news, although there were advertisers from downtown Knoxville in a few of the issues.
From
archive.org I found the
Periodicals of the Disciples of Christ and Related Religious Groups which list several of the publications that I've shown above.
I don't yet know the extent of the holdings of Johnson University. As with many interests, this requires more research.
I'd like to thank Denny Eaton and the staff of the Glass Memorial Library for permission to share these images.
