Fall 2022 Meeting Speaker
Chuck Sherrill
Chuck Sherrill retired from the position of State Librarian and Archivist in 2022. He continues to work at the Tennessee State Library and Archives part-time, processing manuscript collections and assisting with special projects.
Sherrill was named State Librarian and Archivist of Tennessee by Secretary of State Tre Hargett in 2010. This appointment followed ten years of service to the City of Brentwood, where he was the director of one of Tennessee’s premier public libraries. Prior to that he was head of the research section of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Before moving to the Nashville area he was the Director of the Cleveland (Tenn.) Public Library for nine years, and, before that, Head Reference Librarian at the Western Reserve Historical Society.
He is a native of Cleveland Ohio and a summa cum laude graduate of Case Western Reserve Univeristy, with master’s degrees in history and library science. His undergraduate work was done at Ohio University in Athens, where he earned a B.S. in Journalism. He served as an adjunct faculty member at Jackson State Community College (TN) in the distance learning program.
Chuck is an avid genealogist and author of more than 20 books of Tennessee history and genealogy. Since 2002 he has been the editor of the “Middle Tennessee Journal of History and Genealogy.”
Spring 2022 Meeting Speaker
Jack Neely
A career newspaper journalist for 30 years, has written about a dozen books, most of them pertaining to the complicated history of Knoxville, among them Knoxville, Tennessee: This Obscure Prismatic City; The Old City: A Short History; The Tennessee Theatre: A Grand Entertainment Palace; Historic Knoxville: The Curious Visitor’s Guide; and Market Square: A History of the Most Democratic Place on Earth. His work has won numerous awards, including the American Institute of Architects’ Friend of Architecture Award, the UT History Department’s Outstanding Alumnus Award, the East Tennessee Historical Society’s Award of Distinction, and an honorary doctorate from Maryville College. He is executive director of the small nonprofit, Knoxville History Project, which produces books and brochures and public art projects, coordinates talks and tours, and maintains a comprehensive website,
knoxvillehistoryproject.org
Fall 2021 Meeting Speaker
United States District Court Judge Mark S. Norris
United States District Court Judge Mark S. Norris addressed the Tennessee Society’s November Fall Meeting and Luncheon on “The Compact and the Constitution.”
Judge Norris was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and took the bench in 2018. He serves the Western District of Tennessee which includes 21 counties and 10,650 square miles between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers plus Perry County to the east. He is now one of only 26 judges to have served the Western District since it was created by Congress in 1802.
Judge Norris is a 1980 graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. Prior to his judicial appointment, he practiced commercial litigation throughout Tennessee for 38 years 18 of which included almost five terms in the Tennessee Senate. He served as Senate Majority Leader for 12 years making him the longest serving Senate Majority Leader in state history.
Judge Norris joined the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Tennessee Society this year. He is a descendant of Edward Fuller and Thomas Rogers. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Historical Society from 2007 until his term expired earlier this year. He is also Immediate Past-President of the Tennessee Society Sons of the American Revolution.
Judge Norris and his wife of 43 years, Chris, live at Greenlevel – a home on the National Register of Historic Places built by Judge John Overton in 1830 – on their farm in Shelby County with four generations of family where they happily raise horses, cattle and grandchildren.
Fall 2023
Meeting and Luncheon
Featured Speaker
Jack H 'Nick' McCall
Tennessee Society of Mayflower Descendants
Fall Meeting & Luncheon
Old Natchez Country Club
115 Gardengate Drive
Franklin, Tennessee
November 18, 2023
10:30am
McCall is an attorney, writer and teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee. A former Regular Army officer.
If you are from the Franklin area, you won’t want to miss what it was like in Franklin in World War II.
This entertaining presentation will include local pictures and stories. Make plans to join us!
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B.A. cum laude from Vanderbilt University
J.D. with honors from the University of Tennessee
More About:
Jack H. (Nick) McCall, Jr. served as a Senior Attorney and Deputy Designated Agency Ethics Official with Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville, Tennessee, from which he retired in 2021. He received his B.A. cum laude from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. with honors from the University of Tennessee, where he served as Editor in Chief of the Tennessee Law Review. The author of various articles on legal, foreign policy and historical topics and as the author/co-author of three books, McCall served on the Boards of Governors of the Tennessee and Knoxville Bar Associations and on the founding board of Legal Aid of East Tennessee. McCall was a member of the TBA’s Leadership Law Class of 2005, among other honors, awards, activities and community service roles. He formerly was Of Counsel with Hunton & Williams’ Knoxville office from 1994 to 2003 and served as General Counsel and Secretary of CTI Molecular Imaging, Inc. from 2003 to 2005 and before law school, he was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, serving as a Regular Army captain. McCall previously taught as an adjunct professor at UT Law (circa 1997-2001), having taught Legal Process II, Contracts Drafting and Securities Regulation.