Staff photo by Tim Barber /
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student's Jackson Ver Mulm, left, Madison Morgan and Katie Raabe introduce their podcast about murals on M.L. King Boulevard to a large crowd inside the Bessie Smith Cultural Center on Wednesday evening. The student-produced podcasts featured historic stories from M.L. King Boulevard dubbed, "Stories From the Big 9."
For 10 weeks, 26 students in Will Davis' podcasting class at UTC immersed themselves in the history of East Ninth Street, now called Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and once referred to as "The Big 9." The initial goal of the "skills class," as it is referred to by the school, was for the students to learn about the growing phenomenon of podcasting with emphasis on audio recording, editing and storytelling, according to instructor Will Davis.
"Something more happened," however, Davis said.
"They learned about curiosity and respecting people and about listening."
Some of the students, along with Davis, Mayor Andy Berke and James McKissick, former director of the city's multicultural affairs office and now vice president and chief operating officer with the Urban League, were on hand inside the Velma S. Fields Atrium in the Bessie Smith Cultural Center on Wednesday night to premiere a series of podcasts done by the students called "Stories from the Big 9."
Staff photo by Tim Barber /
Oliver Gore, near left, records ambient sound as WUTC's Will Davis, center podium, introduces a series of student podcasts featuring historic stories from M.L. King Boulevard dubbed, "Stories From the Big 9." Gore is a junior communications major at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The event was held at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center on Jan. 30, 2019.The Big 9 was the nickname given to the area in reference to the once active nightlife found along the street, especially the area from Georgia Avenue to Central Avenue. In the early part of the last century to the 1970s and early '80s, the Big 9 was an entertainment hub for much of the city's black residents with retail shops, offices, auto repair shops and venues that featured predominantly jazz, blues and rhythm and blues.
It was renamed MLK in 1981 and saw a great deal of decline as residents and businesses left the community. It is seeing a rebirth in growth as more people move back to the area and UTC expands its campus footprint.
The students worked in pairs and were tasked to research a particular topic and then create three podcasts of about five minutes each. Michael Boehm and his podcast partner Tori Villa focused on three businesses on MLK in Live & Let Live Barber Shop, Blue Boy Barber Shop and Uncle Larry's Restaurant.
Staff photo by Tim Barber /
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks to a large crowd at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center that came to hear University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student-produced podcasts featuring historic stories from M.L. King Boulevard dubbed, "Stories From the Big 9." The event was held, Jan. 30, 2019.The first has been in business since the 1930s, while the second for a little over two decades and Uncle Larry's has been serving up fried fish and sides for almost five years. Boehm and Villa did a podcast focusing on each.
Katie Raabe and Jack Ver Mulm chose to focus on the murals that now adorn some of the buildings. They spoke with artist Kevin Bate about his murals of blues artists Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. for one of their segments.
Other topics included a look at the life of Bessie Smith, known in her day as "the Empress of the Blues," and the importance of the churches along the historic street.
McKissick helped provide the students with background and helped them develop some of the questions to be asked and answered.
"My history on this street goes back 45 years," he told the standing-room audience.
The podcasts will air on WUTC-FM 88.1 throughout February as part of Black History Month and will be available on www.wutc.org. The radio station will also feature highlights of each on Tuesdays and Thursdays as part of "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," according to Davis.
City Councilman Erskine Oglesby said he thought it was important that the students seemed to appreciate not just the area's past, but its future.
"We can't know where we are going without knowing where we came from," he said.
He said it is important that "we not get caught up in the past, but it is important to know it."
Contact staff writer Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.