Chattanooga was but a spry septuagenarian when one of its most recent storytellers first encountered it.
Now 175, the city has had its story told and recorded over the last several weeks by several handfuls of people of various ages so that city residents in 100 years will know what life was like in the Scenic City way back in 2014.
The oral history project was part of the city’s 175th birthday, which has been celebrated throughout the month with mini-events across the area.
Recordings of those who told their stories, from an individual over 100 years old to Mayor Andy Berke to men and women in their 20s, will be buried in the future as part of a time capsule, likely in Coolidge Park, as part of the events that mark the city’s birthday.
The recordings, collected and collated by Michael Edward Miller of WUTC, are not a dry history of what happened in 1931 or 1959 or 1992 but rather how life was experienced by the disparate individuals who volunteered their stories.