Kye Logan Miller said, “I would put in a TVA dam and flood the museum.”ABOUT CHATTLANDIA
This occasional series takes a look at our region through the eyes of social media. Produced by staff writer Lynda Edwards and illustrated by Matt McClane.
This may be the Deep South, but when it comes to a history center dedicated to the city, Chattanoogans do not want a magnolia-and-moonlight version. If they had a museum, it would reflect the region’s raw, colorful past, mixing violent tragedies with joyful triumphs.
Meth labs and MoonPies would be showcased. The violence suffered by the black community during the Jim Crow era would be a priority. Polluting industries would not be ignored, nor would the Civil War.
But readers also delved further, saying their museum should explore why the poorest neighborhoods now suffer from a murderous crime rate.
Debra Fisher wants to document the city’s battle with pollution. She clearly recalls the TNT factory (now Enterprise South) turning the area around Central High School into a Dr. Seuss-hued landscape. “I can remember sitting outside art class watching yellow-brown clouds come over treetops My bus passed chemical holding ponds on each side of Highway 58. I often marveled at their beautiful colors: blue, green, pinkish red.”Long discussed and funded but not yet open, the Chattanooga History Center is meeting with state banks this week in hopes of securing $3.2 million it needs to build its exhibits and open the doors to the public.