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Cleveland State hosts Trail of Tears Educational Symposium

In this Sept. 26, 2017, staff file photo, markers point out segments of the Trail of Tears route at Browns Ferry Federal Road Trail in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 0.6 mile trail was part of the route leading to the Brown's Ferry river crossing on Moccasin Bend for the forced removal of Cherokee and Creek Indians to what was then Indian Territory. In this Sept. 26, 2017, staff file photo, markers point out segments of the Trail of Tears route at Browns Ferry Federal Road Trail in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 0.6 mile trail was part of the route leading to the Brown's Ferry river crossing on Moccasin Bend for the forced removal of Cherokee and Creek Indians to what was then Indian Territory.

By Staff Report April 11, 2018 1 min read

Cleveland State Community College and the Tennessee chapter of the Trail of Tears Association will host a Trail of Tears Educational Symposium on Friday, April 13, to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the Trail of Tears and 50th anniversary of the National Park Service Historic Trails System.

The symposium will be held in the George R. Johnson Cultural Heritage Center on the campus of Cleveland State. Doors will open at 9 a.m. with sessions running from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Informational displays will be provided at the symposium. Guest speakers will include Brett Riggs, Sequoyah Distinguished Professor in Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University; Joe Guy, McMinn County sheriff and county historian; and Troy Wayne Poteete, Trail of Tears Association executive director.

“It is very exciting to have the symposium held in the community where the final removal took place,” says Debbie Moore, president of the Trail of Tears Association. “It is a dark chapter in American history, but through activities such as this, the removal will not be forgotten.”

The Trail of Tears Educational Symposium is free and open to the public.

For more information: bradleyfolks@aol.com.