Wondering how to get your kids interested in history? Let us help you solve this problem with the History Headquarters (History HQ). Located in the Museum of East Tennessee History, History HQ is the East Tennessee Historical Society’s exhibition experience for young historians and their families. Visit and learn the key skills of a historian’s detective-like work: investigating sources, such as artifacts, images, and documents, to better understand history’s mysteries!
At History HQ you can:
Explore discovery boxes that hold clues to famous Tennesseans starting with the 1700s.
Envision and recreate historical events from the 1700s to the 1982 World’s Fair using our Stop Motion Software
Learn about artists and craftspeople including doll makers, basket and cloth weavers, and quilters. Then try it yourself!
Create characters and put them on stage in the Story Forest.
See yourself in the past through an interactive mirror!
Opened in the fall of 2021, History HQ provides the opportunity to explore the past in ways guaranteed to be fun for the whole family. Toddlers and babies can manipulate stacking items designed for young play. The weaving and stop motion stations are intended to enhance tactile skills in children pre-k through 5th grade.
After experiencing History Headquarters there are several activities for families to complete together in the main gallery, Voices of the Land: The People of EastTennessee. There, families can do an activity book that covers the entire gallery, including word searches, crosswords, note taking skills, and invites visitors to experience the gallery together - and inquisitively - rather than just walking through. Also, there are several scavenger hunts designed for grades 2-5 for the main gallery that visitors can ask for in History HQ. There is a virtual escape room intended for 6-12 grade to explore each different section of the gallery. There is also an escape room for the World’s Fair Exhibition. The escape rooms are accessed via QR code that can be received by checking in at History HQ.
Established in 1834, the East Tennessee Historical Society is widely acknowledged as one of the most active history organizations in the state and enjoys a national reputation for excellence in programming and education. For nearly 200 years, the East Tennessee Historical Society has been helping East Tennesseans hold on to our unique heritage—recording the events, collecting the artifacts, and saving the stories that comprise the history we all share.
