CRHM-Our Collections

For more information on any collection, contact the curator at (423) 265-3247 or by e-mail at curator@chattanoogahistory.com

Tailiaferro Collection

A collection of over 500 items that document one Chattanooga family from the 1920s to 1950s, the collection is highlighted by a significant number of items documenting the World War II service of several family men. The collection of memorabilia, photographs and scrapbooks also contains the diary of one of the Taliaferro men during his days as a POW in World War II.

Chattanooga Times Collection

Including over 900 items the Chattanooga Times Collection consists of items from the Civil War era to the 1930s owned by Adolph Ochs, founder of the Chattanooga Times and New York Times. The collection consists of primarily flat materials including letters, telegrams, and ledger books. In addition to documenting the history of the Chattanooga Times, the collection features documentation of the company developed town of Timesville on Waldens Ridge.

Carriger Collection

A collection of 240 items, the Helen F. Carriger collection consists of turn of the twentieth century textiles.

Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball

Documenting the history of Chattanooga’s minor league team the Lookouts, this collection consists of hundred of items including Joe Engel memorabilia, baseballs, bats, uniforms, and a significant number of photographs. Through paper artifact and business letters, the collection documents Joe Engel’s association with the Lookouts franchise from the 1930s to the 1960s. The collection also includes photographs of Jackie Mitchell with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, as well as film footage featuring Mitchell striking out Ruth, which can be viewed in our facility for research purposes but cannot be released for reproduction.

Theodore Davis Drawings

Collection consists of twenty-four original pen and ink drawings by Theodore Davis. Davis served as an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly during the Civil War. Through his drawings, Davis documented Chattanooga during the Civil War and later returned to Chattanooga to draw significant wartime sites as the appeared in the early 1890s.

David Gray Collection

The David H. Gray collection of over 1000 artifacts from the 19th century comprises a significant component of the CRHM’s agricultural collection. Regional amateur historian and collector, David H. Gray donated his extensive collection of regional artifacts to the CRHM in 1975 as the museum was opening. To honor David Gray’s contribution to local history and the Chattanooga Regional History Museum, the museum named its annual history fair in his honor. The David H. Gray History Fair is the largest of the museum’s educational outreach programs.

Civil War Collection

Begun in ---, the Lookout Mountain Museum closed in 1985, and donated its entire collection of Civil war Artifacts to the Chattanooga Regional History Museum. Consisting of 359 items, the collection consists of uniform pieces, battlefield artifacts, military weapons and other artifacts.

A. G. Campbell Collection

The museum’s largest collection of Native American artifacts, the Campbell collection consists of over 2000 items. The collection is used extensively in the museums permanent exhibit Chattanooga Country: Its Land, Rivers and People.

Emma Bell Miles Collection

Six original paintings by local artist Emma Bell Miles (1879-1919), copies of her book of poetry, Strains of the Dulcimer, and several original poems with the illustrations comprise the museum’s Emma Bell miles collection. The museum’s collection also contains several other paper artifacts related to Miles.

CRHM also owns the copyright to the 1985 book Emma Bell Miles by Kay Baker Gaston. For copies of this book contact the museum’s gift shop at (423) 265-3247.

Ferger Place Historic District Collection

The first Planed subdivision of south of the Mason-Dixon line; Ferger Place is one of Chattanooga’s National Register Historic Districts. Collected by the long standing Ferger Place Historic Society, the collection also contains a significant number of artifacts from the Ferger Place Garden Club. Along with yearly scrapbooks and ledgers of minutes and notes, the collection contains the annual garden club booklets from 1925 to 1995. A replica of the gate to the community and the original sales brochure are also contained in the collection.

For more information on any collection, contact the curator at (423) 265-3247 or email atcurator@chattanoogahistory.com