Tennessee Archive of Moving Image and Sound

Moving image collection

TAMIS’s moving image collection dates back to 1915 and consists of thousands of reels of film and videotape containing advertisements, documentaries, home movies, industrial films, newsreels, and television programs–all created in or related to East Tennessee and the Southern Appalachian region. Highlights of the collection include:

Photographer James E. “Jim” Thompson’s home movies document Knoxville in the early 1900s, as well as the Great Smoky Mountains prior to the creation of the national park.

Audio collection

TAMIS’s collection of audio materials include thousands of East Tennessee-related, commercially produced vinyl and shellac records from the 1920s to today. While the collection includes world famous musicians, there are also a number of hidden gems, obscure acts from cities and towns across East Tennessee that self-released private press records.

Unique items found only at TAMIS include reel-to-reel tapes and acetate discs cut in local studios, home recordings, and radio station transcription discs, including early recordings from Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton. Other highlights include:

  • Vintage East Tennessee radio programming (WNOX, WBIR, WROL, WKGN, WIBK, WIVK, WLIL), 1930s–1990s 
  • Home recordings and demos, 1930s–present
  • Regional record collection (commercially released shellac and vinyl records from regional artists), early 1920s–present
  • Oral histories and field recordings, 1930s–present