Ray Hill’s McKellar Book Wins ETHS Award
By Focus Staff
Ray Hill’s biography of Tennessee’s first popularly elected and longest serving United States senator, Kenneth McKellar, was recognized by the East Tennessee Historical Society with an Award of Excellence in the field of publication. The book, “Senator Kenneth McKellar: Feudin’ Son of Tennessee,” was published last summer by the University of Tennessee Press.
The ETHS annually bestows Awards of Excellence in different categories for those projects that promote and preserve our region’s history.
Hill received the Award of Excellence at a banquet at the ETHS last Tuesday, May 5, and amused guests by denying that he was an exhibit. Ray Hill and other winners of the ETHS’s Award of Excellence were honored at the dinner.
“It was a very great honor to win an Award of Excellence from the East Tennessee Historical Society,” Hill said. “I am very grateful to the folks at the East Tennessee Historical Society, as it is a very meaningful award.”
Knoxville Focus publisher Steve Hunley and his wife Kim hosted a table at the ETHS banquet and senior staff writer Mike Steely was present among many other guests, including Hill’s youngest sister and her husband.
The East TN Historical Society described Hill’s book about Senator McKellar as “a comprehensive biography of one of the most influential figures in Tennessee history.”
“Drawing on decades of meticulous research, including archival work, personal correspondence, and interviews, Hill provides a definitive account of McKellar’s life and career. The book highlights McKellar’s significant impact on East Tennessee, particularly his role in the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the development of Norris Dam, and his behind-the-scenes influence in bringing the Manhattan Project to Oak Ridge. Hill also explores McKellar’s political relationships, regional influence, and ability to work across party lines in a predominantly Republican East Tennessee. This work offers readers a fuller understanding of McKellar’s legacy, making it an important contribution to the preservation and interpretation of Tennessee’s political and regional history.”
Ray Hill has been writing one of the most popular columns in The Knoxville Focus for about 15 years, focusing on political history.
Hill was once told by one prominent Knoxvillian, “I always read your column but I’ve never heard of most of the people you write about.”
“That’s the point,” Hill replied. “Finding out something you didn’t know. Something like hidden history.”
Hill’s column has featured a host of historical political figures and is recognized as being somewhat singular in nature as there is nothing like it being published on a regular basis anywhere else. He covers an individual’s history start to finish.
Senator McKellar was a very colorful character and one of the most influential and politically powerful figures in Tennessee’s long history, which is populated with a wide array of fascinating subjects. McKellar is also the longest-serving member of Congress from Tennessee, serving a total of 42 years as a congressman and US senator.
The University of Tennessee Press is due to publish another of Ray Hill’s biographical books later this fall. The subject of that biography is Cordell Hull, a congressman and US senator from Tennessee and the longest serving US secretary of state in our country’s history. McKellar and Hull are two prominent public figures in Tennessee’s long history, and fans of Tennessee’s political history are sure to enjoy the new book.
Hill is excited about the publication of his second book, noting Kenneth McKellar and Cordell Hull were contemporaries for decades.
“They were very different in many respects,” Hill said. “McKellar was plain spoken, to the point of being quite blunt. Hull was much more cautious in taking a position, while nobody had to guess where McKellar stood on any issue.
“Of the two, McKellar became more powerful in Congress, although Hull achieved national acclaim and a level of respect that always eluded the senator.”
Hill readily acknowledged that Kenneth McKellar and Cordell Hull had some similarities as well.
“Perhaps being Tennesseans, both were accomplished feudists, McKellar more openly so, but Cordell Hull was an accomplished and rather lethal feudist when provoked by those who were unfortunate enough to underestimate him.
“Hull guarded his public image very carefully, and his reputation did not suffer for it,” Hill said. “Senator McKellar let the chips fall where they may, and his reputation suffered for it.”
When asked about something he had learned through the writing and publication of his books, Hill offered up the example of two readers who had perused his Hull manuscript. One reader said the work was “wanting more” while the other thought the book was “too long.”
The Focus will let readers know when the new book will be available.
