Today I have a meeting at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center. As part of the Introduction Knoxville series, I'll be visiting this place where I have never been before and looking forward to hearing about Knoxville as a caring, compassionate community. So far, I've already learned a little something about our city's history this morning. Meet the Becks, influential leaders from Knoxville's history. Learn more at www.discoveret.org/beckcec.
The Becks
"James Garfield Beck and Ethel Benson Beck were two of the most glamorous and influential members of Knoxville's black community during the period of the 1920s-I960s. They were in the forefront of most civic, church, and social activities. The Becks were involved in the establishment of the Knoxville Colored Orphanage in 1919 and Mr. Beck was the first black postal clerk in the state of Tennessee. The Beck House itself has a long history. In the early 1800s two Englishmen bought several parcels of property from Joseph Mabry whose neighboring home (The Mabry Hazen House), remains one of the great historical sites in Knoxville. In the late 1800s James Cowan had the house built at 1927 Dandridge Ave. as a wedding gift for his new bride. The house was purchased in the 1940s by Dr. E.F. Lennan a prominent black physician and a cross was burned on their front lawn. The Becks later purchased the home and after the death of Mrs. Beck the trustees of her estate provided $20,000 to purchase the Beck house from KCDC. Thus the Beck Cultural Exchange Center, Inc. was established in 1975 to serve as a forum of artistic expression and historical perspective for African Americans in Knoxville and East Tennessee."
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