Grand Opening of the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy
Opening in 2003 at the University of Tennessee, the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy spent its first few years in UT's Special Collections Hoskins Library while it awaited the construction of its own building. Ground was broken in 2005; three years later, Knoxville "celebrated the opening of its new facility on Oct. 31 (2008) with the help of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor." The Baker Center's mission is "to develop programs and promote research to further the public's knowledge of our system of governance, and also to highlight the critical importance of public service." An extended biography on Howard H. Baker is available here. Photos of the opening ceremony are available here.
The $17 million, 53,000-square-foot facility houses "a museum that tells the story of how government works...(and) explores modern Tennessee politics and engages students and adults in interactive civic exhibits. The building houses the Modern Political Archives, which hold more than 100 collections of political papers from prominent Tennessee leaders including U.S. Sens. Howard H. Baker Jr., Fred Thompson and Estes Kefauver, former Knoxville Mayor and Polish Ambassador Victor Ashe, and former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Riley Anderson. The center has a 200-seat auditorium for programs, as well as classrooms with break-out rooms for instruction and conferences."
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Photo by Wade Payne.
Among the various opportunities offered by the Baker Center are its Baker Scholars program for qualified undergraduate and graduate students; partnership with "K-12 teachers to create lesson plans and unique activities that complement the museum exhibit and meet Tennessee education standards"; the Energy Advisory Committee assists with the center's "continuing efforts to become one of the nations leading energy and environmental policy research and education organizations"; a variety of speakers and classes are offered each year on civic engagement and specific issues of social and political importance and much more. More information on the Baker Center is available here or you can submit your questions here.
