Robert Booker

Bob Booker is a columnist with the News Sentinel.

• Robert Booker: Black doctors had to make their own way Published 7/17/2012 at 3:00 a.m. 28 comments

  I was born in the Negro Wing at Knoxville General Hospital. It was dedicated Sept. 17, 1933, 19 months before my arrival.

• Robert Booker: Segregation law targeted streetcars Published 7/10/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  I have made it a point to read all of those segregation laws that were passed by the state Legislature from 1875 to 1905. In a recent column I mentioned the law of 1875 that kept blacks racially segregated for ...

• Robert Booker: The lead-up to July 4, 1776, was brave and brilliant Published 7/3/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  Tomorrow we will celebrate the 236th anniversary of the independence of our country on July 4, 1776. For at least 169 years, American lives had been subjected to British rule after the first permanent colony was established at Jamestown, Va., ...

• Robert Booker: Short-lived water bottler celebrated at opening Published 6/19/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 3 comments

  I am not a fan of bottled water. At home I tap the Knoxville Utilities Board supply and add ice to my glass. In public I look for the nearest water fountain. I have seen all those great commercials for ...

• Robert Booker: Independent Call was weekly touchstone for blacks Published 6/12/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  Since 1878 wen William F. Yardley published the Knoxville Examiner, our city has had a large number of black weekly newspapers. Some were short-lived and some did not adequately cover the news of the black community, but most were a ...

• Robert Booker: Depot Avenue was scene of adventures Published 6/5/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 2 comments

  Depot Avenue is one of those streets just beyond my old neighborhood that provided a lot of things to see and do. By the time I was 10 years old, in 1945, I was able to stretch my wings a ...

• Robert Booker: Former slave's gift led to Cansler Family YMCA Published 5/29/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  The beautiful and spacious Cansler Family YMCA at 616 Jessamine St. had its beginning 106 years ago in a much smaller building at 514 E. Vine Ave. at Patton Street.

• Robert Booker: Homeless problems are nothing new Published 5/22/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 7 comments

  We often read and see stories about the homeless population in Knoxville, describing their plight or some of the affects they have on certain parts of the city. Those stories in some cases mention the facilities and services provided to ...

• Robert Booker: Railroad history includes cruelty Published 5/15/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 8 comments

  In my column of Dec. 27, 2005, I wondered about those men who did the hard labor in building our railroads. Did we have Chinese workers here as in other places? How many slaves were used to build the roadbeds ...

• Robert Booker: Railroads brought new life to town Published 5/8/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  As a youngster, I lived just a few yards from the Southern Railway tracks between Florida and Kentucky streets. I was fascinated with the old steam engines that huffed and puffed as they tried to make the grade passing under ...

• Robert Booker: Adults must take part in education Published 5/1/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 6 comments

  For the past few weeks, I have heard about discussions of Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre's $35 million increase for the system's budget. I read the pro and con statements of government leaders. I don't know if details of ...

• Robert Booker: Humes a restless giant in local affairs Published 4/24/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 0 comments

  In 1978, when I went to work at the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and began to get interested in local history, one of the first names I heard was the Rev. Thomas William Humes. I learned that he had been ...

• Robert Booker: Professional options for blacks were limited Published 4/17/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 10 comments

  It was not so long ago that blacks and whites in Knoxville lived, worked, played and even prayed in separate societies.

• Robert Booker: Cobb shared passion for music with generations Published 4/10/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 1 comment

  The Rev. Eugene Thomas, a 1954 graduate of Austin High School, recently published his new book, "Swing and Swab with St. Clair Cobb."

• Robert Booker: Majors and friends are good lunch pals Published 4/3/2012 at 4:00 a.m. 3 comments

  Two years ago, on April 5, 2010, I fell in with a bunch of some of the most interesting people I have ever met.

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