KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Bick Marshall said it was "the Good Book" worn, threaded together and passed down through the decades that led to a revelation.
"My father gave me my grandfather's Bible in 1975," Marshall said. "It was at that point that I realized I didn't know anything about my family."
The retired businessman who lives on a mountain in Blount County yearned to learn more about his family's East Tennessee roots. It was his love of this region that drew him back.
"I've lived in Seattle. I've worked in El Paso. I've worked in Cincinnati and Nashville and lived in Kentucky a while, but there was never any doubt about where I was going to end up living… East Tennessee," he said.
Marshall did a deep dive into his family's past. With the help of the East Tennessee Historical Society, he pieced together their story. In the early 1800's his family moved from Virginia to Madisonville. As Marshall, searched records and documents and pulled up old pictures, he had an epiphany.
"It occurred to me one day, maybe three years ago, that there is no logo that we can identify with or point to with pride that is an East Tennessee logo," Marshall said.
So, he teamed up with an attorney and design company to create a logo specific to East Tennessee. It includes the outline of the 33 counties in the region and a star borrowed from the state flag. And with the words "East TN," the logo takes on the shape of the entire state.
Marshall secured a trademark for the logo and turned over the rights to the East Tennessee Historical Society.
Mugs stamped with the logo are for sale in the museum's shop. Online, there are shirts, sweatshirts and ball caps. Marshall doesn't pocket the profits; sales support the historical society and its mission to connect people with their past.
Marshall said there are two kinds of people: Those who live in East Tennessee and those who want to.
Sporting a hat with his signature logo, this native son is proud of the place he calls home and wants others to feel and wear that same pride.
"It just becomes a part of your fabric. It is you and you are it, the geography of the place, the mountains, the streams, the valleys, the people," he said.