KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cherel Henderson, a passionate historian and guiding force in the development of the East Tennessee Historical Society, died Sunday. She was 77.
"Her leadership and her legacy will be felt for years and years," said Warren Dockter, president and CEO of the society and Henderson's successor at her retirement.
Henderson's contributions to the downtown Knoxville organization were "enormous," Dockter said.
The Jefferson County native retired as executive director in 2020, a job she'd held since 2003. She joined the staff in 1987.
Henderson was enthralled by history and the people who had come before her. As a youngster she "often preferred the company of her elders at family gatherings, listening on the front porch as they discussed the 'old ways,' " her obituary notes.
Dockter credited Henderson, among other things, with pioneering through the society what's known as First Families of Tennessee, a program that recognizes and celebrates people who "can prove direct descent from a person or persons living in any part of what is now Tennessee before or by statehood in 1796."
Today there are more than 16,000 members. She edited "First Families of Tennessee: A Register of Early Settlers and Their Present-Day Descendants".
Dockter credited Henderson with helping him prepare over the course of six months to take over for her before her retirement. She built up the society "in a way that had never been dreamed of before," he said.
"There's no question that she loved history and her work lives on through the society," he said.
The family will receive friends 5-7 p.m. Thursday, at Bridges Funeral Home, 5430 Rutledge Pike. A private family graveside service will be held Friday at Pleasant Grove Piney Baptist Church in New Market.
