The East Tennessee Historical Society has been named to receive a $2.5 million grant to fund a permanent exhibit covering the history of East Tennessee. Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee will be the signature exhibit of the expanded East Tennessee History Center Museum. Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, when complete, the exhibit will be housed in 8,000 square feet of floor space. The official announcement of the grant allocation was made by Robert Gowan, Senior Advisor for Legislation and Policy from Governor Phil Bredesen's office at a party sponsored by Regal Entertainment Group. Representing Regal were Mike Campbell, Chairman and CEO, Greg Dunn, Executive VP and COO, and Dick Westerling, Senior VP of Marketing & Advertising.After the announcement, Greg Dunn led a tour of the Tennessee at the Movies temporary exhibit. Arthur Seymour, ETHS board president accepted the check on behalf of the society. Voices of the Land will show visitors how geography has influenced developments within the region. As the name implies, Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee, will include more than artifacts and text labels. Visitors will have the opportunity to hear East Tennesseans describe their unique relationship to the land. The exhibit will take visitors through history from our earliest settlers, through the Civil War era, and into the twentieth century. Concept and design of the exhibit is underway and plans are to open the exhibit as early as November, 2007. "With this funding in place, we now have a tremendous amount of work to prepare this extensive exhibit. We look forward to inviting everyone out for the grand opening in 2007," stated Cherel Henderson, ETHS Director.The East Tennessee Historical Society, whose mission is to preserve, interpret and promote the region's history, is located at 601 S. Gay Street (across from the Tennessee Theatre) in downtown Knoxville. Exhibits are offered at no charge and are open to the public.