Chattanooga Public Library unveils Trail of Tears exhibit

The Records of Removal exhibit at the Chattanooga Public Library.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The Chattanooga Public Library hopes a new exhibit will help those who are searching for answers about their ancestry.

The new exhibit is called “Records of Removal”.

It displays the ration books created during the removal of Native Americans during the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.

These books showed what each person being removed was given in terms of supplies, which was often very little.

The library is aiming to digitize all of these records, helping the descendants of the victims of the Trail of Tears learn more about who came before them.

“This is a great way for people to be able to find the past history that they had. One of the things that was notable from this is that it was a great travesty and a lot of people lost their lives amid other things, but that trauma continues because many of the people who did survive their ancestors now have lost a big part of their past,” said the library’s director Will O’Hearn.

The exhibit will be on display at the downtown branch until the end of February.