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‘We want to make our community proud' Beck Cultural Exchange Center celebrating 50 years

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Beck Cultural Exchange Center on Dandridge Avenue has been serving East Tennessee since 1975. The center houses hundreds of years of history from yearbooks to newspaper clippings. 'During our 50th anniversary, we can really show you some of the artifacts that we have, original artifacts and different memorabilia that really speaks to history in its authentic form,' President of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center Rev. Renee Kesler said. 'That's always exciting to share with you that you may have never seen before. Beck has over 50,000 artifacts that speak to Black History and culture, so being able to share those and put those on exhibition is always an exciting time.' 'Roots of Resilience' documentary supports fight food insecurity against in East Knoxville According to Kesler, the Beck Center is the only designated black history center in East Tennessee. 'To recognize that you are one of the only, the one and only East Tennessee community representative for African American history and culture,' Kesler said. 'There's no other repository for Black History and culture in East Tennessee other than the Beck Cultural Exchange Center as designated by the state of Tennessee. It's an honor to share this history, to preserve this history and to open it up for all of our community to enjoy.' How to watch WATE's 2025 Honoring Black History special For the Beck Center's 50 year anniversary, there will be events throughout the year for people to enjoy and learn more about black history in East Tennessee. At this time the Beck Center is working to finish up a big project. 'Right now, we are excited in this 50th year to talk about the Delaney Museum. We are trying to finish up the remaining funds we need to raise for that project so that we can finish that up as well,' Kesler said. 'We have some lofty goals but here's what we want, we want to make our community proud, we want to be a community where people look at us and say wow, how did Knoxville do it.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.