The East Tennessee Historical Society will hold its annual meeting with the election of officers and the presentation of the Awards of Excellence. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a cash bar, followed by the 6:15 p.m. dinner and program.

The featured speaker will be Dr. Michael Birdwell, the curator of the York Paper in Pall Mall, Tennessee. He has studied the life of Sgt. Alvin C. York, an American World War I hero, for more than a quarter of a century. Birdwell will discuss the public and private sides of York, the search for the actual battlefield location in France and the making of the movie, “Sergeant York,” and its influence on World War II.