The Reece Museum Exhibition Publications

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Introduction

Jimmy Morrow was born March 6, 1955 in Raven Branch, a population area in rural Del Rio, Tennessee. His father, Albert Morrow, is remembered as a very devout man who raised his seven children in the church, and young Jimmy Morrow began preaching there when he was just six years old, soon after he received his first vision. Throughout his career, in which the Rev. Morrow was the founder and pastor of the Edwina Church of God in Jesus Christ’s Name, Morrow also preached at churches in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky. Alongside his work as a spiritual leader, Morrow compiled genealogies, collected photos, and documented local histories by hand, amassing one of the largest collections of information on Appalachian religious serpent handling in the world.

At the time of his passing on January 24, 2023, the Rev. Morrow had become known internationally for his strong faith and religious practices, as well as for his Appalachian folk art, and had been featured in documentary films, book publications, podcasts, and numerous articles. Reverend Jimmy Morrow is remembered as a kind man who never met a stranger, a wise community member who generously shared his knowledge and cared for his neighbors, and an impassioned self-taught artist who painted, made kudzu baskets, constructed dolls and stuffed figures, and built snake boxes to transport his wild-caught serpents.

In the spring of 2023, Dr. Rick Cary, Professor Emeritus at Mars Hill University, contacted the Reece Museum to gauge our interest in helping to preserve and share Jimmy Morrow’s artistic legacy following his sudden passing. Having known the Rev. Morrow for a number of years, Dr. Cary has been instrumental in the Reece Museum’s ability to collect and document the artworks, memories, and stories that keep Morrow’s spirit and his important connection to Appalachia alive. As Dr. Cary writes in his artist statement: “The late Rev. Jimmy Morrow was a placed person.”

In the years following our initial meeting, Reece Museum staff have had the privilege of connecting with Mrs. Pamela Morrow, who was married to Jimmy for 49 years. The wounds of her loss are still fresh, but over time she has begun sharing stories about her community and her observations of the Rev. Morrow’s art-making practice. Mrs. Morrow recalls that he created his paintings from spiritual visions and messages from God. He would not paint while seated or standing—he only painted on his knees, on the concrete porch of his home in Del Rio, Tennessee. She describes his paintings as “gifts of the Spirit” and fondly remembers, “Jimmy painted what God showed him.”

Over the course of four or five visits, Mrs. Morrow and Dr. Cary guided us through the Edwina Church of God in Jesus Christ’s Name, which the Morrows founded in 1993. Albert Morrow, Jimmy’s father, bought the land from Pamela’s family and donated it to the church. The Morrows and the church members built the church and the adjacent cabin, which held an amassed archive of the Rev. Morrow’s paintings, baskets, and dolls. The vast majority of Morrow’s visionary artworks that we viewed featured depictions of animals, mountainous landscapes, or collected histories related to the Cocke County area.

As we took our trips to Newport to spend time with Mrs. Morrow and Dr. Cary, we invited faculty and community members to join us, including Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler, an ETSU Professor who specializes in American Religious History. Her interest in Jimmy’s artwork encouraged an academic collaboration unlike any project that the museum had undertaken in recent years. Using her developed course syllabus for Religion in Appalachia, Dr. Adler worked with us to compile a list of approximately 200 artifacts in the permanent collection that pertained directly to the course objectives. Following intensive artifact research conducted by the students in the course, they each developed an exhibition proposal that applied their research and findings in a practical and professional museum setting. Several of the students showed an interest in Morrow’s artworks in particular, as they had never experienced anything like them before.

This exchange proved to be incredibly beneficial for all parties involved. Using the museum’s permanent collection bolstered Dr. Adler’s course offerings, the students received hands-on, professional experience in the form of course credits, and the museum received well-researched, written deliverables that are now published in online artifact entries, with credits given to the students who produced the research. Dr. Adler and several of her students contributed to the facilitation of The Place Speaks and have continually inspired new ideas and approaches to interpreting and appreciating Jimmy’s art.

Start Date

8-4-2025

End Date

12-12-2025

Table of Contents

  • 2: Introduction
  • 6: Acknowledgments
  • 21: Chapter 1: Artist Statements & Biographies
  • 21: Dr. Rick Cary
  • 31: Howard Finster
  • 33: Aaron McIntosh
  • 35: Abe Partridge
  • 37: Bessie Harvey
  • 39: Katie Murphy
  • 41: Kristy Moeller Ottinger
  • 43: Stacy Kranitz
  • 49: William Fields
  • 51: William Cross
  • 57: Jeremiah Jenkins
  • 59: R. A. Miller
  • 61: Chapter II: Written Submissions
  • 61: A Long Line of Prophets - Rebecca Proffitt
  • 65: Paintings, Prophets, and Persecution - Dr. Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand
  • 69: Holy Land - Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler
  • 74: Pale Horse, Dark Rider - Dr. Jesse Graves
  • 77: Painting the Liminal - Dr. Rebecca Adkins Fletcher
  • 81: Reverend Jimmy Morrow’s Judgment Day Paintings - Dr. David Michael Jones
  • 85: Morrow - Dr. Scott Honeycutt
  • 89: Following the Folk Artist - Andrea Price
  • 91: Roots and Branches - Dr. Amy Whitehead
  • 94: Chapter III: Additional Artifacts from the Permanent Collection
  • 104: Chapter IV: Recommended Resources
  • 106: Colophon

Exhibition

Savannah Bennett (Research & Curation, Design); Dr. Rick Cary (Curatorial Consultant); Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler (Curatorial Consultant); Reece Staff (Design); Spenser Brenner (Installation); Ashley Gregg (Installation)

Publication Contribution

Savannah Bennett (Editing, Research & Development); Spenser Brenner (Layout & Design)

Reece Museum Staff

Rebecca Proffitt (Director); Spenser Brenner (Exhibition Coordinator); Savannah Bennett (Collections Manager); Ashley Gregg (Education Curator)

The Place Speaks: Sacred & Artistic Genealogies of Appalachia

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