Knoxville, TN (WOKI) Knoxville historian and civil rights activist Robert ‘Bob’ Booker has died.
Booker, considered a powerful voice not just in Knoxville but across the state, was an author, historian, civil rights activist and even a state legislator.
He grew up in East Knoxville, graduating from Austin High School before joining the military. Booker spent three years in the Army stationed in France and England. He graduated from Knoxville College on the G.I Bill in 1962 with a degree in education. At the college, he spent two terms as president of the student body and organized sit-ins to advance desegregation in Knoxville.
Booker died Thursday, February 22, 2024; he was 88.
