Tennessee Tech Archives is proud to present an event lineup for the 2025–2026 academic year, each one celebrating local history, storytelling, and the arts. We invite you to join our free community and Tech events, and to even become a sponsor to help us host these events and future ones. Sponsorship supports Tech Archives in preserving and sharing the past of our community and Middle Tennessee, while also inspiring the future.
Film Series: A Long Hard Streak – October 1 at 5 PM at Bell Hall 282, Tennessee Tech, and October 2 at 6 PM at Cookeville Performing Arts Center
Join us for a special screening of the documentary “A Long Hard Streak,“ in partnership with WCTE, which explores the life and legacy of Billy Dean Anderson, a fugitive from Fentress County who became one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals. The film showcases Anderson’s artwork, offering a rare glimpse into the creative mind behind the folk antihero. Anderson’s story reflects the culture and history of Appalachia in the 20th century. A Q&A with filmmaker Scott Rabideau, WCTE’s Avery Hutchins, and historians Dr. Troy Smith will follow the October 2nd event.
Inaugural Watergate Roach Run – October 28 at 4 PM at Tennessee Tech’s Volpe Library
In 1986, Tennessee Tech made national headlines when its cockroach athlete, Watergate, won the Great American Bug Race in Florida. Found just minutes before the deadline by Oracle staff in Miller Hall, Watergate was shipped in a film canister over 800 miles to Palm Beach Atlantic College. Against all odds, Watergate won the race in just two seconds, beating competitors from across the U.S. and Canada. Tragically, he was eaten by a lizard shortly after, but his legacy had only just begun.
packed in a mailer addressed to West Palm Beach, Florida.
The campus responded with a memorial service attended by over 1,000 students dressed in black. President Wallace Prescott declared October 28 as Watergate Day, and the Alumni Association awarded Watergate the esteemed “Extinguished Alumni Award.” The event became a symbol of Tech’s resilience, creativity, and humor during a rough sports season.
This year’s Watergate Roach Run revives that legacy with a race event where departments compete for the title of fastest cockroach. It’s designed to reignite a historical tradition, provide laughs, and foster camaraderie among students and departments, tying the past to the present in a unique Tennessee Tech way.
For race details, follow this link: https://sites.tntech.edu/archives/2025/08/22/watergate-roach-race-rules-and-regulation/
For Tennessee Tech departments, student clubs, and organizations, register your cockroach athlete by following this link: https://tntech.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0VyWE5xR7MMMtT0
Archives, Creatively Speaking – March 2026
This event celebrates the power of art and storytelling. Students will create original works, paintings, poetry, and narratives based on themes selected by the Archives and utilizing the Archives’ unique resources. It’s a showcase of student creativity utilizing historical resources in new and inventive ways. More information about this event will be available soon!
