Maryville Resident Lorna Keathley Dedicates Career to Advancing Accessibility and Preserving Heritage

Keathley's research and advocacy aims to make historic sites more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Apr. 7, 2026 at 4:04am

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A bold, colorful silkscreen-style illustration featuring a wheelchair icon repeated in a grid, conceptually representing the accessibility challenges faced by people with disabilities at heritage sites.A pop art-inspired illustration highlighting the need for improved accessibility at historic sites and museums.Knoxville Today

Lorna Keathley, a communication lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has dedicated her career to improving accessibility at heritage sites and museums. After personal experiences traveling with her mother, who used a wheelchair, Keathley is now conducting PhD research to create 360-degree virtual tours that enhance equitable access to historic locations like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Why it matters

Keathley's work aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of providing quality education and reducing inequalities. By making heritage sites more accessible, she aims to ensure that people with disabilities can fully experience and learn from these important cultural resources.

The details

Keathley's research project examines accessibility challenges at the Cades Cove Historic District in the Great Smoky Mountains, a National Register of Historic Places site. She is creating 360-degree virtual tours with the goal of providing an inclusive, multimedia experience for visitors with disabilities. Keathley is also working to incorporate the perspectives of people with disabilities and descendants of the Cades Cove community to ensure the tours accurately reflect their needs and experiences.

  • Keathley won the 2006 Dille Award for Best Undergraduate Design and a 2006 Italian Scholarship.
  • In 2012, Keathley placed in the top three graduate student papers at the National Communication Association conference.
  • Keathley retired from her 25-year career as a communication lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2021.
  • Keathley is currently conducting her PhD research project with the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

The players

Lorna Keathley

A communication lecturer at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who is conducting PhD research to improve accessibility and inclusivity at heritage sites.

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The university where Keathley worked as a communication lecturer for 25 years before retiring.

University of Birmingham

The university where Keathley is currently pursuing her PhD research project on heritage site accessibility.

Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

The organization where Keathley currently works part-time and is conducting her research on the Cades Cove Historic District.

Johns Hopkins University

The university where Keathley studied and now teaches an online course in museum and heritage studies.

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What they’re saying

“In the last two years of my mother's life, when we traveled, she needed a wheelchair due to lung cancer. This directly affected our ability to visit heritage sites because of accessibility issues. It has also come to my attention that some of these heritage spaces that I used to go to may become inaccessible due to my own limitations, as I do not walk up a flight of stairs very well.”

— Lorna Keathley, PhD Researcher

What’s next

Keathley is seeking participants with disabilities to provide input on accessibility needs, as well as descendants of the Cades Cove community to share oral histories, to help inform the development of the 360-degree virtual tours.

The takeaway

Lorna Keathley's dedication to improving accessibility and inclusivity at heritage sites through innovative research and community engagement demonstrates how one person can make a meaningful impact on preserving cultural resources and empowering underrepresented groups.