One of the rare items on display at the Museum of Appalachia -- Gol Cooper's Glass Eye.
A typewritten description on the wall explains: "In 1910 when Gol Cooper was six years of age, he was tying his shoe and he had this open pocket knife in his hand. He was stooped over, pulling tight the string, when it broke, thrusting the knife blade through his eye ... Gol's father had an eye made for him and he wore it 'til he died in 1979 in Norris where he had been employed by the Bureau of Mines for many years. The eye and the knife were presented to the Museum by Gol's daughter...."
Glass eyes can be found in other museum collections, but none we know of display them alongside the culprit that destroyed the owner's real eye.
