James Dickason Hoskins was born on January 30, 1870 in New Market, Tennessee to William Patton and Mary Olivia Rawls (Mills) Hoskins. His family moved to Knoxville in 1886, and Hoskins entered East Tennessee University in 1887, graduating with his BS in 1891 and again with his MS in 1893. After teaching and serving as principal at a few schools, Hoskins came to the University of Tennessee as an Assistant Professor of History in 1900. He became Dean of the College in 1911, and he served as acting University President twice before officially becoming its fourteenth President in 1934. He married Lynn Luella Deming on November 29, 1899 and the couple had two children. Hoskins died in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 3, 1960 at the age of 90.

The Ramsey Family was a prominent family in East Tennessee, particularly in Knox County, having been one of the first families to settle in the area. Colonel Francis Alexander Ramsey (1764-1820), moved to the area from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania via the North Carolina frontier in 1783 and played a major role in Tennessee's establishment in 1796. The Ramsey House was built around 1797 by skilled craftsman Thomas Hope for Colonel Ramsey.

One of the Ramsey's sons, James Gettys McGready Ramsey, born March 25, 1797, graduated from Washington College in 1816. He went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Upon his father's death, J.G.M. Ramsey took over as president of the Knoxville branch of the Bank of Tennessee. Later, his interest in railroad development would help bring the first train into Knoxville in 1855 via the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad. J.G.M. Ramsey also played an important role in the organization of the East Tennessee Historical Society and published The Annals of Tennessee, an early history of the state. He married Margaret Barton Crozier (1802-1889) in 1821 and they had eleven children. J.G.M. Ramsey died in Knoxville on April 11, 1884.