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Thousands of Stories

3-28-23

Exhibition Rotation

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2023 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Two areas of our permanent galleries have exciting new updates. The First Peoples exhibition features a new display focused on the Southeastern Indian Salt Works at Sulphur Dell. Museum staff worked with Native American stakeholders to develop this display. Sulphur Dell Display at Tennessee State Museum In the Mississippian period, salt was an important trade item. The o... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
Exhibitions Newsletter

3-24-23

New Acquisitions to the Museum's Collection: Winter 2023

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2023 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Silver Spoon, about 1800 With this recent donation, the Museum gained one of the oldest pieces of Tennessee-made silver in its collection. Family documents note that this spoon was made in Nashville around 1800 for William and Rhoda Byrne, who lived in Roane and Putnam Counties in the early nineteenth century. While its maker is unidentified, the spoon is engraved with the Byr... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis

3-7-23

Collection Highlight: Scopes Evolution Trial Archive

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2023 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Scopes Evolution Trial Archive, 1920s  The Museum recently acquired an exceptional photographic archive related to the Scopes Evolution Trial, more commonly known as the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. Formally “The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes,” the trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee, as a challenge to the Butler Act, a law that made the teaching of huma... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
Museum Collection Newsletter Tennessee History

3-6-23

50 Years and 50 Women: Celebrating the Impact and Legacy of Title IX in Tennessee

Note: Mary Ellen Pethel will discuss Title IX, Pat Summitt, and Tennessee’s Trailblazers on Saturday, March 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Museum as part of the TN Writers | TN Stories: Author Talks at the State Museum series. The reading will be preceded by a reception beginning at 10:00 a.m. with coffee and cookies by Christie's Cookies. Reservations are requested here. The series is presented in partnership with Humanities Tennessee, Chapter 16 and Vanderbilt University ... Read More
Women's History

2-23-23

Curator's Corner - Robert E. Clay and Black Education in Tennessee

Each month, Curator’s Corner welcomes a Tennessee State Museum curator to offer insight and interpretation on Museum artifacts and their connection to Tennessee history. By Miranda Fraley Rhodes, Ph.D. “I have just gotten home from a thirty-eight days’ trip. The work has increased so that it takes nearly all my time on the road. I have been able to work with the County Supervisors, the Smith Hughes workers, the Principals of the County Training Schools and to adjust many ma... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
Black History Rosenwald Schools Tennessee History

1-17-23

Artifacts from Inauguration Days Gone By

Poster, “Tennessee, Our State, Our Future, The Bredesen Inauguration 2007 (Tennessee State Museum collection, 2007.13.2) By Richard White Governor Bill Lee’s inauguration to a second term as Tennessee’s governor will take place on January 21, 2023. “Tennessee: Leading the Nation” is the theme for the event, which will include a worship service, ceremony, dinner, and inaugural ball over the course of the day. Inaugurations have long been a time to celebrate th... Read More
Tennessee History

Curator's Corner - Memphis, TN: Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign

Each month, Curator’s Corner welcomes a Tennessee State Museum curator to offer insight and interpretation on Museum artifacts and their connection to Tennessee history. By Tranae Chatman  In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a “separate-but-equal doctrine” in the landmark decision of Plessy v. Ferguson. For the next 58 years, this legal doctrine (known as “Jim Crow”) supported segregated public accommodations for Black and white citizens acr... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis at 1-11-23
Black History Tennessee History Tennessee in the 20th Century

12-17-22

The Most Popular Museum Blog Posts of 2022

In addition to exhibitions, museums use a variety of tools to tell stories. Here at the State Museum, that includes a plethora of programming, from lunchtime lectures to tours to classes and family events. We post videos to our Video portal. We publish a quarterly newsletter, a bi-weekly e-newsletter and a weekly children's e-newsletter. We share artifacts on our social media channels, and maintain two blogs, Junior Curators, geared toward a younger school-age audience, and Thousands... Read More
Tennessee History

12-15-22

Museum Explores the Histories and Legacies of Rosenwald Schools in Two Upcoming Exhibitions in 2023

A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America to run February 24 – May 21, 2023 Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee will run from June 16, 2023 – February 25, 2024   In the early 20th century, a historic collaboration led to the building of nearly 5,000 public schools in the Southeastern United States to improve education opportunities for Africa... Read More
Posted by Melina Ludwig
Black History Exhibitions

12-6-22

New Acquisitions to the Museum's Collection: Fall 2022

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2022 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Ruth Goodson Lane Collection, mid-1900s A collection of photographs, newspapers, sheet music, and uniforms related to the service of Ruth Goodson Lane was recently acquired by the Tennessee State Museum. Lane, a Nashville resident, studied nursing at Nashville General Hospital and trained as a World War II Cadet Nurse. The Cadet Nurse Corps, created in June 1943 ... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
Black History Change and Challenge Civil War Museum Collection Newsletter Southeastern Indian History WWII
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