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Thousands of Stories

5-15-23

Curator's Corner - National Photography Month: Highlights from the Collection

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 Candice Candeto National Photography Month this May is an opportunity to highlight some of the thousands of photographs in the Tennessee State Museum’s collection, from daguerreotypes to digital images. In a photography-saturated age, considering some of the ways these photographs add meaning and value to... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis

4-28-23

Who Was Timothy Demonbreun?

Note: Elizabeth Elkins will discuss 'We Should Soon Become Respectable: Nashville's Own Timothy Demonbreun'  alongside R. Scott Williams who will discuss his book ' The Accidental Fame and Lack of Fortune of West Tennessee's David Crockett' on Saturday, May 13 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 C... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
TN Writers | TN Stories

4-20-23

'A Better Life for Their Children' Captures Andrew Feiler's Passion for Preserving History

The follow appears in a slightly different form as the cover story to the Winter 2023 edition of the Museum's Quarterly newsletter. By Debbie Shaw In 2015, Andrew Feiler, a Jewish American photographer from Georgia, had a conversation that would inspire an important new project. While having lunch with the State of Georgia African American Program Coordinator Jeanne Cyriaque, Feiler learned of Rosenwald Schools. He recalled that he immediately went home, researched all that he could find on ... Read More
Black History Newsletter Photography Tennessee History

4-17-23

Tragedy and Triumph in 'Walk Through Fire'

Note: Yasmine S. Ali, M.D. discussed 'Walk Through Fire: The Train Disaster That Changed America' on Saturday, April 8 at the Museum as part of the TN Writers | TN Stories: Author Talks at the State Museum series. The book reconstructs the events of a horrific explosion of a tank car in 1978 that devastated the small town of Waverly, Tennessee, shocked the nation, and led to the creation of transformational laws and regulations which have since been adopted by countries around ... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
TN Writers | TN Stories

4-4-23

Curator's Corner - In the Late 1800s, Mary Sharp College Educated Young Women and Challenged the Education Establishment

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. From 1851 to 1896, Winchester, Tennessee in Franklin County was home to Mary Sharp College (MSC), a remarkable school for young women. During these decades, many people believed theories about women being intellectually inferior to men, and most universities did not admit female students... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis
Tennessee History Women's History

3-28-23

New Exhibition Rotation (Winter 2023)

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
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