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Thousands of Stories

Category: 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

Collection Highlights: Orr Family Furniture Group

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2022 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Orr Family Furniture Group, 1815 to 1825 The Museum has received a donation of two pieces of furniture with an outstanding Tennessee provenance from the Orr Family of Marshall County. This desk and bookcase, together with a cherry tall case clock, descended through the family of Robert Orr (1764–1855). The desk and bookcase are ornamented with striking inla... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis at 11-29-22
Museum Collection Newsletter Tennessee History

Stitching a Story: Learning from African American Quilts

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2022 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. By Candice Roland Candeto and Julia Doyle Equally functional and artistic, quilts provide warmth and decoration in the home. A quilt can speak to the environment of its creator—what materials were available to them, what friends or family may have contributed, and elements of their surroundings that are represented in the quilt’s motifs. Three newly acquired quilts ... Read More
Posted by Stephanie Davis at 11-17-22
Black History Newsletter Quilts Tennessee History

A Hallowed Remembrance: The Tennessee War Memorial Building

As of November 13, 2022, the Tennessee State Museum is temporarily closing the Military Branch Museum in preparation for the upcoming renovation of the Tennessee War Memorial Building. by Ashley Howell After nearly a century, the Tennessee War Memorial is scheduled for a renovation, beginning in 2023, to preserve the historic building for future generations. Through the decades, the building has housed state offices of all branches of state government. Its auditorium has hosted gubernatoria... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11-8-22
Tennessee History World War I

10-12-22

Lessons from Ledgers: Businessman John S. Fielder of Lexington

By Miranda Fraley-Rhodes Local merchants in towns throughout Tennessee provided important services to their communities.  John S. Fielder operated a store in Lexington, Henderson County, Tennessee from the late 1840s until his death in the 1880s. Fielder established this business with the help of his father L.L. Fielder of Gibson County. For many years, he provided his West Tennessee neighbors with products they needed from medicines to farm wagons. Thanks to the generosity... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta
Tennessee History

6-22-22

Painting the Smokies: Art, History, and the Making of a National Park

This story originally appeared in the Spring 2022 print edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. By Candice Roland Candeto Born from a desire to look closely at the vast collection of the Tennessee State Museum, especially art and artifacts not permanently on display, and consider anew the stories objects tell about the past, Painting the Smokies: Art, Community, and the Making of a National Park highlights the Tennessee State Museum’s collection of ... Read More
Posted by Melina Ludwig
Great Smoky Mountains Newsletter Paintings Tennessee History

6-16-22

The AIDS Epidemic in Tennessee: Grassroots Advocacy in the Three Grand Divisions

It was known as the Gay Disease...It was a scary time…You didn’t know if you could shake hands, if could touch, if you could just be in the same room as someone, we didn’t know for a long time how it was. Or if you had to be gay to get it. It was very bizarre at first. -Tommy Lawson (Nashville Community AIDS Activist)[1]   By Philip Staffelli-Suel The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic emerged in Tennessee in the early 1980s as in the rest of the co... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta
LGBTQ History Tennessee History

2-25-22

Tennessee State Museum: Celebrating 85 Years

This article appears in the Winter 2022 Issue of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly newsletter. "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That there is hereby created a  State Museum for the purpose of bringing together the administration of the various collections of articles, specimens and relics now owned by the State …" It was with these words that the Tennessee State Museum was formally established by law on May 21, 19... Read More
Posted by Melina Ludwig
Newsletter Winter 2022 Tennessee History

6-14-21

Reflecting on 225 Years of Tennessee History, Through 100 Artifacts and Five Themes

A version of this story appears in the Spring 2021 Issue of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter. Curators Annabeth Hayes and Brigette Jones will discuss Tennessee at 225 at our Lunch & Learn on Wednesday, June 16 12 p.m. CDT. It will take place live in the Museum's Digital Learning Center and be streamed live on our Videos portal.  by Annabeth Hayes and Brigette Jones This year marks the 225th anniversary since Tennessee became the nation’s 16th state on ... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta
Tennessee History

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