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Eliza Johnson: The Forgotten First Lady from Tennessee

by Matthew Gailani On the morning of April 15, 1865, Andrew Johnson was quickly sworn in at the Kirkwood House in Washington D.C. as the 17th President of the United States. The ceremony had none of the pomp and circumstance of the previous presidential inauguration, as the country was reeling from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln the night before. Consequently, few were in attendance to witness this solemn tradition, including the new President’s spouse Eliza McCardle Johnson. I... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 3-21-20

Women's History

Sarah Polk: A Natural Politician When Women Couldn’t Vote

by Peggy Burch As writer Peggy Burch points out below in her review of Amy S. Greenberg's biography of Sarah Polk, Lady First, Polk "expressed no interest in the history-making women’s-rights convention held in Seneca Falls the last year of her husband’s presidency." Nevertheless, Polk is highlighted in the Museum's upcoming exhibition, Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote, scheduled to open on April 24, 2020. She appears in a section focuse... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 3-17-20

Women's History

Artifacts Tell the Story of Pat Summitt’s Early Tennessee Life

by Dakota Elliott Pat Summitt is best known for her 38 years as University of Tennessee Knoxville’s women’s basketball coach, during which time she never had a losing season. With a career total of 1,098 wins to only 208 losses, Summitt holds the record for the most wins of any college basketball coach in history. Prior to her retirement in 2012, she won eight NCAA championships and was named NCAA Coach of the Year seven times.1 Summitt received numerous awards throughout he... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 3-2-20

Women's History

Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote Explores the History of Women’s Suffrage in Tennessee

Updated July 30, 2020 In August of 1920, the nation’s eyes were on Tennessee. The 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote throughout the country, had passed at the federal level a year earlier, and was making its way through state legislatures for ratification. It needed 36 states to approve it, and was stalled at 35. Tennessee was its best hope for ratification. The final vote for ratification at the State Capitol in Nashville on August 18, 1920 was historic not only in its... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 1-29-20

Exhibitions Suffrage Women's History

In Museum's January Book Club Selection, Babies are Bought and Sold

Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours, a fictional tale based on a true story, is the January selection for the Tennessee State Museum's Tennessee Book Club. It will be discussed at the Museum on Thursday, January 23 at 6:00 p.m. Tennessee Book Club selections are available at the Tennessee State Museum Store, located in the Grand Hall of the Museum (mention Tennessee's Book Club to get a 10% discount), at Parnassus Books in Hillsboro Village in Nashville (1... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 1-13-20

Book Club

The Most Popular Museum Blog Posts of 2019

Posts about the history of the state's food traditions, stemming from our Let's Eat! The Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food exhibition, along with stories about Woman Suffrage, explorer Richard Halliburton, and Tennesseans in WWI and WWII, were among the most popular posts on the Museum's "Stories" blog this year. In case you missed them, here are the top 10 stories of 2019. 1. A Look Back at Tennessee’s War of Roses – A brief look at the bat... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 12-26-19

Read the Fall/Winter Edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter

The latest edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter is now available as a PDF download. In this issue, we are celebrating more than a century of Tennessee Art with a cover story by Jim Hoobler, Senior Curator of Art and Architecture. Also included is more information on our education department's reach across the state with digital learning and Traveling Trunks, as well as new collection acquisitions, a letter from our executive director, a calendar of events and mo... Read More

Posted by Melina Ludwig at 12-10-19

Christmas in a World War II POW Camp

by Morgan Byrn Born in Lonoke, Arkansas, Second Lieutenant Julian J. Gates lived in Memphis, Tennessee when he joined the Army Air Corps. He kept a diary from 1942-1945 during his service in World War II, a manuscript of which is part of the Tennessee Historical Society’s “Home Front Tennessee” World War II Project records now housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. According to the dates listed at the beginning of the diary, Gates was captured when the Un... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 12-10-19

Christmas WWII

The Role of Tennessee in Ken Burns' 'Country Music'

by Joe Pagetta There are dozens of key players in Ken Burns’ sprawling eight-episode, 16-hour documentary, Country Music. Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Hank Williams, Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash are just a few of the individuals whose stories and influences are weaved throughout the entire program. But there’s another player with a unique story that shows up in every episode as well: the State of Tennessee. From Ralph Peer’s recording sessions in Bristol, Tennessee... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 12-5-19

Country Music Exhibitions Featured

Tasting the History of Barbecue

by Rob DeHart Pork barbecue illustrates how three different food traditions— Southeastern Indian, West African, and West European— came together in America to create one of the South’s most celebrated dishes. But how did barbecue taste 80, 150, and 300 years ago? This was the question the Museum sought to answer when it hosted, in partnership with the Nashville Farmers' Market, a barbecue tasting workshop earlier this fall. Part historic re-creation and part experiment,... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11-21-19

Classes Exhibitions Tennessee Foodways

From Prohibition to Suffrage, The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Played a Role

by Aubrie McDaniel In the Spring of 2020, the State Museum will commemorate the Woman Suffrage movement and the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment with a major exhibition in the Museum’s temporary galleries. Leading up to and during the exhibition, we’ll be using our collection to highlight stories related to the Suffrage movement and women’s history in Tennessee. by Aubrie McDaniel Formed in 1874, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (W... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 10-1-19

Featured Suffrage Women's History

Grit History: A Comfort Food Loaded with Strife

Erin Byers Murray, author of Grits: A Cultural & Culinary Journey Through the South, joins Tandy Wilson, chef at City House, and Keitlyn Alcantrana, PhD candidate of Anthropological Bioarchaeology at Vanderbilt University, "In Conversation" with Tennessee State Museum curator Rob DeHart on Saturday, September 21 at 2 p.m. in the Museum's Digital Learning Center (DLC). The event is free, though reservations are required. Learn more and register at this lin... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 9-16-19

Read the Summer Edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter

The latest edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter, with a cover story by curator Rob DeHart on the exhibition, Let's Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food, is available online now as a PDF download. Also included in the issue is more information on permanent exhibitions and current temporary shows, education news, new acquisitions, a letter from our executive director, a calendar of events and more. Download now. Read More

at 8-30-19

So You Want to Be A Food Festival Judge?

by Joe Pagetta More than 20 unique food festivals, that take place throughout all three grand divisions of Tennessee, are represented in the Tennessee State Museum’s current temporary exhibition, Let’s Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food. They range from Memphis in May to the Grains & Grits Festival in Townsend; from the Obion County Cornfest in Union City to Doodle Soup Days in Bradford; and from the National Moo Fest in Athens to the International Cowpea Fest... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 8-29-19

Exhibitions Featured Tennessee Foodways

Let's Eat! Recipes from the State Museum Exhibition

The Tasting Tennessee videos in the Tennessee State Museum’s new exhibition, Let’s Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food bring a contemporary spin to decades-old recipes by notable Tennessee cooks, Malinda Russell, Rufus Estes and Mary Bobo. Each of the six videos illustrates for the viewer the steps to recreate the historical recipes. Be sure to visit the Museum to see the full videos. In the meantime, here are the recipes to try for yourself... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 8-14-19

Exhibitions Featured Tennessee Foodways

This Promise of Change

by Mamie Hassell The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, stated that “no state may deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.” Many Southern states found loopholes when the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case ruled in 1896 that the 14th Amendment was not violated as long as the state provided “separate but equal” facilities or accommodations for African Americans. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. B... Read More

at 7-5-19

Black History Book Club

Uncle Bobby and D-Day

by Dan E. Pomeroy Among the many heirlooms that I have inherited is my mother’s family photo album. I was reminded of it again the other night as I was watching television and a news story came on about the up-coming 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy (on Thursday, June 6). My Uncle Bobby Kabrich was one of the soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on that fateful day of June 6, as a member of the 29th Infantry Division. He had graduated from high school barely ... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 6-4-19

WWII

Tennessee State Museum Explores the Rich and Diverse History of Tennessee Food in New Exhibition

The Tennessee State Museum will explore the rich and diverse history of Tennessee’s food through a new exhibition, Let’s Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food, set to open on August 9, 2019 at the Museum’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park location in Nashville and run through February 2, 2020. “Whether barbecued, fried, roasted, pickled, or chilled, the food of Tennessee, and the southern United States, is a meeting of Southeastern Indian, West Europe... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 6-4-19

Featured Tennessee Foodways

Read the Spring Edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter

The latest edition of the Tennessee State Museum Quarterly Newsletter, with a cover story by curator Rob DeHart on the exhibition, The State of Sound: Tennessee’s Musical Heritage, is available online now as a PDF download. Also included in the issue is more information on permanent exhibitions and current temporary shows, education news, new acquisitions, a letter from our executive director, a calendar of events and more. Download now. Read More

at 5-30-19

Ed Westcott: A Photo Assignment of (and for) a Lifetime

by Nick Fielder Imagine, if you will, that you are a 20-year-old photographer working for the Nashville office of the Corps of Engineers in 1942. You are told to report to East Tennessee to photograph a new construction project near Knoxville called the Clinton Engineer Works. Upon arrival you are given a badge and told you can go anywhere on the site but cannot tell anyone what you see, hear or photograph. This is what happened to Ed Westcott as he documented the secret Manhattan ... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 5-6-19

Exhibitions Featured WWII

The Pulitzer Prize and the Tennessee State Museum

Update: On July 11, 2021, Katori Hall of Memphis, Tennessee became the latest Tennessean to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her Memphis-set play, "The Hot Wing King." The Pulitzer board called Hall's play a “funny, deeply felt consideration of Black masculinity and how it is perceived, filtered through the experiences of a loving gay couple and their extended family as they prepare for a culinary competition.” Read more in the Commercial Appeal and T... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 4-25-19

Exhibitions Featured Literature

80 Years Ago, Tennessee's Famous 'Boy Adventurer' Met His Untimely Death

by Scott Williams It was 80 years ago this month, presumably on March 24, 1939, that Brownsville, Tennessee-native Richard Halliburton, the most famous travel and adventure writer of his time, met his untimely death while sailing a Chinese junk across the Pacific Ocean. In this post, originally published as the preface to his book, The Forgotten Adventures of Richard Halliburton: A High-Flying Life from Tennessee to Timbuktu (2014), writer Scott Williams looks back on&nbs... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 3-20-19

Featured Literature

A Look Back at Tennessee’s War of the Roses

by Mary Skinner In 1920, it was Tennessee’s deciding vote that ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and gave American women the right to vote. Tennessee women of different races and economic backgrounds worked to persuade state legislators to vote for women’s suffrage. In the early 1900s, Tennessee suffragists marched for women’s voting rights in communities across the state wearing the colors adopted by the National American Woma... Read More

Posted by Mary Skinner at 3-6-19

Resources for Water-Damaged Textiles, Books and other Heirlooms

Tennessee has seen an enormous amount of rainfall so far in 2019, with more to come this week, resulting in flash flooding, damaged greenways and more. It's also led to flooded basements, crawlspaces and leaky roofs, which for many means unfortunate damage to treasured family heirlooms, textiles, papers, books and other objects. The good news is that all hope is not lost. As a history Museum, we know how important it is to preserve, conserve and rescue these items. Below are links to... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 2-19-19

Grant Shockley Fought and Died for America; A Decade Later, His Mother Fought for Civil Rights

by Lisa M. Budreau, Ph.D. In 1917, the United States drafted 61,069 Tennesseans into the First World War; roughly 17,339 were African Americans from across the state. They were part of an eventual two million American servicemen who were transported to the Western Front to join our allies in a global war that had been underway since 1914. African American and white men living in the rural south bore much of the burden for fighting this war. Although disproportionately drafted, most black ... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 2-2-19

Black History Exhibitions Featured WWI

Book Club | February 2019 Selection: "A Summons to Memphis" by Peter Taylor

Join the Tennessee State Museum, in partnership with the Nashville Public Library, for the launch of the Tennessee State Museum Book Club, as we read and discuss Peter Taylor's 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Summons to Memphis. The first gathering of the club, on Thursday, February 7 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., will include a short presentation about the author and book, followed by a guided discussion with librarian John McFarland. RSVP HERE THROUGH EVENTBRITE About A... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 1-23-19

Book Club

Tennessee Inauguration Style | What One Governor and First Lady Wore

by Joe Pagetta This weekend marks the inauguration of Tennessee’s 50th Governor, Bill Lee. It will be full of festivities, including a party on Lower Broadway, a prayer service at the Grand Ole Opry House, an open house at the Tennessee Residence/Governor’s Mansion and tours of the State Capitol and Tennessee State Museum. All of the events revolve around the most important one, the inauguration, which will take place inside War Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 1... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 1-17-19

Exhibitions Fashion

Recipe | Dried Apple Stack Cake Evokes Memories of Appalachian Christmas Holidays

by Rob Dehart What foods do you associate with Christmas? For some in East Tennessee, it is the dried apple stack cake, a labor-intensive confection with ingredients that are simple and inexpensive. According to Fred Sauceman, Senior Writer and Associate Professor of Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University, most of the ingredients with the exception of flour could be found on the farm. Spices were difficult to get in some areas of Appalachia during hard economic times, so ther... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 12-7-18

Tennessee Foodways

Red Grooms to Discuss Life and Work at Tennessee State Museum

Charles “Red” Grooms, the Tennessee-born, internationally-acclaimed pop artist, will discuss his life and work as part of “In Conversation: Red Grooms” on Saturday, December 15 at 2:00 p.m. at the Museum. The event is free and open to the public, though seating is limited and reservations are required. Visitors can RSVP through the Calendar of Events at or directly though Eventbrite to secure their seating. Grooms, whose career is celebrated in the current e... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11-29-18

Exhibitions Red Grooms

Tennessee State Museum to Explore the Art and Story in Tennessee Quilts with New Exhibition

The Tennessee State Museum’s first new exhibition since its grand opening will be “Between the Layers: Art and Story in Tennessee Quilts.” Slated to open February 8 and run through July 7, 2019, with quilts selected from the Museum’s vast collection, the show will highlight Tennessee’s quilt artistry and the stories embedded in those quilts, across more than two centuries and all three grand divisions of the state. One of those stories is Rebecah Foster&rsq... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11-27-18

Exhibitions Featured Quilts

Tennesseans, and their Families, Made the Ultimate Sacrifice During World War I

In The Tennessean, on the 100th Anniversary of the end of WWI, Lisa M. Budreau, PhD, Senior Curator of Military History at Tennessee State Museum and author of Bodies of War: World War I and the Politics of Commemoration in America, 1919-1933, (New York University Press, 2010), writes of the ultimate sacrifice paid by Tennesseans and their families during the war. "Over 100,000 Tennesseans volunteered or were drafted," she writes, "six of them receiv... Read More

Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 11-27-18

Black History Exhibitions Featured World War I WWI