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Junior Curators

Each week on the Junior Curators blog, we travel back in time to a different place in Tennessee history. Stories may be about a famous person, place or event from Tennessee’s past. They will include things like priceless artifacts, pictures, videos, and even some games. Be sure to better understand the story by answering the questions at the end of each post.

After learning the story, be sure to share what you've learned with your parents, family, or friends. Try making your own exhibit about it, shooting a movie, or writing a story about it. Let your creativity run wild!

8-4-20

Truth or Telephone: How Historians Learn What Actually Happened

by Grace Allen Have you ever played the game Telephone? It can be very funny to see how a story changes when it is passed down a row of people. Someone starts with a sentence and whispers it to the person next to them. That person tells the next person and so on. It is a great example of how stories can change each time someone tells the tale. Telephone, 1960s, Tennessee State Museum Collection. History is passed down over years, decades, and centuries. That is a long... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 8-4-20
Social Studies Practice 005 Grade 2 Social Studies Practice 001

7-30-20

Locked! Tennessee History Scavenger Hunt

by Grace Allen Junior Curator, we need your help! There is important Tennessee history locked away and it’s up to you to unlock the information and share it! Using the link below, click on any lock and answer the question. If you need a hint, click on the lightbulb. The hint may lead you to another website, so make sure that’s okay with your parent/guardian . When you type the answer in, click on the key to see if it unlocked. The lock will turn green when you answer... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-30-20

7-28-20

The Clinton 12: The Integration Story of Tennessee’s Public Schools

by Mamie Hassell  Do YOU love school? Smart teachers, cool computers, a fun playground, art class, fancy instruments for music class, a big library, wonderful sports, and a tasty cafeteria for lunch. Are these some of your favorite things about it? Well what if your school had all this cool stuff, but another school in your town did not? Do you think this would be fair? Sadly, schools were not always equal. Black students were not given rights because of the color of their skin.... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-28-20
BlackHistory Grade 5

7-23-20

The Civil War in Tennessee Crossword

by Matthew Gailani The Civil War in Tennessee Crossword Let's see what you know about Civil War history.  Try to fill out the word search about the Civil War and its Tennessee connections.  Match the answers from the box below to the clues on the page. If you would like a little extra help you can check out more information at www.tn4me.org or www.tennesseeencyclopedia.org.  Have fun! C ivil War Crossword   When you have finished the crossword,... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-23-20

7-21-20

Meet me at the Fairy Floss Stand! Tennessee’s Sweet History of Cotton Candy

by Morgan Byrn In 1904, people were introduced to Fairy Floss at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. What is Fairy Floss? That was the original name for cotton candy. So how does all of this relate to Tennessee history? Let us dive into the sweet, sugary past of cotton candy. William Morrison and John C. Wharton lived in Nashville, Tennessee in the late 1800’s. Mr. Morrison was a dentist, and Mr. Wharton was a candy maker. Can you believe that a dentist and a candy... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-21-20
Grade 5

7-17-20

Did You Know? 5 Weird Tennessee Facts

by Lauren Grizzard Did You Know? 5 Weird Tennessee Facts 1. The city of Kingston was one of the four cities that served as State Capital. What made this one interesting? It was only Capital for ONE day before a vote was taken to move back to Knoxville.  2. The soda Mountain Dew was created in Tennessee in the 1940s! 3. Reelfoot Lake was created by a series of earthquakes in the 1800s. The earthquakes were so powerful, it caused the Mississippi River to... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-17-20

7-14-20

Maxwell House Coffee and Nashville

Maxwell House Coffee Tin from about 1955-1965 (Tennessee State Museum Collection) by Grace Allen Did you know coffee beans are actually green? They get their brown color from being roasted! As a kid, you may not drink coffee. I bet you know someone that does. Your parents or your teacher may drink it every morning. Today, most of the coffee you see in stores is already roasted and ground. This was not the case before 1900. Most people bought green coffee beans and prepared them... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-14-20
Social Studies Practice 006 Grade 5 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3

7-9-20

Geography Crossword

Thomas, Cowperthwait Co. map of Tennessee Tennessee State Museum Collection by Jennifer Watts Tennessee has an wide variety of landscapes.  You can travel from mountains of East Tennessee, to the plains in West Tennessee, and everything in between!  Print off the Word Search using the link below and see if you can find the words that describe our great state. Remember, words can be found horizontally (side to side), vertically (up and down), and diagonally (like... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-9-20

7-7-20

What Does a Tennessee Cave Have to Do with Stamps?

by Christopher Grisham If someone tells you that you’ve got mail, most people today think of e-mail. Packages are delivered mostly by FedEx, UPS, or Amazon. To talk to you, your friends may use the phone to call or text you instead of sending a letter. When your parents open the mailbox outside, it is probably full of junk mail and bills. It may seem like it would be easy to live without the Post Office today, but using it is still a great way to commmunicate.  Envelope... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-7-20
Grade 5

7-2-20

Tennessee History Crossword

by Matthew Gailani Let's see what you know about Tennessee history.  Try to fill out the word search about Tennessee and famous Tennesseans.  Match the answers from the box below to the clues on the page. If you would like a little extra help you can check out more information at www.tn4me.org or www.tennesseeencyclopedia.org.  Have fun! T ennessee History Crossword   When you've finished the crossword, scroll down to view the... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 7-2-20

6-30-20

There’s No Smiling in History: The Invention of Photography

by Morgan Byrn Have you ever looked at an old photograph ? As a kid, I thought that the people living in the past must have been grumpy. In those old photographs, people are usually not smiling. This made me think. Did people not smile back then? When we think about photography, we have to go back to the beginning, to 1839. The first photographs were called daguerreotypes (duh, gare, ro, types). At a studio , a photographer would take the person’s picture. The picture was ... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-30-20
Social Studies Practice 001 Social Studies Practice 005 Grade 3

6-25-20

What's That? Frontier Edition

by Lauren Grizzard Hey, Junior Curator! A question you will be asked a lot working in a museum is “what’s that?” We have some quizzes to help you learn what item ‘that’ might be. Today we’re going to look at a few items you would have seen used on the Tennessee frontier (mid-late 1700s). So hop in your wagon and let’s get started! W hat's That? Frontier Edition   Lauren Grizzard is the Scheduling Coordinator at the Tennessee... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-25-20

6-23-20

You Can Be an Oral Historian

by Jennifer Watts Have you ever heard someone say, “When I was a kid things were different?” I know I have. One of my dad’s favorite things to do was telling me what it was like when he was my age. At the time, it was something I had to listen to. Now I know those stories were important. Life was different for him as a child. Historians use stories, or records , like his to learn about life in the past. You can too! The stories my father told me are called oral... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-23-20
Social Studies Practice 005 Social Studies Practice 001

6-18-20

Google Earth: Capitol

by Lauren Grizzard and Tennessee Teacher Marshall Ogier Have you walked the same halls used by Union soldiers during the Civil War? Have you visited the burial site of President and First Lady Polk? Have you been in the room that the 19th Amendment was ratified and gave women the right to vote? Well, now you can from your couch! Just click the link below to virtually tour the Tennessee State Capitol using Google Earth: Google Earth: Capitol   Special thanks to Marshall... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-18-20

6-16-20

Standing Up by Sitting Down

by Christopher Grisham Have you ever heard of Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks? For many of us, they are the first names that pop into our minds when we think of the fight for civil rights . What about the name Ida B. Wells? Portrait of Ida B. Wells, TSM Collection. When Ida B. Wells was born in 1862, the United States was fighting the Civil War and most African Americans were still enslaved . The war and slavery ended just a few years later in 1865, but African... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-16-20
5th Grade

6-11-20

Mississippian Matching Game

by Grace Allen Between 1000 and 500 years ago there were Mississippian Indian cities and villages all over Tennessee. Mississippian communities had skilled artists that made pottery and other goods. We have some great examples of this at the Tennessee State Museum. Check out this memory game using images of Mississippian artifacts in our collection.  To play, click to flip over the cards and see the images from our collection. When you flip over two of the same image, the pair... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-11-20

6-9-20

A Tale of Two Red Pandas

by Morgan Byrn Have you ever stopped by the red panda exhibit at the Nashville Zoo? Visitors light up in delight as they watch Dr. Lily and Rowan climb, play, and nap in their exhibit. Today, you can usually find their homes in the treetops of Nepal, China, and Burma. They are about the size of a house cat and are herbivores . Now you might be thinking I wish they lived in Tennessee! They did long ago! How do I know? I’ll tell you and it all starts with a road. In 2000, the... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-9-20
5th Grade

6-5-20

Tennessee Farming

by Jennifer Watts Tennessee has long been a land of farming.  From the Native Americans who moved here thousands of years ago, to the small vegetable gardens in our own backyards, growing crops and raising animals played a big role in our state’s success.  The Tennessee State Museum collection has many artifacts representing that part of our history.  Junior Curator, take the quiz and see how much you know about Tennessee farming: T ennessee Farming Quiz ... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-5-20

6-4-20

How New Industries Revolutionized Tennessee

by Joyska Nunez-Medina Tennessee became a state in 1796. At this time, the world was seeing big changes. The changes from the late 1700s to the early 1900s are known as the Industrial Revolution . New technologies changed how people lived and worked. Different ways of making items helped people make money. New types of transportation allowed people to move around those items and travel to new places faster. Below are a few things that were important to the growth of Tennessee during the... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-4-20
4th Grade

6-1-20

How Tennessee Became a State

by Christopher Grisham When Tennessee became a state on June 1, 1796, it was the end of a long process. The idea to create a state from the land west of the Appalachian Mountains wasn’t new. When the British were in control, the land was reserved for Native American peoples only. No one else was allowed to settler here. So what happened when the British lost the American Revolution? The state of North Carolina claimed all the land between the mountains and the Mississippi River.... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 6-1-20
5th Grade

5-29-20

Civil War in Tennessee Quiz

by Matthew Gailani Hey Junior Curators! Have you ever heard of Abraham Lincoln? Harriet Tubman? What about the Battle of Gettysburg? It’s time to test your Civil War knowledge. The Civil War may have happened over 150 years ago, but it changed Tennessee and the United States forever. In fact, many places Tennesseans call home played a role during the Civil War. Learn about this and more by taking this Civil War in Tennessee quiz! Civil War in Tennessee Quiz   Matthew... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-29-20

5-28-20

Gardening for Victory

by Jennifer Watts Have you ever asked your parents, “What’s for dinner?” I know I have. During World War II, making a healthy, delicious meal was difficult. A lot of the food grown by the United States was needed to feed soldiers fighting overseas. Not much was left for the people at home. So what did the people on the home front do? The answer was simple and something we can still do today. Grow your own food! Victory gardens, were an easy solution.  ... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-28-20
5th Grade

5-26-20

Under the Siege: The H.L. Hunley

  by Christopher Grisham Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-26-20
4th Grade

5-22-20

Tennessee Toys Through Time Quiz

by Lauren Grizzard What is your favorite toy? Your favorite toy can help people around you learn about what you like. Maybe you have a stuffed animal that is also your favorite animal at the zoo. Or you have a toy car that is the type of car you want to drive one day. Did you know that museums can also use toys to learn about people and their way of life? Today, we want to show you some of the toys in our collection and test your Junior Curator knowledge on the dates they were made! Click... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-22-20
1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

5-21-20

How Do You Lose A State?! The History Of The Lost State Of Franklin

by Matthew Gailani Today, you probably know that there are 50 states in America. Tennessee is just one of those states. It was the 16th to join the Union. However, did you know that there is a lost state, too? It was called the State of Franklin. So how did we lose it? It didn’t sink into the ocean! It didn’t disappear in a cloud of smoke! Instead, it was an early attempt at statehood by Americans living in what is now Tennessee. It no longer exists, but it is an important... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-21-20
5th Grade

5-19-20

Marathon Motor Works: The First Cars Made in Tennessee

by Christopher Grisham                                                                 In 1913, the first transcontinental highway across the entire United States was finished. They named it the Lincoln Highway and it went from New York City to San Francisco.  A sudden boom in people buying a new invention called the... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-19-20
5th Grade

5-15-20

First Peoples Quiz

by Lauren Grizzard Native Americans were the first people to live in Tennessee before it was even a state! We have learned a lot about Native Americans and their culture through archaeology (are-kee-all-o-gee). That means to carefully dig artifacts out of the ground to study. The four time periods in the quiz today are prehistoric. Prehistoric is a fancy way to say there wasn’t a written language. Since we don’t have writing to study to know about early Native American culture,... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-15-20
4th Grade 5th Grade 3rd Grade

5-14-20

The Unwanted Journey on the Trail of Tears

by Emilee Dehmer Just imagine: It’s a Tuesday. The sun is shining brightly in the sky and the weather is the perfect temperature outside. You are playing with your sibling when you see someone in the distance. It looks like they are wearing a uniform. It looks like they have a gun. You run inside to tell your parents, when the stranger in the distance starts shouting. As they come closer to your house, you hear them say “Everybody out!” Your parents quickly try to... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-14-20
4th Grade 5th Grade

5-11-20

I Spy State Symbols

by Grace Allen Did you know Tennessee has more state symbols than any other state in the United States? In fact, we have more than thirty symbols! State symbols are things that represent, or stand for, Tennessee’s land and people. The most famous is our Tennessee flag. Believe it or not, Tennessee had been a state for over one hundred years before it finally got a state flag. The flag has three stars in the middle, which stand for the three grand divisions of Tennessee. The... Read More
Posted by Katie Yenna at 5-11-20
1st Grade 2nd Grade Kindergarten 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

5-8-20

Artifact Scavenger Hunt: Search Our Collection

by Lauren Grizzard Welcome to your first day on the job, Junior Curator!  As a Junior Curator, you can help tell the many stories about the Tennessee State Museum. The collection is where we keep all of our artifacts. Artifacts are the things we show at the museum. We have so many artifacts that they can’t all go on display at the same time. Think ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’ warehouse. Okay, it isn’t THAT big. So we started putting things... Read More
Posted by Lauren Grizzard at 5-8-20
3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

5-5-20

The WASP That Doesn't Sting

by Lauren Grizzard Doris Brinker Tanner was a WASP. No, not the insect that flies around and stings. WASP stands for Women Airforce Service Pilot. During World War II, most men were needed as soldiers. Because of this, the military turned to women for help. One of these ways was to become a pilot ! Doris Tanner Many women in Tennessee served as WASPs. One of them was Doris Tanner. Doris learned to fly planes in college. She went to the University of Tennessee in... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 5-5-20
5th Grade

4-27-20

How Museums Tell Great Stories

by Jeff Sellers Do you like Show and Tell at school? When I was a kid, it was my favorite part of the school day. The teacher let you bring in something from home. When it was your turn, you could lift up your toy or doll and tell your classmates about it.  In a way, this is what museums do. They hold very special objects called artifacts. Artifacts are objects used by people a long time ago. Artifacts tell stories about a person, a place, or events. A curator is the person in... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 4-27-20
Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

4-22-20

How Young W.C. Handy Grew Up to Become “The Father of the Blues”

by Jeff Sellers The day finally arrived.  For weeks young W.C. Handy had worked odd jobs. He picked berries. He made soap. He saved and saved. Now he had enough money to buy the guitar he always wanted.  Young W.C. loved music. I mean really loved music. He played every chance he could get. Every Sunday he played at church where his father was the local pastor . When he proudly showed the guitar to his mother and father, they were displeased, or unhappy. W.C.... Read More
Posted by Joseph Pagetta at 4-22-20
5th Grade

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