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      • Contact
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    • Collections
      • Search Our Collection
      • Collection Scope
    • Permanent Exhibitions
      • Tennessee Time Tunnel
      • Natural History
      • First Peoples
      • Forging a Nation
      • The Civil War and Reconstruction
      • Change and Challenge
      • Tennessee Transforms
    • Temporary Exhibitions
      • A Better Life for Their Children (Opens Feb. 24, 2023)
      • STARS: Elementary Visual Art Exhibition 2023
      • Early Expressions: Art in Tennessee Before 1900
      • In Search of the New: Art in Tennessee Since 1900
      • Why Do Museums Collect
    • Online Exhibitions
      • Tennessee at 225
      • Ratified! Statewide!
      • Canvassing Tennessee: Artists and Their Environments
    • Past Exhibitions
      • Painting the Smokies
      • Tennessee at 225
      • Best of Tennessee Craft
      • Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote
      • Tennessee and the Great War: A Centennial Exhibition
      • STARS: Elementary Art Exhibition 2022
      • Cordell Hull: Tennessee's Father of the United Nations
      • Lets Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food
      • The State of Sound: Tennessee’s Musical Heritage
      • Red Grooms: A Retrospective
      • Between The Layers: Art and Story in Tennessee Quilts
    • Children's Gallery
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • On-Site Field Trips
      • On-Site Field Trip Request Form
      • Virtual Field Trips
      • Virtual Field Trips Request Form
    • Traveling Trunks & Reservations
      • Reserve a Trunk
      • From Barter to Budget, Financial Literacy in Tennessee
      • The Life and Times of the First Tennesseans
      • Daily Life on the Tennessee Frontier
      • Cherokee in Tennessee: Their Life, Culture, and Removal
      • The Age of Jackson and Tennessee’s Legendary Leaders
      • The Life of a Civil War Soldier
      • The Lives of Three Tennessee Slaves and Their Journey Towards Freedom
      • The Three Rs of Reconstruction: Rights, Restrictions and Resistance.
      • Understanding Women's Suffrage: Tennessee's Perfect 36
      • Transforming America: Tennessee on the World War II Homefront
      • The Modern Movement for Civil Rights in Tennessee
      • Tennessee: Its Land & People
    • Professional Development
    • Tennessee4Me
  • Programs & Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Videos
    • TN Writers | TN Stories
    • Passport to Tennessee History
    • Newsletter Signup
  • TSM Kids
    • Kids Home
    • Children's Gallery
    • Junior Curators Blog
    • Storytime
    • Color Our Collection
    • Jigsaw Puzzles
    • Girl Scout Patch
  • Donate
  • Blogs and More
    • Thousands of Stories
    • Your Story Our Story
    • Junior Curators
    • Quarterly Newsletters

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Permanent Exhibitions

Forging a Nation

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Tennessee Transforms

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Tennessee Transforms (1945 to Present)

After World War II, Tennesseans increasingly benefitted from new innovations in areas like business, technology, and education, ushering in an era of prosperity by the 1950s. Still, the Cold War, along with increasing social unrest, served as an uncomfortable backdrop. Featured artifacts and images document the struggle of Tennesseans to make sense of the changes brought about by these ironies. Exhibits highlight the impacts of post-war innovations on Tennesseans, the struggle of African-Americans to share in the new prosperity, the development of Tennessee’s music industries and their importance in shaping how outsiders view Tennessee, and how today’s Tennessee has emerged as a reflection of these dynamics. Through artifacts such as astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore’s flight uniform, photos of Tennesseans involved in the modern Civil Rights Movement, and William Franklin “Frank” Lyell’s posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Korean War, you will come away with an understanding of how Tennesseans navigated these times as a unique people who helped shape a national culture.

The 360 Interactive Theater features a cross-section of people, places, and events that have occurred across Tennessee from World War II to the present. On an interactive map, visitors will be able to learn about music artists like Kitty Wells and Big Star; events such as the Humboldt Strawberry Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest held during the Memphis in May celebration; and people like UT “Lady Vols” coach Pat Summitt and Senator Howard Baker, an instrumental figure in the Watergate hearings. The theater includes more than 100 topics to examine on a touch table as well as three large wall screens that will feature related images. The visitor will not only experience the state’s rich cultural backdrop, but will also walk away with an understanding of how people, places, and events have connected with each other across Tennessee.

 

Music-related artifacts in Tennessee Transforms.

Dolly Parton Outifit

Alex Haley's Pulitzer Prize certificate.

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