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    • Plan Your Visit
    • Dining Options
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    • Tennessee Residence
    • Green McAdoo Cultural Center
    • Accessibility
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    • About Us
      • History and Mission Statement
      • Museum Management
      • Douglas Henry State Museum Commission
      • Contact
    • Resources
  • Home
  • Exhibitions
    • 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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Visitor Guide

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Front of new Tennessee State Museum
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Welcome to the Tennessee State Museum

Our exhibitions examine the history, art and culture, and chronicle the state’s history from its first peoples to the present day. It does so through exhibitions of its extensive collection of historic Tennessee art and artifacts, as well as documentary films, interactive displays and complementary programming.

Tennessee Time Tunnel serves as the backbone for the Museum, combining content-rich artifacts, exhibits and stories from our permanent collection with engaging media and thought-provoking interactives for a multi-layered experience.

Map to Museum galleries and other locations

Permanent Exhibitions:

Natural History

First Peoples (13,000 BCE to 1760 CE)

Forging a Nation (1760 to 1860)

Civil War and Reconstruction (1860 to 1870)

Change and Challenge (1870 to 1945)

Tennessee Transforms (1945 to Present)

Temporary Exhibitions:

Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote

Tennessee and the Great War: A Centennial Exhibition

Early Expressions: Art in Tennessee before 1900

In Search of the New: Art in Tennessee after 1900

Why Do Museums Collect?

Children’s Gallery

Others State Museum sites:

Tennessee State Capitol

Military Branch of the Tennessee State Museum

Admission and Hours:

There is no admission charge to the State Museum. Hours for the Museum are:
Sunday: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Monday: Closed
Tuesday and Wednesday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Guidelines

• Packages must be checked in at the front desk
• Phone charging stations are available in secured lockers
• Photography without a flash is permitted for personal use only
• Please do not touch the objects in the exhibits
• No food or drink is allowed in the galleries
• No smoking
• Lost and found is located at the Visitor Desk or by calling (615) 741-2692

Accessibility

All of the Museum’s public entrances are accessible to individuals with disabilities. There are elevators located near the Visitor Desk to take patrons to the exhibitions on the second floor. If you would like to request a wheelchair, please ask at the Visitor Desk. Visitors with special needs should call (615) 741-2692 during regular office hours.

Service dogs or service dogs-in-training are welcome to visit. The service dog must be under physical or voice control of the guest at all times.

Museum Store

After you finish your tour, visit the Tennessee Museum Store on the first level of the Museum for a unique history and art-focused shopping experience. Browse a selection of handmade items from artisans throughout Tennessee, along with state history-related merchandise, a vast collection of books, specialty gift items, local foods and apparel. The Museum Store is open the same hours as the Museum.

Social Media

As long as you don’t use flash, photographs are encouraged and please share them along with your comments on our social media sites:

Enjoy your visit!

 

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Contact

Bill Haslam Center
1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd
Nashville, TN 37208

(615) 741-2692

(800) 407-4324

info@tnmuseum.org

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