The new Tennessee State Museum is now open on the corner of Rosa L. Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street
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The Museum has recently acquired a number of artifacts that have been featured in the latest Quarterly Newsletter. Of note is Etta James' album "Rock the House," which was first recorded live 60 years ago at the New Era Night Club in Nashville. Also included is a sampler by Elizabeth Duncan; a photograph of veterans of the 18th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.; and more!
Find the article on our Thousands of Stories blog: https://bit.ly/46f6aT2
Have you ever been told not to play with your food? Well in this case you can! In our latest edition of “Go See Tennessee” on the Junior Curators blog, we take you to Collegedale, where we explore a new park designed after the popular snack cake brand Little Debbie. You can climb and play on sculptures that look like some of your favorite cakes! Read on to learn more about the creation of the brand and the park, and be sure to add it to your list of summer destinations for next year, with "The Sweetest Park in Tennessee": https://bit.ly/3RCidFj
Enslaved people were involved in every aspect of making these button-front trousers around 1851. They are made of linen, a material produced from the flax plant, and the buttons are made from animal bone. The flax for these pants was grown, harvested and then woven into linen and sewn by people enslaved by prominent merchant and planter Hugh Bey Phillips of Lebanon, Kentucky. Visitors can take a closer look at the pants on permanent display in the "Forging a Nation" exhibition.
Americana Music Association's AmericanaFest took place September 19-23, and we were happy to host a Lunch and Learn event as part of the lineup! Moderator Joe Pagetta led a panel discussion with Jeff Fasano Photography, Karen Wells Verlander, Edd Hurt and Aubrie Sellers. The program touched on Fasano's book, "Americana Portrait Sessions," as well as the importance and evolution of the Americana music genre. There was also a performance by Sellers and Adam Wright.
A limited number of signed copies of Fasano's book are available for purchase in our Museum Store. If you missed this stellar talk and performance, be sure to check out the video on our website ▶️: https://bit.ly/3RAbHz4
The Museum is happy to be participating in this year's Southern Festival of Books on October 21! The next TN Writers | TN Stories event features Margaret Renkl and her book, "The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year." In this literary devotional, Renkl, a New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author, presents fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3sX7bQE
This past weekend, the Museum partnered with Fisk University and John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library to present a Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee Symposium. Visitors to the Museum on Saturday enjoyed panels on the history of Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee, available resources, and a discussion with alumni on their experiences in Rosenwald Schools from across all three grand divisions of the state. Afterwards, Museum curators and educators welcomed participants to the galleries for a tour of the "Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee" exhibition.
Thank you to our many presenters, panelists, alumni and visitors that made the event such a tremendous experience. Videos of the Museum presentations are available to watch on our website: https://tnmuseum.org/videos
Launched during the Covid-19 pandemic as a virtual educational tool, the Junior Curators blog has become a popular resource for students learning Tennessee history across the state and beyond. In our latest Stories blog, read about this initiative and its features, along with some of its top-visited stories, in "Are You a Junior Curator?": https://bit.ly/3sXxdn4
The Museum's recent TN Writers | TN Stories event featured a discussion between Carrie Allen Tipton, Ph.D. and Rudy Kalis about Tipton’s book, "From Dixie to Rocky Top: Music and Meaning in Southeastern Conference Football." The book is the first to explore the history of college fight songs as a culturally important phenomenon, and this engaging dialogue takes you through the intriguing musical history.
If you missed the event, be sure to watch the video on our website ▶️: https://tnmuseum.org/videos/videos/from-dixie-to-rocky-top
We're bringing you another sampler from our collection during ! This is a marking and embroidery sampler signed by Jemima Clardy Mclelin of Smith County, and dated , September 15, 1834. The design is unusual because of the asymmetrical sawtooth side borders and the addition of alphabet letters at the very top and bottom edges. Mclelin also used drawn work for the centers of the flowers on the left, a technique rarely used in other Tennessee samplers.
Take a closer look and explore more samplers from around the state with the Tennessee Sampler Survey: https://bit.ly/3rhkRWd
As part of the Americana Music Association's AmericanaFest lineup of events, our next Lunch & Learn on September 21 will welcome Jeff Fasano Photography to discuss his book, "Americana Portrait Sessions." The panel will touch on the importance of the Americana music genre in today’s world, the diversity and all-inclusiveness inherent within it and how Fasano’s images illustrate that. Panelists include Edd Hurt and Karen Wells Verlander, with Joe Pagetta as the moderator. There will be also be a musical performance by Aubrie Sellers.
RSVP for this FREE event: https://bit.ly/44Y6W53
The Museum's latest quarterly newsletter is now freshly online for view! Our cover story explores how the popular Junior Curators blog offers a new generation of Tennesseans a fun way to engage with history. Also catch stories about artifacts on tour, new artifact acquisitions and highlights, the return of costumed programs, and much more. Read it all here: https://tnmuseum.org/newsletters
Reminder! New digs for the Festival this year!
We'll be celebrating the written word this year at our new fantastic new home: Bicentennial Mall State Park, the Tennessee State Museum, and the TN State Library and Archives.
If you happen to show up to the old site, simply roll down Capitol Hill (safely! have a friend make sure it's safe to cross James Robertson Parkway); with enough momentum you'll land at our new headquarters tent!
Catherine Wiley (1879-1958) of Knoxville had a huge impact on the Tennessee art world. Her Impressionist paintings showed the world of southern upper-class women from a woman’s perspective, something rarely seen. Read more about Wiley's life, from being one of the first women to attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to her final years, on the Junior Curators blog with "Impressions of a Tennessee Artist - Catherine Wiley": https://bit.ly/3sWrKN0
Pictured: "Catharine Gaut" by Catherine Wiley, 1914-15, Tennessee State Museum Collection. See it on display in the Change and Challenge exhibition.
Recently donated to the Museum by friends of the artist, this painting by Sandor Bodo depicts the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone of the Baptist Sunday School Building in downtown Nashville around 1940. James T. Sullivan, president of the board from 1953 to 1975, is shown speaking to the crowd. The building, which was called Sullivan Tower, served various roles for the Southern Baptist Convention until its demolition in 2018.
Sandor Bodo (1920-2013) was a prolific artist who came to Nashville in the 1950s as a refugee from Hungary. He worked at the Baptist Sunday School Board as an illustrator, contributing to newsletters, curriculum books and other publications. Bodo offered this painting as a concept for a mural for the Sunday School Board, but the mural was never commissioned. The painting is a gift of Robert H. (Bob) and Lois M. Jones.
On display in our Forging a Nation gallery is a sampler made by Charlotte S. Roulstone. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1798, Charlotte was the second of five children born to George and Elizabeth Roulstone. George Roulstone served as the state's first printer, a duty taken over by his wife Elizabeth when George died in 1804. Charlotte Roulstone's sampler, one of the earliest documented from Tennessee, is from shortly before Charlotte's death in 1808 at the age of ten. The precision of the stitching is unusual for such a young girl’s work, and the lettering itself is also unique. Instead of the usual cross-stitch alphabet found at this time, many of the letters and numbers reflect a more decorative typographical style that she may have seen in her parent's print shop.
During in September, see what related artifacts you can find on display in the Museum.
In her book "From Dixie to Rocky Top," Carrie Allen Tipton, Ph.D. reveals a surprisingly complex history behind Southeastern Conference football anthems such as Auburn’s “War Eagle” and Louisiana State University’s “Fight for LSU." Maria Browning digs deeper in this interview with Tipton on our Stories blog, via partnership with Chapter 16: https://bit.ly/3RfvKCu
Remember to join us at the Museum this Saturday, September 9 at 10:30 a.m. as Tipton discusses her book in conversation with Rudy Kalis, Emmy award winning sports newscaster, as part of the TN Writers | TN Stories: Author Talks at the State Museum series. The series is presented in partnership with Humanities Tennessee, Chapter 16 and Vanderbilt University Press.
In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the “separate but equal” principle of racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. However, Tennessee’s public schools for Black students received less funding than schools for white students. In some communities, the length of the school term each year was shorter for Black students, and they had outdated textbooks and equipment handed down from white schools. Alumni of Rosenwald Schools recalled that their teachers made particular efforts to teach them about Black history, which was often not included in standard books issued by public school systems.
Pictured are students reading textbooks in the interior of Cairo School, 1930s, Cairo, TN. Image is courtesy of the Tennessee State Library & Archives. The Cairo School was one of seven Rosenwald Schools constructed in Sumner County. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places - NPS, and the building now functions as a community-based African American history museum.
Learn more in the exhibition, "Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee": https://tnmuseum.org/building-a-bright-future
We accept the first challenge! For the theme of labor, we present this 1933 photograph of Mrs. Sarah J. Wilson of Bulls Gap, Tennessee by photographer Lewis Hine. She is sitting on her porch peeling potatoes, and at the time this photo was taken, she had lived ninety-one years on her farm. Hine noted: "In addition to daily work around the home, she finds time to raise some cotton, carding and spinning it herself. She also does some hand weaving."
How about Tennessee Agricultural Museum? Do you think you can beat over 90 years of work? Show us what you got!
Former Tennessee governor Don Sundquist died on Sunday, August 27 at age 87. Our state’s 47th governor, Sundquist served Tennessee for two terms, from 1995 to 2003. A portrait of the governor by artist Tom Donahue, in which the governor is portrayed standing in front of the fireplace in the library of the Executive Residence, hangs on the first floor of the Tennessee State Capitol. It will be draped in black fabric, tomorrow, Tuesday, September 5, as the governor’s body lies in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The people of Tennessee are invited to pay their respects.
On Labor Day, we remember the 1968 sanitation workers' strike in Memphis, Tennessee. The strike protested the deaths of two sanitation workers and sought fair wages and better safety standards. The strike received national press coverage as civil rights leaders from across the country, including Martin Luther King, Jr., came to Memphis to show solidarity with the workers.
Premiere civil rights photographer and Memphian Ernest Withers (1922-2007) created this image from our collection of protesters participating in the Memphis sanitation workers strike. The protesters are carrying the now-iconic "I Am A Man" signs. Image is ©Ernest C. Withers, Courtesy of the Withers Family Trust. For more on Withers and the March, we highly recommend visits to both the National Civil Rights Museum and the Withers Collection Museum & Gallery in Memphis.
Today in Tennessee is recognized as Oak Ridge 85 and Clinton 12 Day. In August of 1956, Clinton High School would be the first integrated public school in Tennessee, allowing previously segregated Black students to attend the all-white school after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. Learn the story of these 12 students on our Junior Curators blog with "The Clinton 12: The Integration Story of Tennessee’s Public Schools": https://bit.ly/2DpHhLy
Image of the Clinton 12 is courtesy of The Library of Congress.
We are honored to have a number of artifacts related to Cpl. Lyell, including his Medal of Honor, which is on display at the Museum: https://tnmuseum.org/TN225?xmod-5404-pp-369614-item=119263
HONOR
Today we honor the courage and sacrifice of Cpl, William F. Lyell, from Tennessee, of Company F, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division for his actions August 31, 1951, near Chup'A-Ri, Korea. When his platoon leader fell, Cpl. Lyell took charge of the platoon and in the face of heavy enemy fire, utilizing a 57mm recoilless rifle destroyed an enemy bunker. Resuming the attack, he charged forward throwing grenades dispatching two other bunkers despite being wounded. Upon occupying battle positions enabling effective fire to be brought on the enemy, Cpl. Lyell continued to expose himself to enemy fire to direct the platoon, eventually being mortally wounded by enemy mortar fire.
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/william-f-lyell
1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team | 2-2ID - Lancer Brigade | 16th Combat Aviation Brigade | I Corps | U.S. Army Pacific | U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) | U.S. Army | Congressional Medal of Honor Society | Old Hickory,TN | Hickman County, TN | Tennessee State Museum
Manchester folk artist Willard Hill is profiled in a new segment by Forrest Sanders at NewsChannel 5 Nashville. Born and raised in Manchester, where he still resides, Hill creates expressive sculptures out of found objects, including plastic bottles and grocery bags. He then builds upon that frame with masking tape, adding detail with marker and nail polish. The Museum is proud to have two of Hill’s sculptures in our collection, which we acquired from the artist in 2021: “Two Mules Pulling a Wagon” and “Untitled: Organist.”
You may not have seen a craft quite like what a man in Manchester does. He's proving you can take anything and create beauty.
It's , and this mustached man in a garrison cap is ready to enjoy this popular activity. This photo from 1942 is part of a collection of items that belonged to Patrick H. Carigan (1923-2012) of Cincinnati, Ohio, who served in the Navy during World War II from June 1941 to October 1945. The majority of Carigan's service was spent as a crew member aboard the U.S.S. Nashville. The U.S.S. Nashville arrived at Dutch Harbor, Alaska in May, 1942 as the flagship of "Task Force 8" and patrolled the North Pacific Ocean from June, 1942 to November, 1942 before it was redirected to the Pacific Theater, arriving at Pearl Harbor in December, 1942.
The Museum recently acquired an unusual smock, worn by Samuel Brody of Knoxville, TN, as part of his membership with the 40 & 8 honor society. The 40 & 8 is an independent honor society of American veterans, formed shortly after the First World War by The American Legion National Headquarters. The name “40 & 8” derived from the cargo capacity of French boxcars which carried American soldiers to the front — 40 men and eight horses to a boxcar. Samuel Brody served in the First World War as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Tank Corps. Brody was a member of the Knoxville chapter of the 40 & 8, which is still active.
The Tennessee State Museum and the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library at Fisk University is hosting “Building Community, Continuing the Legacy: The Rosenwald Schools of Tennessee Symposium," hosted at Fisk University on September 15 and at the Tennessee State Museum on September 16. Rosenwald School alumni, historians, and the general public are invited to this free two-day event exploring the history and legacy of the schools and the communities that built and preserved them.
This program is presented in conjunction with the Tennessee State Museum exhibition "Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee." See the full schedule and register here: https://tnmuseum.org/rosenwald-symposium
Support for this event is provided by a grant from Humanities Tennessee and funding by Tennessee State Museum Foundation.
The first book to explore the history of college fight songs as a culturally important phenomenon, "From Dixie to Rocky Top: Music and Meaning in Southeastern Conference Football" by Carrie Allen Tipton, Ph.D., zeroes in on the US South, where college football has forged a powerful, quasi-religious sense of meaning and identity throughout the region. Tracing the story of Southeastern Conference (SEC) fight songs from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century, Tipton places this popular repertory within the broader commercial music industry and uses fight songs to explore themes of authorship and copyright; the commodification of school spirit; and the construction of race, gender, and regional identity in Southern football culture.
In our next TN Writers | TN Stories event on September 9, Tipton will discuss her latest publication in conversation with one of the nation’s premier newscasters and four-time regional Emmy award winner, Rudy Kalis. More info: https://bit.ly/3Egjk5L
A special guest came to use our printing press today: Ida B. Wells-Barnett Barbie! This famous journalist and activist had a long history with newspapers. In fact, one of Ida’s earliest memories was of reading a newspaper to her father and a group of his friends. Here in our printshop, she's creating copies of the "Free Speech," a Black-owned Memphis newspaper with a large following. When Wells-Barnett purchased one third interest in the paper in 1887, she became one of the country’s few Black female newspaper owners and editors.
She's not the only to make an appearance at the Museum. See if you can find the two on display in the "Tennessee Transforms" exhibition!
Black leaders started some of the first schools for freedpeople in Tennessee during the Civil War. The Reverend Daniel Wadkins, a free Black Baptist minister, began a school in Nashville in 1862. Black educators also established schools at Pulaski, Columbia, Springfield, and Memphis.
Often Black church congregations allowed their buildings to be used for education. Local religious leaders played important roles in creating and sustaining schools. This print from our collection, “Some Leading Preachers and Educators of the Formative Period of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.,” 1895 to 1915, includes an image of Booker T. Washington, President of the Tuskegee Institute, who envisioned a building program for Black schools in the rural South.
Learn more about Booker T. Washington's partnership with Julius Rosenwald to create such a program in the exhibition, "Building a Bright Future: Black Communities and Rosenwald Schools in Tennessee," now on display: https://tnmuseum.org/building-a-bright-future
Voting is open now for Nashville Scene's annual Best of Nashville. These reader's poll awards celebrate "the people, places and things that make Music City a great place to live." Consider recognizing the Tennessee State Museum for:
🔹 Best Museum
🔹 Best Gift Shop
🔹 Best Free Fun
🔹 Best Cheap Date
🔹 Best Wedding Venue
Be sure to vote by Thursday August 31, 2023 at 1:59 p.m. CST at the link below!
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On , we recognize Margaret Britton Vaughn, who has served as Tennessee's Poet Laureate since 1995. Born in Murfreesboro in 1938, Vaughn has written a number of poems, country music songs, and plays in her lifetime, with her first collection of poetry published in 1975 with "50 Years of Saturday Nights."
"I've got fifty years of Saturday Nights
packed in an old memory
I've been tucking them away for years
in a trunk as big as Tennessee."
From our collection is an autographed portrait of Margaret Britton Vaughn, alongside a 1961 Olympia typewriter used by Vaughn and inscribed, "Margaret Britton Vaughn / Poet Laureate of Tennessee 1995-2020."
The 20th century church fan is a nostalgic representation of the African American church and a popular cultural symbol. They hold memories of fiery sermons delivered to crowded church pews, and mothers whose white hats provided welcome relief on a hot summer day. These fans often included images of African American families, past and contemporary cultural icons, and religious figures.
On our Thousands of Stories blog, the Museum's curator of social history, Tranae Chatman, uses fans from our collection of artifacts to explain how they provide both spiritual and cultural context to the past lives of African Americans. Read more with "Preserving African American History and Material Culture: Church Fans": https://bit.ly/3Oz1bog
It was 103 years ago , August 18 in 1920 that Tennessee became the 36th and final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. To celebrate women gaining the federal right to vote, Alice Paul, National Chairman of the Woman's Party, unfurled the ratification banner from Suffrage headquarters in Washington D.C. Today, we once again unfurled our replica of the thirty-six star flag off the Museum’s veranda, a tradition that began in 2020 during the 100th anniversary. Each star acts a symbol for each state victory for woman’s suffrage, while the purple, white, and gold represents the colors of the movement.
Samplers, a form of both practical and decorative art, became required of educated young ladies beginning in the 17th century. The stitched fabric was used as a teaching method for embroidery skills and as preparation for a domestic role as a wife and mother, as well as a member of educated society. During this afternoon's Lunch and Learn event, the Museum's curator of textiles, Julia Doyle, took us through the many examples of samplers found in our collection.
Watch the video of the program to learn more about where girls would learn these techniques, what stitching styles and design motifs can tell us about those who incorporated them into their samplers, and the unique characteristics of Tennessee samplers: https://bit.ly/3P0x8Yh
During our TN Writers | TN Stories event this past Saturday, author Rachel Louise Martin was joined by Linda T. Wynn to discuss "A Most Tolerant Little Town," in which Martin weaves together over a dozen perspectives in a kaleidoscopic portrait of Clinton High School in 1956. Martin was able to sign copies of her book that is a poignant reminder of this often forgotten civil rights history in Tennessee.
For more information on the Clinton 12 — the courageous young Black students who quietly entered the front door of all-white Clinton High School, making it the first desegregated public high school in the South — the Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Anderson County is dedicated to telling their story.
This doll and its dress are part of a longstanding project of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Tennessee to create dolls portraying Tennessee First Ladies. This doll from our collection represents Sarah Childress Polk, who married James K. Polk in 1824. He served as Tennessee governor from 1839 to 1841 and as U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. During her lifetime, Sarah Polk was both the First Lady of Tennessee and of the United States.
Sarah Polk was her husband James K. Polk’s most trusted political ally. During his political campaigns, she helped him monitor newspapers for the latest information. She often worked as his private secretary, a job normally performed by a man. She died , August 14, in 1891.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop. It was on this day in 1973 that 18-year-old Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, put two turntables together at a house party in the Bronx, New York City, to play the percussion parts of the same record back to back on a loop, birthing a genre. The repercussions of that night changed music history. Thirty-two years later, a film from Memphis with hip-hop at its core made history of its own. “Hustle & Flow,” by director Craig Brewer, went on to be nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Actor (Terence Howard) and Best Original Song (Three Six Mafia’s “It’s Hard Out Here for A Pimp”). It took home the latter, making it only the second hip-hop song to win an Academy Award.
Pictured from our collection is an invitation to the premiere of the film on Wednesday, July 6, 2005 at 7:30PM at the Muvico Theater on Peabody Place in Memphis and the after party at the Isaac Hayes Nightclub & Restaurant. Coincidentally, Hayes was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. He did so in 1976 with “Theme from Shaft.”
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The cutaway log cabin in our Forging a Nation exhibition (1760 to 1860) provides a glimpse into the lives of early Tennessee settlers. In this video, Jennifer Watts explains how a spider pot was used by those on the frontier to help regulate cooking temperatures before the invention of electricity. Come see more artifacts from the era with free admission at the Tennessee State Museum.
It may not be the Easter Bunny, but we did spot some sneaky eggs making a break for it in the "Art After 1900" exhibition with Sylvia Hyman's piece, "The Great Eggscape." 🐣 #EasterBunnyHunt While the Museum is open today on Good Friday, we will be closed this Sunday, April 17 for Easter. Plan your visit: https://tnmuseum.org/plan-your-visit
This rabbit was so fast, we almost didn't spot him! 🐰 It must be because Russ Jacobsohn's carved rocking horse sculpture illustrates the Aesop's fable race between "The Tortoise and the Hare." Maybe this is the Easter Bunny we've been looking for. . .? #EasterBunnyHunt
We are on a hunt for the Easter Bunny 🐰 in our galleries! Do you think this "Rabbit" sculpture by William Edmondson could be him? The rabbit does appear to be wearing a bow tie. . . Let's see what other bunnies we can find at the Museum before Easter. #EasterBunnyHunt
The Queen of Rock and Roll Tina Turner was born in Nutbush, Tennessee in 1939. Museum educator Mamie Hassell explains her history and showcases Tina Turner's performance dress on display in our Tennessee Transforms exhibition. Be sure to join us for our final weekend of Women's History Month Tours tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., where we highlight women of all backgrounds that have helped shape the state of Tennessee.
Formerly enslaved craftsman Richard Poynor was one of Williamson County’s most prolific and distinctive chair makers. Museum Educator Stephanie Davis explains how he used this talent to purchase his freedom and possibly that of his wife Millie. See one of his chairs on display and learn more with one of our Black Craftspeople of Tennessee Tour, where we will highlight some of Tennessee’s finest craft artists, including William Edmondson and Lewis C. Buckner. These free tours are happening every Saturday in February starting at 11:00 a.m.
Final week! Don’t miss the Best of Tennessee Craft 2021 Biennial exhibition. This weekend will be your final chance to see this selection of work by top craft artists from across Tennessee. Admission is free, so make plans to visit! #BestofTNCraft
It’s Christmas time in Tennessee! 🎄 Come along and follow Santa around the state as he delivers presents in "Santa is Coming to Tennessee." Then we’ll make our own ornaments to hang on a tree or around the house.
Looking for a great gift? Come do some holiday shopping in our Museum Store! You can get away from the hustle and bustle and find something unique from our local artists and vendors in our calm environment. Your purchase also helps support the Tennessee State Museum.
Today, we have very special guests for Storytime as part of #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth. Please welcome our guests, Sonny Ledford and Charlie Rhodarmer from the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, as they read "Sequoyah" by James Rumford and give us some insight into the man who created the Cherokee syllabary. Afterwards, be sure to download our Sequoyah Matching Game to color and play at home! 📘 Download: https://bit.ly/3qSoFut
Beadwork had long been an important tradition in many Native nations. The beaded bag and moccasins featured in this video were reportedly gifted to James Robertson after a meeting in #Nashville with Chickasaw leaders in 1793. It is believed that the gifting of beaded goods, especially bandolier bags, was an important part of diplomatic protocol. Joyska Nunez-Medina, Community Engagement Educator, describes the meaning behind the sun ☀️ and flower 🌻 symbols often found in #Chickasaw beadwork. Learn more about symbolism in Native American art every Saturday in November at 2:00 p.m. with free guided tours throughout our galleries. #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
Have you been in to see "The Best of Tennessee Craft 2021 Biennial" exhibition yet? There are 75 craft pieces from artists around the state working in glass, wood, jewelry, textiles, clay, and more. Admission is free! #BestofTNCraft #Nashville #ThingsToDoNashville #OnlyInTennessee #MadeInTN @tennesseecraft
Now open!! We’re putting up fresh kiosk signs in downtown #Nashville to mark the opening of “The Best of Tennessee Craft 2021 Biennial” exhibition at the Tennessee State Museum in partnership with Tennessee Craft. There are now 75 handmade craftworks on display through February 20, 2022! #BestofTennesseeCraft
The Education Team is busy at the press in our print shop in preparation for Haunted Museum Storytelling Festival 2021! 🎃 Print shop demonstrations are just a part of the fun to be had at this FREE event at the Museum this Saturday! Enjoy spooky stories, games, and even a costume parade. Check out the full schedule on our Calendar of Events: https://tnmuseum.org/calendar-of-events/event/2201741
Get ready to have a spooktacular time at the FREE Haunted Museum Storytelling Festival 2021 this Saturday, October 23! We have a full lineup of events starting at 10:00 a.m. and happening throughout the day. #HauntedMuseum2021 Event Schedule: 👻 Story Telling in the Grand Hall - 10:15 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. 🎃 The Nashville Puppet Truck in the Digital Learning Center - 10:30, 12:00, 1:30, and 2:30 🦇 Print Shop Demonstration and Spooky Story (in "Forging a Nation" gallery) - 10:15, 10:45, 11:15, 11:45, 12:15, 12:45, 1:15, 1:45, 2:15, and 2:45. All ghost and monsters welcomed! 👻 Spearfinger (In "Art After 1900" gallery) - 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30. This spooky story is for our older ghosts and monsters, recommended for 8 and up. 🎃 Story Time in the Children’s Gallery - Come join us for some Halloween tales at 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30 🦇 Costume Parade - 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Meet outside on the first floor (under the second-floor veranda).
Water is everywhere! 💧 In our story this week, we are going to join a young girl as she discovers the many ways water impacts our daily lives. Catherine Price of the Cumberland River Compact joins us as a guest reader of "Hey, Water!"
To kick off #HispanicHeritageMonth, we are going to read "Abuela." This fun and colorful story is about the adventure a little girl and her abuela go on together throughout a big city. Let’s follow their journey during this week’s Storytime.
What would you do if you had three wishes? Rabbit has always wanted to catch a wish. Now that he has, what will he wish for? Rabbit is not sure, so he asks his friends for ideas. Let’s see what Rabbit decides as we read "Wish" in partnership with the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation! #SummerReadingTN
The new Tennessee State Museum that sits on the corner of Rosa L. Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park can trace its roots back to a museum opened on the Nashville public square in 1817 by a portrait artist, Ralph E.W. Earl. A young boy who visited that museum in 1823 wrote home that he had seen a life-size painting of then General Andrew Jackson. That same painting is now part of the Tennessee State Museum collection.
In 1937 the Tennessee General Assembly created a state museum to consolidate World War I mementos and other collections from the state, the Tennessee Historical Society and other groups. This museum was located in the lower level of the War Memorial Building until it was moved into the new James K. Polk Center in 1981. It remained there for more than 35 years until, in 2015, Gov. Bill Haslam proposed a new home for the museum on the northwest corner of the Bicentennial Mall in Nashville. The Tennessee General Assembly appropriated $120 million to build the Museum, with the additional funding to complete the project to be raised in private contributions.
The new Tennessee State Museum, encompassing 137,000 sq. ft. of administration and gallery space, opened to the public on October 4, 2018.
Plan your visit at tnmuseum.org
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Rep John Lewis Way S
Tennessee Holocaust Commission
P. O. Box 59252
Willie Nelson and Friends Museum and General
Mcgavock Pike
Grassmere Historic Farm and Croft House
Nolensville Road
Victorian Society at Belle Meade Plantation
Harding Pike
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