The Tennessee Historical Society is a non-profit, membership organization. Established in 1849, the S
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The Battle of Nashville began in 1864. Watch this video to learn more about Nashville's part in this important Civil War story.
Join us at historic Fort Negley in Nashville, Tennessee - constructed by Union forces in late 1862 after the Confederate Army abandoned the city following th...
This portrait of John Houston Redding (1859-1948) and his wife, Ruth Adella Branch Redding (1862-1933) was taken 140 years ago today on December 14, 1882. The Redding Family lived in Maury County, Tennessee.
Image source: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll50/id/2788/rec/13
Nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale," Grace Moore was an American operatic soprano and Academy Award-nominated actress in musical theatre and film. Click here to learn more from the Tennessee Encyclopedia!
Grace Moore, popular soprano in opera, musical comedy, and film, […]
When Tennessee humorist George Washington Harris died in Knoxville in December 1869, he left behind a collection of tales admired by authors like Mark Twain and William Faulkner. Learn more from the THS blog!
"The durnd infunel, hiperkritikal, pot-bellied, scaley-hided, whisky-wastin, stinkin olegroun'-hog. He'd a heap better a stole sum man's hoss; I'd a tho't more ove 'im." Thus Sut Lovingood summed up his opinion of one his adversaries, Parson John Bullen. Sut was the creation of George Washington Har...
Check out this new book, published by the Tennessean! It includes images from the Tennessee State Library & Archives, Nashville Public Library, and our collection. Comment your favorite Nashville memory on this post for a chance to win your own copy!
Click here to watch Davidson County historian Dr. Carole Bucy and Tennessee State University professor of African American and public history Dr. Learotha Williams on This is Nashville discussing the history of the city’s role in the slave trade.
https://wpln.org/post/episodes/slave-trade-tennessee-slavery/
In 1860, more than 30% of Davidson County’s roughly 47,000 residents were enslaved. That’s nearly 15,000 people. As significant as those numbers are, they underlie another, equally unsettling truth: Nashville was a key location in the sale of enslaved people.
Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at the Tennessee Historical Society! Check out these Tennessee Thanksgivings through the years and let us know in the comments what your favorite turkey day tradition is!
Photo 1: Harriman's first football team poses on Thanksgiving 1891 at what is called the first organized football game in Knoxville.
Photo 2: Thanksgiving dinner at the Davidson County Court House in Mayor Briley’s Conference Room in 1972.
Photo 3: The handwritten note on the back of this photo reads "Juanita's friend, Thanksgiving 1984." This image was included in a folder identified as "From home of Juanita Dockins, Prescott St., Memphis, TN."
In this photo taken in May 1880, members of the Tennessee Historical Society gather on the State Capitol grounds in Nashville. Want to learn how to become a member? Click here to find out: https://tennesseehistory.org/membership/
Photo source: https://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/citation.php?ImageID=4676
This weekend! Walk-ins will be accepted on the day of the Seminar, but with no guarantee of lunch.
Make plans to attend MTGS' 34th Annual Genealogical Seminar, on Saturday, November 19 at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, and online via Zoom, from 9:00am to 3:00pm Central Time.
This year, we are featuring five great local speakers:
J. Mark Lowe, FUGA: They Drew a Crooked Line and Formed a Border
Carol Roberts, Bedford County Archives: Best Practices of Caring for Family Photographs
Graham Perry, Tennessee Historical Commission: Understanding Tennessee Cemetery Law
Emily Farek, Tennessee State Library and Archives: Care of Paper Collections and Preventive Conservation Basics
Julia Doyle, Tennessee State Museum: Preventive Storage and Care of Textile Collections at Home
To learn more and to register, visit our Seminar page at http://www.mtgs.org/seminar.html
Stainless steel POW/MIA identity bracelets were a familiar and popular sight across America in the 1970s. The bracelet program brought national awareness to the plight of prisoners of war and servicemen missing in action during the Vietnam War.
This bracelet was worn in honor of "Capt. William Lawrence/ 6/28/67" of Nashville, a prisoner of war who was shot down while on a combat mission in Vietnam on June 28, 1967. He remained a prisoner for six years before being released in March 1973. While imprisoned, Lawrence composed a poem, “Oh, Tennessee, My Tennessee,” and following his release, Tennessee adopted this as the official state poem.
This artifact is part of new listings that have recently been added to the Museum’s online collection portal. Discover more artifacts from Tennessee history by accessing the portal here: https://bit.ly/3a1xrej
Click here to sign up for this free online event from the Tennessee Historical Society! In this session, we learn about the history and genres of Mexican music performed in Tennessee. Tonight we will have two presenters: Dr. Gregory Reish and Manuel A. Delgado.
Dr. Gregory Reish is the director of the Center for Popular Music and professor of musicology at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. Manuel A. Delgado is a third-generation luthier and proprietor of Delgado Guitars, located in East Nashville.
To register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/381353738297
During the period between 1000 and 1425 CE, a thriving indigenous culture, the Middle Cumberland Mississippians, lived along the Cumberland River. Public spaces stretched through Shelby Bottoms, McFerrin Park, Bicentennial Mall, and Germantown. Other villages were scattered across the Nashville land...
Happy Halloween! This photo was taken at the Memphis Public Library's 1989 Halloween Storytime. Where are some of your favorite places to trick or treat in Tennessee? 🎃
Source: https://memphislibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15342coll4/id/2558/rec/9
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the nation’s most-visited National Park. For decades, Tennesseans and visitors to our state have enjoyed the park’s striking vistas and winding trails, especially in the autumn. What’s your favorite park activity at GSMNP?
We were sad to hear of the passing of Tennessee-native, Leslie Jordan. He led a successful life of 67 years, bringing joy and laughter to many throughout his career as an actor, comedian, singer, and writer. On May 22nd, 2021, he made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage, alongside Vince Gill, Brothers Osborne, and Carly Pearce.
From the Ryman Auditorium guestbooks that we recently scanned, here's his note and signature from his last show at the Ryman, on November 30th, 2021.
RIP, Leslie ❤️
Auditorium
The Tennessee state flag we know and love today was designed by Captain LeRoy Reeves of Johnson City and adopted in 1905. Click here to learn more: https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/tn225-the-tennessee-state-flag?locale=en_us #:~:text=The%20flag%20we%20know%20today,he%20was%20a%20lifelong%20Tennessean
Thanks for sharing, Arhoolie Foundation! Click here to watch the video of our webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uWh4rIZWS9M
And don’t forget to register for our next Tennessee 101 session, “Musica sin Fronteras (Music without Borders)” on November 8! https://tennesseehistory.org/ths-events/musica-sin-fronteras-music-without-borders/
String band and country blues musician Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong’s life spanned most of the 20th century. Armstrong’s career took him from his boyhood home in Campbell County, Tennessee to around the world. Armstrong was memorably documented by director Terry Zwigoff in the 1985 film Louie Bluie, and on the Arhoolie movie soundtrack of the same name.
In a recent session presented by the Tennessee Historical Society, two of Armstrong’s acolytes honored their connections to him and commented on his legacy. Grammy Award recipient Dom Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and cofounder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Dr. Elijah Wald is a folk-blues guitarist, music historian, and Grammy Award recipient who toured with Armstrong in the last years of Armstrong’s career.
You can watch their fascinating conversation here: https://tennesseehistory.org/ths-events/howard-louie-bluie-armstrong-and-the-black-string-band-tradition/.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
This Indigenous Peoples' Day, learn more about the creativity and power of Tennessee's indigenous cultures in this recorded Tennessee 101 webinar.
The session discusses the political skills used to adapt to colonialism and concludes with the diplomatic initiative of the Cherokee people that enabled them to hold on to a portion of their native homeland until the 1830s.
Beginning with the first nomadic hunters of the Ice Age, this class will explore how sophisticated the indigenous cultures were.We will discuss the political...
Click here to sign up for this free online event from the Tennessee Historical Society! Tennessee string band and country blues musician legend Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong’s life spanned most of the 20th century. This session of Tennessee 101 will have two presenters: Dom Flemons and Dr. Elijah Wald.
Grammy Award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, music scholar, historian, and record collector Dom Flemons is a cofounder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Dr. Elijah Wald, a Grammy Award-winning folk blues guitarist and music historian, toured with Armstrong in the last years of Armstrong’s career.
Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong and the Black String Band Tradition
October is LGBTQ+ History Month 🏳️🌈 Check out this webinar centered on some of our state’s LGBTQ+ archival collections from the Society of Tennessee Archivists to learn more.
The Society of Tennessee Archivists webinar on LGBTQ+ archival collections in Tennessee, part 2. This presentation features the following institutions: Lipsc...
It’s National Walk Your Dog Week! Check out this pooch from Tennessee’s past. This 1939 photo shows Mary Evans Tarpley Payne with her family’s pup in front of their home on Nashville’s Golf Club Lane.
Source: https://nashville.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/nr/id/5351/rec/37
October is Tennessee Archives Month! The Tennessee State Library & Archives houses documents and artifacts once collected by the Tennessee Historical Society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 2000, THS began awarding the annual Wills Research Fellowship, funded by the Society’s Jesse E. Wills Memorial Fund. The award supports scholars interested in traveling to Nashville to use the society’s collections at TSLA. Click here to view featured items from the THS collection!
12 09, 2018 Eliza Allen’s Guitar, 1820s thsadmin2020-11-15T07:26:03-06:00 This guitar belonged to Eliza Allen (1809-1861) of Sumner County, the forlorn bride of Sam Houston. A prized item in the Tennessee Historical Society’s [...] Eliza Allen’s Guitar, 1820sthsadmin2020-11-15T07:26:03-06:00
The Tennessee Historical Quarterly is published by the Tennessee Historical Society four times a year. This scholarly, illustrated journal features articles, book reviews, and edited primary materials covering all aspects and periods of Tennessee history.
All THS members receive a subscription to the Tennessee Historical Quarterly upon joining. Click here to learn more!
One of the best state historical journals in the United States, the Tennessee Historical Quarterly is published by the Tennessee Historical Society four times a year. This scholarly, illustrated journal features the finest articles, book reviews, and edited primary materials covering all aspects and...
in 1961, Harry Belafonte was scheduled to perform a benefit concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for the Freedom Riders, groups of civil rights activists who participated in bus trips through the American South to protest segregation.
Although Belafonte fell ill and couldn't perform, the show continued. During the intermission, Martin Luther King Jr. awarded scholarships to college student Freedom Riders.
One of those students was John Lewis, who would later serve in the US House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. In 2021, the stretch of Nashville's 5th Avenue in front of the Ryman was renamed Rep. John Lewis Way in his honor.
Source: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/broadsides/id/14
Click here to watch a short PBS documentary featuring Maury County artist Roger R. Smith and learn more about his peach seed carvings!
In 1968 Roger Smith ate a peach during a break from work. When he was finished he took out a pocketknife and began carving the peach pit into a tiny pig. 43 ...
For decades, Roger R. Smith has been carving peach pits. Hailing from Culleoka in Maury County, this Tennessee artist even carved a peach seed Santa Claus that became part of the White House ornament collection in 1993.
These 1990 photos of Smith and his work are from the Tennessee Arts Commission Folklife Program collection. Click here to view more: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll42/search
The Tennessee Historical Society became the state affiliate of National History Day in the 2008-09 academic year. Since that time, student and educator participation has more than doubled and over 7250 students across the state now participate. After competing in a cycle of contests, approximately 65 students are selected to represent Tennessee at the national competition.
Click here to learn more about how to get involved, see past winners and more: https://tennesseehistory.org/tennessee-history-day/
Getting Started District Contests Regional Contests State Contest National Contest About THD District Contests Regional Contests State Contest National Contest District 1 and 2 Registration Opens Mon., Oct. 3, 2022 Tennessee History Day Educators'
If you missed the most recent installment of our Tennessee 101 webinar series, "Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South," click here to watch the full lecture on YouTube now!
Visit our website to sign up for the next installment of Tennessee 101: History of Music on October 11: https://tennesseehistory.org/ths-events/howard-louie-bluie-armstrong-and-the-black-string-band-tradition
Country and soul emerged from the same songwriters, musicians, and producers in the recording studios of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, and Muscle Shoals,...
Becoming a member of the Tennessee Historical Society has so many benefits! Members receive:
- Significant savings on books published by the Tennessee Historical Society.
- Invitations to the annual membership meeting of the Tennessee Historical Society.
- The award-winning Tennessee Historical Quarterly presenting the most recent scholarship on the history and culture of the entire Volunteer State – a $30 value.
And more!
Click here to learn more and help us preserve and interpret the stories of all Tennesseans for years to come.
Join the Tennessee Historical Society today! Do you want to preserve and promote the history of Tennessee? Join the Tennessee Historical Society, dedicated since 1849 to telling the story of all Tennesseans. In addition to membership, you can support us when you shop. Go to Amazon Smile and Amazon
Don't forget to sign up for tomorrow's Tennessee 101 session! We're excited to present this free webinar series with the help of Humanities Tennessee and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Country and soul emerged from the same songwriters, musicians, and producers in the recording studios of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In legendary studios like Stax and FAME, integrated groups of musicians like Booker T. and the MGs and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Secti...
Today is the second Johnny Majors Classic football game between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Volunteers and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, both teams led by the legendary coach. Who are you rooting for in today's game?
While you wait for kickoff, enjoy these UT football guide covers! The first, from 1977, celebrates Majors' first year coaching for the Vols. The second, from 1982, features Majors with senior players at the Sunsphere to honor the World's Fair held in Knoxville that year.
Click here to view more: https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/collections:fbpro
These photos of Memphis were snapped in 1953. Bluff City is the subject of a lot of music—what's your favorite song about Memphis?
Click here to view more historic photos of the city: http://ow.ly/n5uI50KFomI
Country and soul emerged from the same songwriters, musicians, and producers in the recording studios of Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee, and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Don't miss the next session of Tennessee 101, "Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South," featuring Dr. Charles L. Hughes, the director of the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College.
Click here to sign up for this free online event: https://tennesseehistory.org/ths-events/country-soul-making-music-and-making-race-in-the-american-south/
Looks like these 20th-century bachelorettes had fun in Nashville! This postcard was sent to Miss Frank Hollowell of Beersheba Springs in August 1914.
Click here to view more from the Tennessee Postcard Collection: https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/.../postcards/postcards.html
Tennessee's National History Day participants regularly explore labor history topics. In 2022, Spring Hill High School students Harlie Grenead and Catherine Whelchel took home the American Labor History Award from the American Labor Studies Center at NHD for their senior group documentary "Monster in the Bullpen: How a Small Strike Led to the Labor Union Debate in the Trial of the Century."
Click the link to learn more about NHD in Tennessee and view project examples!
Getting Started District Contests Regional Contests State Contest National Contest About THD District Contests Regional Contests State Contest National Contest District 1 and 2 Registration Opens Mon., Oct. 3, 2022 Tennessee History Day Educators'
This Labor Day, learn more about the history of Tennessee's workers from the TN Encyclopedia!
In its broadest context, “labor” refers to a very diverse […]
Today is the first game of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville football season, so we're bringing you some Volunteer history!
The University of Tennessee Marching Band, known as the “Pride of the Southland,” was first organized in 1869. In 1972, the band introduced "Rocky Top." The song became the school’s unofficial fight song. What are your favorite Tennessee game day traditions?
Click here to view more photos of the band's history from UTK's digital collections: http://ow.ly/kaoe50Ky5CM
In August 1893, Ida B. Wells edited a pamphlet that criticized the organizers of the the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition for excluding Black people and their accomplishments from the exhibits and called for a boycott of the event. "The Reason Why: The Colored American is Not in the World's Columbian Exposition" included essay contributions from Frederick Douglas, journalist Irvine Garland Penn and Wells’ future husband, lawyer Ferdinand Lee Barnett.
Click the link to learn more about the pamphlet, Wells' activism and the Columbian Exposition from our blog.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1897 The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival. There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms. The white
In this undated photo, a Hamilton County family is shown working together to make a rug from nylon tights. What else do you notice in this picture?
Click here to see more from the Tennessee State Library & Archives Department of Conservation Photograph Collection: http://ow.ly/fC4J50KtmW9
Photo source: http://ow.ly/fxO050KupjG
Ground Floor, War Memorial Building, 305 6th Avenue North
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