Monday, December 28, 2020
Temporary Public Closure Notice...
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Tennessee’s State Capitol the Subject of New Book Published by the Tennessee Department of State
The Tennessee State Library & Archives and the Office of Secretary of State Tre Hargett are excited to announce the release of a new book chronicling, the Tennessee State Capitol. This new book, Tennessee State Capitol: A Tennessee Treasure, celebrates the monumental building on Capitol Hill that has served as the Volunteer State’s seat of government since before the Civil War. The book was written and researched by former Assistant State Archivist Dr. Wayne Moore, and published by the Tennessee Secretary of State.
It is lavishly illustrated with rare photographs, maps, and other images from the Library & Archives’ collections, some of which were only recently conserved. Tennessee State Capitol presents the statehouse’s history in five authoritative yet accessible chapters. Topics include architect William Strickland and early construction, completion of the building, the capitol’s property and grounds, and subsequent renovations and restorations. At the Library & Archives, we’re especially proud of the pages dedicated to the library’s original home in the capitol, now known as the Legislative Lounge (see the image from Chapter 3). A helpful glossary is at the end of the book for readers new to architectural terminology.
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Table of Contents |
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Sample page, Chapter 2 |
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Sample page, Chapter 3 |
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Sample page, Chapter 4 |
Copies of Tennessee State Capitol: A Tennessee Treasure are available at https://sos.tn.gov/tncapitolbook. The price is $29.50 plus tax and shipping. A limited number of copies are available on-site at the Library & Archives; please call 615-741-2764 for more information.
Monday, August 24, 2020
The Ardent Gardeners Association
By Allison Griffey
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The Ardent Gardeners’ first flower show on July 11, 1952, at the Hadley Park Community Center (left to right): Henri Dixon, Rhea Tarleton, Ruth McAlpin, Ruth Grant, Dora McClelland, Hazel Burley, Rachel Lindsay, Arthurine Welch, Lillian Thomas, Mary Walker, Carrie Denney, Martha Allen, Mattie Claiborne, Kathleen Lawrence, Mattie Flowers, Alberta Bontemps, Elizabeth Petway Lowe, Eva Nash, Blanche Ennix, and Thelma Treherne. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 7. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
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Library decorations at the Ardent Gardeners Association’s “A Holiday House” event at the home of Elise Frazier, undated. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 2. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
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Ardent Gardeners picnic in Ruth Grant’s backyard, undated. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 2. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
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Zenobia Beck at her home garden, undated. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 4. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
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Alberta Bontemps demonstrates special arrangements required by some containers, undated. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 5. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
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The Ardent Gardeners’ fortieth-anniversary luncheon at Cheekwood on April 7, 1991 (front row left to right): Lillian Thomas, Mattie Johnson, Delores Crump, Ruth Grant, Isabel Watkins, Gretchen Payne, Carrie Denney, Alberta Bontemps, Elise Frazier, Blanche Ennix, Willie Mae Martin, Mattie Flowers (back row left to right): Zenobia Beck, Eugenia McGinnis, Rachel Lindsay, Kathleen Lawrence, Tyree Miller, Corinne Schuster, Alice Archer, Hazel Burley, Dora McClellan, Helena Perry, Jayme Williams, Patsy Petway. Ardent Gardeners Association Records, 1951-1998, Box 3, Folder 7. https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ardent-gardeners-association-records-1951-1998 |
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Our Century! Living Tennessee History of the Ratification
This year marks the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote thanks to Tennessee ratifying the 19th amendment on August 18, 1920.
To commemorate this historic moment, the Tennessee State Library and Archives partnered with TNWoman100, the Tennessee State Museum, Tennessee State Parks, and the Tennessee Historical Society to re-enact the historic vote in the House chamber.
Friday, August 14, 2020
30,000 entries added to the Tennessee Biographical Index
Monday, July 20, 2020
Tennessee State Library and Archives to Host Online Workshop About the U.S. Census
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1940 Census Taker. Image courtesy U.S. Census |
On Saturday, August 1, reference librarian Trent Hanner will lead attendees on a deep dive into the census for beginners and intermediate researchers alike. He’ll also discuss how we can understand our state in the context of the larger nation, using the data that the Census Bureau is continually generating.
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The workshop takes place on Saturday, August 1, 2020 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. CDT. It will be held online via Adobe Connect. Although the workshop is free, registration is required due to limited online capacity. Upon registration, guests will receive an email confirmation.
To make a reservation, visit https://tslavirtualcensus.eventbrite.com/.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Grassmere Historic Farm at the Nashville Zoo and the Tennessee State Library and Archives Wins 2020 AASLH Award of Excellence
The Nashville Zoo exists today due to the foresight of two sisters, Margaret and Elise Croft. In October 2018, Tori Mason, Nashville Zoo Historic Site Manager, and Jennifer Randles, TSLA Digital Materials Librarian, traveled to Florida and Cuba to research the Croft sisters’ business. In Florida, they conducted oral history interviews with 94-yr old Bradford Dallas, the man who was the Croft’s business administrator in Havana during the Cuban Revolution. Several of his letters and other documents are on the Tennessee Virtual Archive website (teva.contentdm.oclc.org). They also spent time in Havana traveling to various locations associated with the Croft and the Dallas families. Mason and Randles wrote blog posts published on the zoo and TSLA websites, which led to speaking invitations. They created a PowerPoint presentation, including sound bites from the interviews, and from December 2018 to October 2019 presented eight public programs reaching nearly 300 people.
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Tennessee State Museum “Lunch and Learn” presentation July 17, 2019. |
Sound bites are currently on TSLA’s Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA), and recordings are being transcribed with plans to publish them online. This information captures first-had accounts of the Cuban Revolution while making it relevant to Nashville, and zoo, history. Sharing what they learned was an essential part of advancing the mission of enriching, inspiring, and educating those interested in a deeper understanding of the Nashville Zoo.
Image of Croft House at 419 Calle 19, in front of current buildings at that address. |
Follow the links below to learn more about this project and explore the Grassmere Collection in TeVA:
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Johnny Majors, 1935-2020
Coach Majors donated his personal papers to the Library and Archives some years ago. We were honored to receive them and feature some of his collection in our online exhibit, “It’s Football Time In Tennessee!” View the exhibit here: https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/exhibits/majors/exhibit_majors.htm
Watch Coach Majors talk about his collection and his love for history: https://vimeo.com/72683237
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Tennessee Celebrates 224 Years of Statehood
On June 1, 2020, Tennessee celebrates 224 years of statehood. In this time of social distancing, we're finding creative ways to mark this anniversary and share our state's history.
On our Facebook page, our Education Outreach staff is highlighting historically significant moments in the history of the 16th state through a series of trivia questions. These questions are designed to get you to think about our state's history and to inspire you to learn more. We will post answers the next day with links to primary sources from our collections on the Tennessee Virtual Archive and our website.
We're also looking back to our state's founding documents. These documents helped transform Tennessee from a frontier territory to a state whose history reflects our nation's economic and cultural progress and challenges.
We hope you'll follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and here on the blog for updates.
In the meantime, let's look at this photo collage from the Library and Archives' first Statehood Day event in 2017.
Friday, May 22, 2020
The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Tennessee Timeline
This year marks the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the United States with the ratification of the 19th Amendment by the Tennessee General Assembly. By the summer of 1920, 35 states had ratified the 19th Amendment, bringing it just one state shy of the constitutional majority needed to make it law. When the Tennessee House of Representatives voted to ratify on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became that crucial final state, earning itself the nickname “The Perfect 36”.
We have been sharing stories of the women’s suffrage movement from across Tennessee to celebrate our unique role in this turning point in American history. This third segment in our series is a pictorial timeline highlighting significant events and people in the Tennessee women’s suffrage movement.
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Map of Tennessee Congressional Districts, 1920. Carrie Chapman Cat Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1889
Lide Meriwether founded the first Tennessee woman suffrage organization in Memphis. Before this, Meriwether was president of the Tennessee Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). For many women, participation in reform movements such as WCTU were precursors to suffrage activism.![]() |
Souvenir booklet from the thirty-third annual convention of the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union meeting in Nashville in 1907. Donelson, Bettie Mizell (1862-1939) Papers 1787-1938. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1897
At the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, suffragists met in the Exposition’s Woman’s Building to form the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association. Lide Meriwether was their first president.![]() |
Woman’s Building, 1897. Library Photograph Collection. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1897
The National Council of Women of the United States convened in the Woman’s Building bringing powerful and influential suffrage activists to the state.![]() |
“National Council of Women: Federated Body of Over a Score of Great National Societies of Women to Meet Here To-Morrow,” 1897. Newspapers on Microfilm. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1897
Mary Church Terrell held the first convention of the National Association of Colored Women later renamed the National Association of Colored Women’s Club (NACWC) in Nashville. NACWC was a pivotal organization for black suffrage activism.![]() |
Mary Church Terrell. Library Photography Collection. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1900
Carrie Chapman Catt became president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).![]() |
Carrie Chapman Cat. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1900
Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) held its second convention in Memphis.1906
Memphis created its chapter of TESA1910
Lizzie Crozier French organized the Knoxville chapter of TESA1911
Nashville, Chattanooga, and Morristown all created TESA chapters![]() |
Frances Holder Overall scrapbook, 1914-1945. Newspaper clip highlighting important figures in the fight for women’s suffrage. Frances Holder Overall Papers, 1867-1918. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1913
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns broke off from the National Woman Suffrage Association to form the more militant Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, later renamed the National Woman’s Party (NWP). At a march for suffrage hosted by the NWP, Memphis native Ida B. Wells was told to march at the back of the line with other black suffragists. She refused. She opted instead to march at the front of the line with the white suffragists.![]() |
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1897. Library Collection. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1914
The Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association splintered into two separate factions: The Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association, Incorporated, and TESA.1914
National American Woman Suffrage Association held a convention in Nashville.![]() |
Cover of National Suffrage Convention pamphlet, 1914. Library Collection. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
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“Votes for Women,” 1914. Nashville Tennessean clip about the 1914 NAWSA convention. Bettie Mizell Donelson Family Papers, 1787-1938. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1915
The Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association, Inc. pushed for a woman suffrage amendment to be added to the state constitution. The Tennessee General Assembly adopted a joint resolution for the amendment. However, in order to succeed, the amendment needed to pass in 1917 with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate.![]() |
“You Dirty Boy,” 1914. Political cartoon from Nashville Tennessean. Frances Holder Overall Papers, 1867-1918. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1915
The Crisis, a monthly publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, did a feature on the suffrage movement.![]() |
“Votes for Women: A Symposium by Leading Thinkers of Colored America,” 1915. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1916-1917
Although it never achieved the same level of success as the NAWSA in the south, the National Woman’s Party saw an increase in interest during these years.![]() |
Mary Giles Howard, 1916. Vice-chairman of the Tennessee Division of the National Woman’s Party. Tennessee Federation of Women’s Clubs Records, 1893-1992. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
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Mrs. K. P. Jones, 1916. Vice-chairman of the Tennessee Division of the National Woman’s Party. Tennessee Federation of Women’s Clubs Records, 1893-1992. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1917
Josephine A. Pearson became the President of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.![]() |
“Truth crushed,” 1920. Scrapbook page with Josephine Pearson on the right, a confederate soldier in the center, and Mrs. Jas. S Pinkard on the right. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1917
The joint resolution presented in 1915 to add a woman’s suffrage amendment to the state constitution failed due to increased lobbying from anti-suffragist groups.![]() |
“Woman Suffrage: A Menace to the South,” 1917. An anti-suffrage pamphlet. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1918
The two factions of TESA stopped feuding and unified.1919
Limited suffrage passed granting women the right to vote in municipal and presidential elections.![]() |
“An annoying delay,” 1920. Political cartoon. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1919
Under limited suffrage, Mary Cordelia Beasley Hudson of Benton County became the first woman to legally vote in Tennessee.1920, May
The League of Women Voters of Tennessee was established. Abby Crawford Milton was the first president.![]() |
The League of Women Voters card, 1920. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
1920, June
Catherine Talty Kenny was elected the Chairman of the Ratification Committee of the League of Women Voters of Tennessee. She selected Dr. Mattie E. Coleman as “state negro organizer” and J. Frankie Pierce as “secretary of colored suffrage work.”1920, July
Both Carrie Chapman Catt and Josephine Pearson arrived in Nashville and established organization headquarters at the Hermitage Hotel. Intense lobbying on both sides ensued.![]() |
“Question is, will they get through in time for the presidential election?” 1920. Political cartoon. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
August 9, 1920
Governor Albert H. Roberts called a special legislative session for the 19th Amendment.![]() |
Telegram from Sue Shelton White to Governor Albert H. Roberts, 1920. GP 38: Governor Albert H. Roberts Papers, 1919-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
August 13, 1920
The Senate approved the resolution to ratify.![]() |
“Suffrage scenes at the Capitol when the Senate ratified August 13,” 1920. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
August 18, 1920
The House adopted the resolution, ratifying the 19th Amendment and enfranchising women throughout the United States.![]() |
“Gov. A. H. Roberts signing Tennessee certificate of ratification,” 1920. GP 38: Governor Albert H. Roberts Papers, 1919-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |
August 26, 1920
The Tennessee ratification certificate was received by the United States Secretary of State, who signed the proclamation into law. Victory at last! The 19th Amendment was officially ratified on a national level. Women of color, however, continued to fight restrictive voting laws and practices aimed at disenfranchising black voters. Their relentless activism led to the successful passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.![]() |
“Lest we forget,” 1920. Political cartoon. Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, 1916-1921. Image: Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) |