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The beginnings of the Tennessee State Museum can be traced 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 hangs today in the State Museum, now located at the corner of Fifth and Deaderick streets. 
 In 1937 the General Assembly created a state museum to house World War I mementos and other collections from the state, the Tennessee Historical Society, and other groups. This museum was located on the lower level of the War Memorial Building until it was moved into the new James K. Polk Center in 1981. The Tennessee State Museum currently occupies three floors, covering approximately 120,000 square feet with more than 60,000 square feet devoted to exhibits.

The Tennessee State Museum occupies three floors of the James K. Polk Center, offering over 60,000 square feet of permanent exhibits as well as rotating exhibits that focus on specific topics and themes.

The museum's collection of uniforms, weapons, and battle flags from the Civil War is one of the largest in the nation

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The official museum of the state, Tennessee State Museum includes 60,000 square feet of exhibit space for the museum's permanent exhibit which takes visitors through the history of the state from its Native inhabitants to the modern era. There are also several galleries that feature rotating exhibits that go into more depth about specific themes and topics such as women's history, the Civil War, civil rights, and political history. The museum is located on the first few floors of the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville. The building is also home to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Tennessee State Museum

This 2.4-mile walking tour starts at the state capitol complex. It includes a representative mixture of museums, landmarks, monuments, and historic buildings as it winds its way toward the Ryman and some of the most significant sites in the history of country music, such as the Country Music Hall of Fame and local establishments like Hatch Show Print. The tour comes close to numerous other iconic Nashville landmarks like the Union Station Hotel and two dozen others-- turn on geofencing in the mobile app or simply browse by location to discover landmarks near the route. 

History of the State Library &amp; Archives

Housed in the State Capitol Building beginning in 1854, Tennessee's collection of books and records quickly outgrew its original space. The collections were split up and housed in adjoining buildings and the Capitol Building attic and basement until around 1890, leading to damage from moisture, debris, and rodent activity. One janitor even burned several carts of materials because of the smell they gave off as they rotted. When the U.S. Government, in 1893, requested a set of eighty-five trunks full of records left in Nashville during the Civil War, improving the condition of the State Library and its holdings became a priority. Capitol superintendent Robert Thomas Quarles, under Governors Peter Turney, Benton McMillan, and James B. Frazier, spent the rest of his life working to preserve the State Library and Archives, rescuing eight million documents by the time he died in 1914.



After Quarles found quantities of Tennessee money amid the archives, the latter governor had the records moved to the armory, but state funding was insufficient to prevent further neglect and damage to the records by the turn of the century. In 1904, a Department of Archives was established under Quarles' leadership, and rescued significant documents including the 1796 and 1834 State Constitutions, as well as the official boundary map between North Carolina and Tennessee, allowing the state to collect substantial back taxes from its neighbor. The first State Librarian and Archivist, John Trotwood Moore, was appointed five years after Quarles' death, in 1919 (his wife, Mary Daniel Moore, succeeded him in the position). Moore, too, served until his death ten years later. Moore was the first to expand the library's special collections, including the addition of records from the Creek, Mexican, and Civil Wars, and World War I, as well as the Tennessee Historical Society collections. The archives continued to be shuffled from one home to another--from the armory back to the Capitol attic and basement during Quarles' latter years, with expansion into the Memorial Building by 1924.&nbsp;Mary Daniel Moore joined in the Historical Records Survey, part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, to expand the State Archives in the areas of cemetery records, family bibles, and book holdings. Her tenure also brought about the cataloging of a quarter million records by the time she retired in 1949, and she was vital to the creation of a dedicated building for the State Library and Archives. Though construction was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War, Governor Cooper remained dedicated to the effort, and Moore led a public campaign in cooperation with Tennessee women's organizations including the Tennessee Farm Bureau Women's Auxiliary, the Tennessee branches of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Tennessee Woman's Press and Authors Club, to raise support for the building. A 1947 House bill approved the funding for its construction, as well as the dedication of the State Library and Archives as a memorial to veterans of World War II.



Designed by local architect H. Clinton Parrent, Jr. with the input of State Librarian Dr. Robison, the Tennessee State Library and Archives construction began in 1951. The building was formally dedicated in June of 1953.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an educational resource and an example of late Neoclassical architecture, the Tennessee State Library and Archives was designed by H. Clinton Parrent and completed in 1953. Dedicated to Tennessee's World War II veterans, the building holds state documents, maps, newspapers, books, photographs, genealogical documents, and spaces for exhibits, programs, research, and educational outreach. 

Tennessee State Library and Archives

In February 1862,&nbsp;Nashville became the first&nbsp;Confederate state capital to be occupied by&nbsp;the Union Army. The building was used both as a hospital and&nbsp;barracks, as well as the seat of government for&nbsp;military governor Andrew Johnson's pro-Unionist government. When Confederate forces under General John Bell Hood&nbsp;attempted to retake the city during the&nbsp;Battle of Nashville in December&nbsp;1864,&nbsp;Johnson allegedly planned to destroy the&nbsp;Capitol with dynamite should the&nbsp;Confederates push Union forces from the city. However, the Union held a nearly two-to-one advantage in the battle, and Hood was forced to retreat.&nbsp; The capitol grounds include the tomb of James K. Polk, the second Tennessee native to become President of the United States. The first Tennessean to secure this honor, Andrew Jackson, is featured in a large&nbsp;equestrian&nbsp;statue.&nbsp; Free guided tours leave from the Information Desk on the First Floor of the Capitol every hour, on the hour. The first tour begins at 9 a.m. and the final tour begins at 3 p.m. The Information desk will also provide guides for those who prefer a self-guided tour.&nbsp;

The State Capitol Building is located at the crest of a hill once known as Cedar Knob. The capitol stands prominently within the downtown skyline because this hill is the highest point in the city. The cornerstone for the building was laid on July 4, 1845, and construction was completed in 1859. The building was designed by architect William Strickland and later stages of construction were supervised by British architect Harvey Ackroyd because Strickland died five years prior the completion of the building. Strickland's body is entombed in the Capitol.  

Tennessee State Capitol

Samuel Harry Kress opened his&nbsp;first store in Pennsylvania in 1887 and soon opened the first of his chain department stores that featured distinctive architecture and made Kress a household name in the early 20th century. The Nashville Kress building was completed in 1935 and featured Greek mythological figures on the front facade near the Kress logo. While the Kress stores ceased operations in the 1970s and 1980s, the many Kress buildings have been preserved and are featured in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The S.H. Kress Department Store in Nashville is now the Kress Lofts, a condominium complex. Founder Samuel H. Kress established a charitable foundation that supports efforts to preserve and share European art.&nbsp;<div>In 1960,&nbsp;the Nashville Kress store was one of several downtown establishments targeted by civil rights protesters using direct and non-violent methods to challenge segregation. In late February of that year,&nbsp;African American residents occupied the Kress lunch counter in defiance of its white-only policy of table and counter service. S.H. Kress stores throughout the American South had segregated lunch counters at the time. </div>

The students involved in the protests were from nearby Black colleges including Fisk University, Tennessee Agricultural&nbsp;&amp; Industrial State University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist Theological Seminary. An estimated mob of two hundred white citizens converged on the protesters during a sit-in at the Kress building on February 27, 1960. These white counter-protesters attacked the Nashville students, yet the police responded to the violence by arresting 81 of the non-violent African American student protesters. These students were charged with disorderly conduct and faced disciplinary actions from some of the schools in the city.&nbsp;

While white counter-protesters in Nashville were typically less violent than many cities of the Deep South, several civil rights protesters were targeted along with African American leaders and churches. Z. Alexander Looby, a Black Nashville Civil Rights Attorney, was targeted by white supremacists&nbsp;who bombed his home on April 19, 1960. On the same day, four thousand students, including future U.S. Congressman John Lewis, marched together to the Nashville courthouse to meet Mayor Ben West. One protester asked if the segregation of lunch counters that was happening in Nashville was morally right, and the mayor answered that he no longer supported segregation. Other white business leaders agreed with the mayor's assessment&nbsp;owing to the disruption of their downtown business establishments that resulted from the protests. On April 19, 1960, six business owners agreed to halt their practice of racial discrimination and serve all patrons at their lunch counters.&nbsp;

Nashville's Kress building was completed in 1935 and features the Art Deco style that typified many new buildings of the era. The store was part of an S.H. Kress chain of five and ten cent stores that were located in downtowns throughout the United States. In 1960, University students at local Black colleges in Nashville chose the S. H. Kress Department Store among other sites in downtown Nashville as a location where they would use non-violent direct action to challenge racial segregation. The first protest at the Kress building began with a sit-in that resulted in African American civil rights activists occupying the Kress lunch counter on February 13, 1960. The students continued to protest until May 10, 1960, when six downtown establishments agreed to serve all people regardless of race.

S.H. Kress Department Store and the 1960 Nashville Sit-Ins

When construction on The Hermitage Hotel began in 1908, it was Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel. J. E. R. Carpenter used the distinctive Beaux-Arts style of architecture, offering a blend of classical Italian and French Renaissance features, and it is now the only commercial building left with these features in Tennessee. Carpenter went on to become one of New York's more prominent designers of luxury high-rise apartment buildings, with more than 40 of his buildings still being in existence along Park and 5th Avenues. The Board of Trade and local Nashvillians came together to create a civic campaign to raise funds for the creation of The Hermitage Hotel.Named after Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, The Hermitage Hotel quickly established itself as a favorite for politicians because of its location--right next to the Tennessee State Capitol. Over the decades, campaign headquarters were regularly established here. Prior to taking office, elected governors took up residency in The Hermitage Hotel, and it was not uncommon to see lobbyists and legislators congregating in the lobby.In 1920, the Hotel served as the headquarters of both suffragist and anti-suffragist groups who met to lobby the Tennessee General Assembly. Tennessee Representative Harry Burn cast the deciding ballot that enabled women the right to vote nationwide. Seventy-five years later, The Hermitage hosted a celebration to mark the anniversary of women’s suffrage and celebrate the Hotel’s role in the historic occasion. The Hermitage Hotel has hosted several notable visitors such as Presidents Taft, Wilson, Kennedy, Nixon, and Lyndon Johnson, and entertainers like Al Jolson, Bette Davis, and Gene Autry. Baseball legend Babe Ruth was a guest, as was famed bank robber John Dillinger. Being located in “Music City,” The Hermitage Hotel has many associations with country music. In the Hotel’s meeting rooms the Country Music Association was born. Legendary country singers Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and producer Owen Bradley stayed here. From 1925 until 1947, the Francis Craig orchestra performed in the dining room, also airing on WSM radio. In the mid-20th Century, The Hermitage Hotel closed its doors and the fate of the historic building was uncertain. Local historic preservationists united with Historic Nashville and Mayor Richard Fulton to save the building from the bulldozer. Finally, after four years of major work and renovation, The Hermitage Hotel reopened on March 6, 1981. This new era brought-in a slew of famous guests such as Red Skelton, Roy Rogers, and the well-known pool player Minnesota Fats even lived here for more than six years.In 2000, the Hotel underwent another multimillion-dollar renovation after being acquired by the Historic Hotels of Nashville. Since its reopening in 2003, The Hermitage Hotel has received numerous five-star ratings from the likes of the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Forbes. In 2020, The Hermitage Hotel was named a National Historic Landmark by the Department of Interior. The Interior acknowledged the significant role The Hermitage Hotel played in the passing of the 19th Amendment. Throughout the 20th Century, “Meet me at The Hermitage Hotel” was one of the most popular phrases heard around Nashville, now, thanks to the preservationists who fought to save this historic hotel, that same phrase still evokes a feeling of nostalgia and excitement.

The Hermitage Hotel is a prized treasure in Nashville, Tennessee. Construction on the city's first million-dollar hotel began in 1908 and was completed two years later. The Grand Opening on September 17, 1910 featured some of the most prominent people in Nashville, who enjoyed music brought in from New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The Hermitage Hotel was only the third skyscraper to be built in Nashville. The lobby floors were covered in white Italian marble and featured a painted glass skylight, while the guest rooms were paneled in mahogany. Over the years, numerous politicians and presidents such as Taft, Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton, and Bush have visited The Hermitage Hotel. Being a staple in Nashville, country music stars like Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash have also stayed here. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in August of 2020.

The Hermitage Hotel

At its conception, WSM boasted one thousand watts and was stronger than 85 percent of stations nationwide; in the South, only one station could be considered its equal. WSM transmitted on both coasts because early radio broadcast signals were unlimited. The station’s early programming consisted mainly of classical and popular tunes until radio announcer George Hay experimentally featured Uncle Jimmy Thompson playing the fiddle. He found an enthusiastic following for such “old-time music” and continued to develop the “hillbilly” theme.&nbsp; The Grand Ole Opry began in 1925 as “The WSM Barn Dance” which played every Saturday night.

In 1941,&nbsp;WSM became the first commercial broadcaster to&nbsp;receive an&nbsp;FM broadcasting&nbsp;license from the Federal Communications Commission. At that time, the station offered&nbsp;70 hours of weekly broadcasting. However, the FCC almost delayed WSM's license&nbsp;because other stations in the first group of FM stations to broadcast weren’t ready to transmit on FM frequencies. WSM engineers built their own twenty thousand watt transmitter, helping WSM to meet the FCC’s deadline and to reach a large audience. Live audiences soon outgrew the fifth-floor studio of the National Life Building, causing the show to move to the Hillsboro Theater. Over its lifetime, the show moved several times, once to the Ryman Auditorium, which later became known as the Grand Ole Opry House. In 1974, WSM finally settled down and called Opryland home.

WSM proved a sound investment that benefited National Life Insurance and the Nashville community. The station helped increase life insurance sales to rural customers who listened to the Grand Ole Opry through a new premium payment plan based on smaller, more frequent payments. The station and company contributed to World War II efforts. WSM brought Nashville the first television broadcast in 1950. WSM helped develop the Country Music Association, promoting the industry. Today, WSM listeners can still hear The Grand Ole Opry on Friday and Saturday nights.

WSM became the first commercial FM radio station to broadcast in the United States when it debuted in 1925, broadcasting from the fifth floor of the National Life building at 7th Avenue and Union Street. Today, the station operates a small studio inside the Opryland Resort. Edwin Craig, an employee of National Life and Accident Insurance Company, created WSM to capitalize on radio’s potential for advertising. He dubbed the station “WSM” to reflect the company motto “We Shield Millions.” Indeed, the radio station provided the opportunity for advertising, community service, and augmentation of company identity. The station far exceeded Craig’s expectations, fueling an expansion to a larger venue and providing the origins for the Grand Old Opry. 

WSM Studio

The Young Women's Christian Association originated in England in 1855. An International Division was established in 1894. Women living in or visiting Nashville banded together in the 1890s to form a local chapter. The local group first met in November 1898 at Nashville's Maxwell House Hotel and was headed by a local Presbyterian minister, Reverend James I. Vance. One week later, the group met again at the Young Men's Christian Association Building in Nashville; later meetings took place in several rooms above Thompson's store. In 1899, the group received affiliation with the national YWCA. The YWCA purchased the lot for their first permanent home in Nashville in 1908, just two blocks away from the State Capitol. By 1910, $90,000 had been raised for the new building. Shattuck and Hussey, a Chicago architectural firm, designed the Georgian Revival style building. Local brickmakers Bush Building Company supplied the bricks for the veneer of the steel and concrete framed structure. Foster Herbert Stone provided limestone for the exterior details, like the keystone above each front window and a belt course above the first story. Otis Elevator was hired to install an elevator.The YWCA featured rooms for single white women to board for one dollar per night; this included the first two meals of the day at the cafeteria. A library, gymnasium, and swimming pool kept members or guests occupied. An employment service helped find jobs, and classes were offered including literature, penmanship, Bible study, and mental hygiene. A local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy used to rent a room in the building for their meetings from the late 1910s to the late 1920s.This Central Branch of the YWCA was not racially integrated until the 1960s. A separate YWCA for African American women was established in 1919 as the Blue Triangle League and was later renamed the Blue Triangle Branch of the Nashville YWCA. The Blue Triangle Branch met at facilities several blocks east of the Central Branch (436 Fifth Avenue N.) in a building purchased in 1921. Besides club activities, classes, and social gatherings, the Blue Triangle Branch offered lodging for single African American women. A new headquarters for the Blue Triangle Branch was constructed at 1708 Pearl St. and was dedicated in 1953. The Blue Triangle and Central branches merged in 1964, beginning with their lunch counters and following over the next several years with the classes offered. The residences at the Central Branch were fully integrated by 1967. The Pearl St. building stopped being used for classes in 1968 and was sold in 1974 to the Grace M. Eaton Day Home. The archives of the Blue Triangle Branch from 1919 to 1980 are held at the Nashville Public Library.A Nashville entrepreneur named Mike Shmerling acquired the former YWCA building in 1999 and sold it to Two Capital, an Atlanta firm, in 2019. A San Francisco-based company, Sonder USA Inc. planned to operate a 56-unit boutique hotel from the building once renovations are complete, according to the local newspaper article from March 2021.

The five-story brick building at 211 7th Ave. N was built for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in 1911 and served that purpose until 1978. The official opening ceremonies were held on May 9th, 1911, and included vocal performances, speeches, and prayers. The facility gradually became racially integrated in the 1960s. The YWCA building was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1982; in that same year, the structure was renovated and became the Jacques Miller Office Building. Plans were announced in 2021 to renovate the building once again into a boutique hotel. The YWCA building is the last of a group of buildings built in Nashville in the early 1900s as Christian athletic facilities.

Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Building

Before the Doctor's Building was built, the site was occupied by the home of Colonel Edmund William Cole, a local railroad tycoon. The large, three-story home with two rear additions was turned into a boarding house called "The Terrace" by 1914 (see the Sanborn map image below). The mansion was torn down in 1916, shortly before construction began on the three-story Doctor's Building.The Doctor's Building was designed for Dr. Matthew Charles McGannon. Dr. McGannon served as an officer in the Tennessee-Hermitage Bank. Dr. McGannon was an 1885 graduate of McGill U. in Montreal, Canada. He came to Nashville in 1895 from New York to accept the Professorship of Diseases of Women and Abdominal Surgery at the University College of Medicine, Nashville. He accepted a position as professor of surgery at Vanderbilt U. in 1912. By the 1910s, Dr. McGannon was chief surgeon of the Women's Hospital and an attending surgeon at both Vanderbilt and Nashville City Hospitals. Somewhere in his career, he found time to serve in the U.S. Army - likely in World War I. Shortly before his death in late 1919 at age 62 from heart disease, Dr. McGannon was appointed surgeon-general of Tennessee. Dr. McGannon's widow sold the property to the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.The Renaissance Revival Style Doctor's Building was designed by Edwin Dougherty and Thomas Gardner. The building features plentiful exterior decoration in glazed terra cotta tile: wreaths, swags, garlands, urns, lions, and shields based on the coat of arms of the Medici family (doctors from 15th-century Florence, Italy). The building is arranged around a large central stairwell. Around 1920 (probably when the three upper floors were added in 1921), the main entrance facing Church St. was redone in Carrara marble and glass blocks; above the entrance is the lettering "Doctor's Building" in a terra cotta panel.Offices of the Nashville Academy of Medicine (NAM) were located in the Doctor's Building. Although the professional organization was organized in Nashville by seven physicians in 1821, it was chartered by the State of Tennessee in 1906 as the "Nashville Academy of Medicine &amp; Davidson County Medical Society." The first female physician member joined NAM in 1901. Some of the NAM members who had offices in the Doctor's Building in the early 1920s were C.F. Anderson, Jere Caldwell, W.G. Kennon, John Lee, Eugene Orr, and Jack Witherspoon.The now-six-story building was renamed the Lambuth Building in 1922 to honor Bishop Walter Lambuth, a doctor who was also a preacher and missionary before becoming a bishop. The Methodist Church owners had offices on the sixth floor. A trend began in the 1930s of physicians opening free-standing clinics throughout the city. NAM went on record in 1950 suggesting that soda pop and candy was not good for schoolchildren. Way back in the late 19th century they warned of the health consequences of smoking cigarettes! In 1954, NAM amended its charter and accepted its first African-American physician members the following year; the three were members of the faculty at Meharry. NAM moved its offices from the Lambuth (formerly Doctor's) Building in 1956 to Louise Avenue, where they stayed until 1975.Many medical offices relocated to the suburbs and the Doctor's Building held few doctors or dentists by the late 1960s. The building gradually came to hold government offices of state agencies; the Tennessee Housing Development Agency occupied the upper five floors by 1985. The Doctor's Building was renovated in 2007 to 2008 to become a hotel. It now holds the Homewood Suites by Hilton with 121 rooms. One of the storefronts contained "Highway 65 Records." named for the fictional country music recording company from the former television series "Nashville."

Constructed in 1916 as a three-story structure and known as the Doctor's Building owing to its original tenants, this Renaissance Revival Style was expanded in 1912 with an additional three stories. A local Vanderbilt University professor of Surgery, Dr. Matthew McGannon, had the building constructed under the design of Nashville architects Dougherty and Gardner. After his death in 1919, Dr. McGannon's widow sold the property to the Methodist Church South. By the mid-twentieth century, the number of physician's offices in the building dwindled but were replaced by government agencies. Doctor's Building became a listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The renovated building now contains a hotel, Homewood Suites.

Doctor's Building (Homewood Suites Nashville) 

Harveys was a popular local department store in downtown Nashville that opened its doors in 1942. This store was the site selected for the first test of non-violent direct resistance owing to the willingness of Fred Harvey to meet with James Lawson and other Black leaders in the fall of 1959.&nbsp;When Harvey denied Lawson's request to end the color line at his department store's lunch counter, Lawson selected a few students who were willing to enter the store a few weeks later. The November 28, 1959 challenge was not technically a sit-in as the students left immediately after being denied service. However, this small act of resistance served its purpose&nbsp;as both Lawson and the students began formulating their plans for a return visit where the demonstrators would occupy the lunch counter until they were either served or arrested.&nbsp;&nbsp;<blockquote>Lawson said, “In the fall of 1959, we did some testing of the places downtown in November, a couple weeks of experimental testing. This was to allow people to test themselves, but also for us to find out who was responsible for the decision regarding desegregation and to see how the protesters were treated and, if possible, to talk to the manager or a policy maker in each of the places… We sent them in teams of four to six people.”</blockquote>African American students met at the Arcade on Fifth Avenue and North in downtown Nashville and split up to protest three nearby shops. The African American students entered three different Nashville establishments known to segregate their diner counters on February 13, 1960, made purchases then proceeded to occupy the segregated lunch counter. The students entered the S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworths, and the McClellan store, and these establishments had “Whites Only” signs up at their counters; banning African Americans from sitting there. The sit-in protests continued and spread to seven additional shops that were segregated. While the first sit-ins on February 13, 1960, happened without incident, the following protests became violent.

The students involved in the protests were from nearby Black colleges including Fisk University, Tennessee A &amp; I State University, Meharry Medical College, and American Baptist Theological Seminary. These protests inspired other African Americans and activists to protest the segregation of bus terminals, variety stores, department store, and even Walgreen’s drugstores. The non-violent protests were met with white violence and arrests

White citizens converged on the protesters on February 27, 1960, and attacked the Nashville protesters. Consequently, the police arrested 81 of the student protesters and charged them with disorderly conduct. The once non-violent protests turned hostile and violent for the protesters. On April 19, 1960, white supremacists bombed Z. Alexander Looby’s home. Looby was a Black attorney who represented the students who protested. An integrated school was bombed in Nashville, TN three years earlier.

The sit-in protests continued until May 10, 1960, when six of the protested shops agreed to serve all people regardless of race. The protests united many in the Nashville community as many white citizens in the community advocated for unity and desegregation of the city.

The Nashville protests were inspired by the sit-in protest in the Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. Before the Greensboro sit-in, other sit-ins had taken place in St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, and fifteen other cities starting in 1943 lasting through 1960 when students protested in Nashville.

&nbsp;

On November 28, 1959, a small group of African American students under the leadership of James Lawson and the Nashville Christian Leadership Council (NCLC) entered Harveys Department Store which was located here from 1942 to 1984. The students requested service at the store's lunch counter, the NCLC's first test of a non-violent direct action tactic to challenge the longstanding practice of racial discrimination at Nashville lunch counters. Although denied service, the students reported that they did not receive any threats and they left the store quietly to continue planning small-scale actions that would help them test public sentiment and potential challenges they might face as they planned a sustained campaign of sit-ins at Nashville lunch counters that began the following February. On February 13, 1960, larger groups of African American students were refused service at the S.H. Kress Department Store, Woolworths, and McClellan's after they occupied the lunch counters for two hours until the owners of the shops closed for business for the day. The sit-ins spread to seven additional segregated shops and disrupted business downtown until May 10, 1960. On that day, NCLC leaders agreed to end the demonstrations at Harveys and five other stores after management agreed to serve all people regardless of their race. The successful sit-ins of Nashville coincided with the sit-ins in Greensboro and other Border South cities that helped to end segregation throughout the region. 

Nashville Sit-Ins at Harveys Department Store (1959-1960)

In Nashville in 1801, Scottish pastor William Hume founded a congregation that was later joined by the local Presbyterians. The First Presbyterian Church congregation was thought to have been legally established by the Rev. Gideon Blackburn on November 14, 1814, though the exact date is disputed. The Rev. Blackburn's entire congregation consisted of seven people -- only one of whom was a man. The church is located at the corner of Fifth and Church Streets. In 1915, following his victory at the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson was presented by the State of Tennessee with a ceremonial sword on the steps of the church. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1832, but a second building was constructed on the same site. This second church hosted the inauguration of James K. Polk (the future president) as governor of Tennessee in 1839, but that building, too, burned down in 1848. At that time, the distinguished Philadelphia-based architect William Strickland was in Tennessee, designing and supervising construction of the State Capitol. The congregation hired Strickland to design their new church. Construction began in 1849 and ended in 1851, when it was dedicated on Easter Sunday. At the time it was built, the congregation had only about 350 members. However, they had Strickland design a space to seat over 1000 people and thus ran out of money to fully finish the building. According to the National Historic Landmarks program, the church was "Strickland's largest and only full Egyptian temple." Exterior elements that identify the style as Egyptian are the cavetto cornice, the lotus-bud capitals, and the designs of the sun disk and cobra. It was nicknamed the "Karnak on the Cumberland," because Strickland had modeled it on the temple to Amon-Ra at Karnak. In 1862, during the Civil War, the church was appropriated by the occupying Federal forces and converted into a military hospital. In 1865, it was released by the Union and given back to the congregation. Receiving reparations from the US government, they preceded to try to complete the construction left unfinished in 1851. They added the columns and the entablature in 1871 and redesigned and refurbished the interior in 1880. In the 20th Century, the church served as a shelter for flood victims in 1927 and 1937, as well as for thousands of US servicemen during the Second World War who were on leave in Nashville. Although the First Presbyterian congregation decided to move to a suburban Nashville location in 1954, the old church was spared and its name changed to "Downtown Presbyterian Church." It still serves the needs of people in the area. A celebrated feature of the church is its pipe organ. This was installed in 1913, and was renovated in 1972 and again in 2008. The church holds annual organ recitals that attract players and listeners from great distances.

Constructed in 1848, this historic Nashville church dates back to the earliest years of the city. and replaced two previous structures that were built in 1814 and 1832. That first church structure was built here in 1814 and was destroyed by a fire in 1832. A second sanctuary was constructed the same year and the third (and present) sanctuary was constructed after another fire in 1848 destroyed the second church. The current church was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capital and who has been called by the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks program "one of the foremost architects in the United States." The church was partially unfinished during the Civil War when it was used by occupying Union forces as a hospital. The columns were put in place in 1871, and much of the other finishing details were completed in the remaining decades of the 19th century. The church was known as First Presbyterian until 1955 when the name was changed to "Downtown" after the First Presbyterian congregation moved to a more suburban location. It is affectionately known as the "Karnak on the Cumberland." 

Downtown Presbyterian Church

"Are you a supporter of the red rose faction or the yellow rose faction?" While one might assume such a&nbsp;question referred to a political dispute in England, it was the leading question of lawmakers in Tennessee leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Harkening back to Tennessee's "War of the Roses"-a 19th-century political contest between rival sides who wore different colored roses- legislators once again indicated their position by the color of the rose on their suit jacket. While some men and women supported the constitutional amendment to grant women the legal right to vote, half of the state legislature opposed the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment, which prohibits anyone from being denied the right to vote on the basis of sex, was approved by Congress on June 4, 1919, and thus went to the states for ratification. By March 1920, 35 states had ratified the amendment, meaning that it was&nbsp;only one state short of the 36 needed to add the amendment to the US Constitution. Among the states that had not yet voted, Tennessee was considered by the “Pros" (those in favor of&nbsp;suffrage), to be the most likely remaining state to ratify the&nbsp;amendment. This argument was strengthened by the fact that in 1919,&nbsp;Tennessee had approved a law that allowed women to vote in Presidential elections. The "Pros"&nbsp;symbolized their support of women's suffrage by wearing a&nbsp;yellow&nbsp;rose. Meanwhile, the&nbsp;“Antis” showed their opposition to enfranchisement by&nbsp;wearing&nbsp;a&nbsp;red rose. The Antis included men and a significant but&nbsp;shrinking&nbsp;number of female supporters as state after state enacted pro-suffrage legislation. Feeling besieged by societal change, the Antis were&nbsp;determined to retain the vote for men only, believing that this might help them arrest other societal changes while preserving the traditional patriarchal nature of American politics and society. The situation led to a perfect war of politics. Because both sides used the Hermitage Hotel as their headquarters, this hotel became the front line of the conflict. The motion to approve the 19th amendment eventually passed the Tennessee Senate and then went to the state House of Representatives in August. After an attempt to table the motion resulted in a tie, the motion was put forward for a vote. Two votes were taken, both resulting in ties, and a third vote began. What happened next is the stuff of legend--and myth. Reportedly, the&nbsp;youngest member of the House, Harry Burn from Niota, wore the&nbsp;red rose and intended to vote against the amendment. But that morning, he had received a telegram which troubled him. Burn’s mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, known to her friends as “Miss Febb,” had written to her son, “Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt... I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet.” When his turn came, Burn unexpectedly cried out “Aye” – so quickly, in fact, that his colleagues did not immediately notice his defection. With that one vote, the amendment passed the House, and thus became part of the Constitutional. It is said that, following his vote, Burn was forced to flee to the attic of the state capitol to escape the wrath of the “red rose” colleagues who believed that he had betrayed them.&nbsp;&nbsp; Many of the&nbsp;“Antis” refused to&nbsp;accept suffrage. They accused Burn of bribery and other nefarious crimes. These forces called for a rally at the Ryman Auditorium the following day, August 19th, to gain support for an attempt to legally reverse the result. The city’s conservative newspaper, The Banner, posted the headline “Go to Mass-Meeting, Ryman Auditorium, Tonight. Will Make Protest Against Ratification.” The paper also printed affidavits alleging that Burn had been promised $10,000 by suffrage supporters. On the other hand, the more progressive newspaper, The Tennessean, published a long article defending Burn and stressing the influence Miss Febb had wielded on her son’s decision. “I knew that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow,” said Burn. The publisher of The Banner, Edward Bushrod Stahlman, a conservative German immigrant and businessman, was a speaker at the rally. A major theme of the meeting, reflected in the language of the poster, was the “Anti” movement’s attempt to “save the south,” rather than America or Tennessee specifically. House Speaker Seth Walker reportedly remarked, “Forty seven names [among the House legislators] have been signed in the blood of the South to keep this a white man’s country and a white man’s government.” It was widely feared by many of the people gathered there that women’s suffrage would lead inevitably to the full enfranchisement of African-Americans. The following day, The Banner reported that no less than 5,000 people had attended the “monster outpouring” at the Ryman. But neither the newspaper nor the movement it supported could reverse history. On August 23, Gov. A.H. Roberts certified the legislature’s vote, and a few days later the women of America were at last enfranchised – thanks to the outspoken mother of a single Tennessee legislator.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed – by one vote – a motion to ratify the 19th Amendment, a federal measure that extended suffrage to all American citizens regardless of gender. With that vote and the support of the governor, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. With support for the Amendment being fairly limited in other Southern states, Tennessee's action was both symbolic and historically significant--it meant that the 19th Amendment had been ratified by three-fourths of the states--the requirement set forth in Article V of the Constitution prior to the adoption of any Constitutional Amendment. 

In response, some of the opponents of women’s suffrage, known then as “Antis,” held a protest meeting that saw the extension of suffrage by federal action through the lens of state's rights. On the day following the vote, August 19th, the “Antis” held an historic mass rally at the Ryman Auditorium – later famous as the home of the Grand Ole Opry – to protest the result and try somehow to overturn it. Speakers appealed to notions of patriarchy and "traditional" gender roles, as well as playing to anger against the perception that women's suffrage would erode the power of Southern whites. One pro-suffrage newspaper gleefully reported that the meeting failed to attract an audience, while the leading paper of the Antis reported a "monster" crowd in attendance. Well-attended or not, this rear-guard action failed, as Governor A.H. Roberts supported the decision of a majority of state legislators and added his signature to the bill. 

"Mass Meeting" Against Women's Suffrage at Ryman Auditorium, August 19, 1920

The famous "Mother Church of Country Music" was built by Captain Thomas Ryman, a well-known gambler in Nashville. Ryman decided to build a church after hearing the Reverend Samuel Jones speak at a tent revival. Ryman was so moved by the preacher's words, he vowed to raise the funds for a building so Jones did not have to give his empowered sermons in tents. It took a total of seven years to build the church, but in 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was finally completed. Reverend Jones suggested the church be named after its builder, but Ryman was not in agreement with that suggestion. It was not until 1904, after Ryman's death, that the Union Gospel Tabernacle became the Ryman Auditorium. The church can seat almost 2,400 people and the pews are curved to face the orchestra, evoking an ancient Greek theater look.In the beginning, the Ryman Auditorium was deep in debt and booked boxing matches and concerts in attempt to make money. Even New York's Metropolitan Opera performed at the Tabernacle in 1901. The person in charge of doing the booking was a woman by the name of Lula C. Naff, who went by L.C. because of the male-dominated industry, and Lula became the premiere booking agent in Nashville. Naff is credited with earning the Ryman the nickname " the Carnegie Hall of the South." Besides entertainers, Naff also booked influential figures to speak. The illustrious list includes: Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, and Eleanor Roosevelt.In 1943, the famous Grand Ole Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium to fit its increasing number of attendees. Thousands of performances would take place on the worn-out wooden stage over the next twenty-one years. In 1949, a young singer named Hank Williams performed on the Opry for the first time singing "Lovesick Blues." The crowd was so enthusiastic he was called back for a record number of six encores. Elvis Presley played the Opry in 1954, and Johnny Cash and June Carter met backstage at the Opry in 1956; the couple would marry twelve years later. The Grand Ole Opry eventually outgrew the Ryman. The area backstage where performers would mingle before sets was notoriously cramped, there were no changing rooms, few technological accommodations were available, and, there was no air conditioner. On March 15, 1974, the last Opry performance was held at the Ryman and the show moved to The Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland. Just before the Opry relocated, an eight foot square of wood was cut from the Ryman floor and carved into a circle six foot in diameter. The circle remains in the center of the Opry stage.Once the Opry left Downtown Nashville, the area began to decline. National Life Insurance, the company that owned the Ryman, announced plans to bulldoze the historic church, but locals and country music singers balked at the notion and banded together to save it. After it was saved from demolition, the Ryman sat empty for over a decade. That changed in the early 1990s when singer Emmylou Harris held a series of performances at the Ryman. Only 200 people were allowed inside due to the fact that so much of the building was deemed condemned, especially under the balcony. These performances regained interest in the one-hundred year old church, and a multi-million dollar renovation took place, revamping the exterior and interior. In 1998, the Grand Ole Opry returned to the Ryman for a short period of time, and now, the Ryman hosts the Opry from November to January. The Ryman Auditorium continues to host musicians of all genres and remains one of the most historic buildings in Downtown Nashville.

The Ryman Auditorium is affectionately known as the "Mother Church of Country Music." Built as a tabernacle in the 1890s by Thomas Ryman, the church is most known for being the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. The formative years of the Opry that would change Nashville and country music took place on that historic wooden stage at the Ryman. Legendary performers such as Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, and many more would come to the Ryman to perform to more than 2,000 spectators seated in the pews. After the Opry left the Ryman, the historic church fell into disrepair. Finally, in the 1990s, the Ryman underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, and the National Historic Landmark remains one of the most visited venues in Music City. 


Ryman Auditorium

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop is the quintessential country music record shop, and one of the most well known in the country. Its rich history began in 1947, when country music singer Ernest Tubb, known as the "Texas Troubadour," opened it with partner and tax accountant, Charles Mosley. Tubb was inspired to open the record shop after touring the country and talking to fans about the difficulty in finding their favorite country records. Even in Nashville, finding records by country artists was hard because the majority of retailers sold classical and pop records. The first Ernest Tubb Record Shop opened on May 3, 1947 at 720 Commerce Street, and it was strictly a mail-order shop. After a few months of the shop being open, record dealers around the country reported an increase in sales of country music records advertised on the Grand Ole Opry. Wanting to promote the mail-order business, Tubb bought airtime on the Opry and soon started the famous Midnite Jamboree.In 1951, the record shop moved to 417 Broadway to have more room for the Jamboree every Saturday night. The building in Downtown Nashville that is home to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop had an illustrious history prior to hosting the record store. It was built around 90 years before the store opened and was home to an ornamental plaster business owned by William Stockell. Stockell's plaster was used on iconic buildings such as the Tennessee State Capitol and the famous Belmont Mansion. After the Civil War broke out, the building was used as a hospital for Confederate soldiers. Many soldiers who fought in the Battle of Nashville ended up dying in the hospital, and they were taken down to the morgue in the basement. It has been reported that the soldiers continue to haunt the building, some employees have stated they had problems with electronics and have heard random footsteps.Over the years, there have been multiple Ernest Tubb Record Shop locations, including one near Opryland, one in Pigeon Forge, and one in Fort Worth. In 2015, the Midnite Jamboree, hosted at the Texas Troubadour Theatre in Music Valley Village, was in jeopardy because of the cost in staging it and airing it every Saturday. It was decided the show would go on hiatus while an association was formed to support the weekly show. The show now airs at 10 CST instead of midnight. The record shop has been featured on television over the years but it gained the most notoriety when it appeared in the 1980 movie Coal Miner's Daughter, a biopic about Loretta Lynn, who gave one of her first performances at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop offers a range of vinyl country albums covering decades and remains a staple in Downtown Nashville.

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was founded by country music singer Ernest Tubb in partnership with his tax accountant Charles Mosley in 1947. Tubb was also the creator of the second-longest live radio show, second only to the Grand Ole Opry radio program, the "Midnite Jamboree."The main shop moved in 1951 to its current location at 417 Broadway to allow for more room for the live in-store broadcasts. The "Midnite Jamboree" is now recorded at the nearby Texas Troubadour Theatre. The Ernest Tubb Record Shop remains a staple in Downtown Nashville and is one of the most recognized record shops in America. 

Ernest Tubb Record Shop 

Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland Arkansas on 26 February 1932 as John R. Cash; he had six siblings.1 &nbsp;The performer was nicknamed “The Man in Black” due to his frequent dress code of completely Black clothes.2 &nbsp;His youth was spent laboring in farm crops with his family all while being exposed to several music styles.&nbsp; Cash would hear folk songs from his mom, hymns and labor music from the crops and railroad.&nbsp; This became significant for influence on his music in the older days of his career.&nbsp; Not long after graduating from high school he joined the U.S. Air Force and was in service until being relieved in 1954.&nbsp; It was also in 1954 that Cash started on the road to his music career when he performed for Sun Studios, with whom he sent out his first single “Hey Porter.”&nbsp; However, it was with his fourth song, “I Walk the Line,” that Cash really gained recognition.&nbsp; The song was No.1 on the Billboard Chart for 43 weeks and sold more than 2 million transcripts.&nbsp; In 1958 Cash left the Sun Studios label and went to Columbia Records with the hope of getting to produce more of the type of music he wanted to (originally he wanted to make gospel music).

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Career-wise, during the last of the 1950s and 1960s,&nbsp;Cash was doing well with songs such as “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” “I Got Stripes,” and “Ring of Fire” to name a few.&nbsp; He was a guest on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Tonight Show.&nbsp; His personal life, however, was suffering; it was obvious that he and his wife were going to split and due to his chaotic career he turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with it, leading him to become hooked on the substances.&nbsp; This eventually began to affect his work.&nbsp; In 1967, with the assistance of June Carter and her family, Cash beat the substance abuse.&nbsp; Cash and Carter married the following year and his music became successful yet again.&nbsp;

In 1969 Cash won the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist awards.&nbsp; From 1969 to 1971 the Johnny Cash Show was played on ABC, involving several musicians.&nbsp; Cash made history in 1980 when he was 48 when he was initiated into the Country Music Hall of Fame, making him the most youthful, still alive initiate.&nbsp; In 1995 he was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this included him in a small group of country musicians having both honors.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;In the 1990s Cash joined the American record label and received the Grammy for best contemporary folk album for the 1994 American Recordings album.&nbsp; June Carter Cash died in May 2003 and just a few months later Johnny Cash died 12 September 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee due to struggles with diabetes.1

This museum gives tourists a view into both the professional and private life of Johnny Cash.  The contents of the museum include messages from Cash and other records of Cash’s.  Included in these is a composition of the final song he wrote shortly prior to his passing. The museum can be found in Nashville, Tennessee and is open Monday-Sunday from 8:00am-7:00pm.

The Johnny Cash Museum

In 1946, a returning World War II veteran named Walter Sharp, with the help of a few music-loving friends, founded the Nashville Symphony. Its first concert was held on December 10th of that year with William Strickland, its first Musical Director, conducting. The orchestra at first performed at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium and then, after 1980, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. In 1983, Kenneth Schermerhorn was appointed Principal Conductor and Music Director, and over the next 22 years, he led the orchestra to national and international acclaim. The symphony has received 14 Grammy Award nominations for its many recordings, of which it won seven awards. In 2003, ground was broken for a new venue for the Nashville Symphony: Schermerhorn Symphony Center, named after the conductor. (He died in 2005, before the center’s opening in 2006.) The symphony schedules over a hundred events per year at the center. The center was designed by architect David M. Schwarz in a neo-Classical style, inspired by the city’s traditional architecture. The four-story structure measures 301 by 274 feet, and the 29-foot-high north entrance, which is bordered by columnns, echoes the look of Nashville's civic buildings. Streamlined balustrades, cornices, parapets and other details add a somewhat more modern touch. A 125-foot colonnade on the building's west side encloses a landscaped garden and a café area. Inside, the center includes the Laura Turner Concert Hall and the Mike Curb Family Music Education Hall, as well as a number of meeting rooms. The Laura Turner Concert Hall is designed in a rectilinear “shoebox” shape and boasts superb acoustics. The hall contains three unusual features: natural interior light which streams through 30 soundproofed windows; a motorized seating system, which can convert rows of raked orchestra-level seats for classical music performances into a hardwood ballroom floor of over 5,700 square feet for pop and jazz concerts; and a large, custom-built concert organ with 3,568 pipes. The Mike Curb Family Music Education Hall is a 3,000-square-foot space featuring a 14-foot ceiling and large windows that allow in much natural light, and hosts programs for schoolchildren, small recitals, lectures and other presentations. The interior decoration of the building contains many interesting and unique designs. These reflect the history of Nashville and the iconography of various supporters of the symphony, as well as that of Laura Turner, the woman after whom the concert hall is named. The sculptural relief panels that decorate the box seats symbolize aspects of Ms. Turner's life, and include a horse, horseshoes, roses, tulips, a musical staff and a keyboard. Pilot's wheel motifs can be glimpsed on the balconies on the north side of the building, alluding to Nashville's traditional barge industry. The flying lyre motif on the building's exterior north facade refers to Apollo, the god of music; the cast nickel-silver coffee beans that appear on the top of each elevator car are a nod to the Cheek family, which founded the company that became Maxwell House; and iris and passionflower designs (Tennessee's state flower and wildflower, respectively) can be seen in multiple locations. In early May 2010, a devastating flood damaged many of the city's buildings, including the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The center’s entire basement was flooded by 5.25 million gallons of water, the level of which stopped just four inches short of the Turner hall itself. The water completely destroyed the building’s complex electric control system, its large kitchen area and the contents of its storage rooms. However, the hall was able to reopen for a New Year’s Eve concert in December 2010, headlined by Itzhak Perlman. The total repair cost, at $39.6 million, was slightly less than the original estimate.&nbsp; In early 2013, the board of the center conceded that the organization was in need of a “comprehensive financial restructuring.” The center had been forced to default on $102 million in bonds used to build the structure. The causes of the organization’s financial crisis were the enormous expense of constructing the center, the economic downturn that began in 2008 and that had negatively affected arts organizations throughout the country, and the flood that forced the building to close for eight months in 2010. An auction was planned in June 2013 to satisfy the organization’s main creditor, Bank of America. However, the situation was resolved shortly before the auction when an agreement was struck between the center and its creditors, which brought the center’s debt down to a more manageable $20 million. Martha Ingram, a Nashville philanthropist, provided the equity to close the transaction.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which first opened on September 9, 2006, and was named for the late Kenneth Schermerhorn, is home to the Grammy-winning Nashville Symphony, which was founded in 1946 and which Schermerhorn led for 22 years. Located in downtown Nashville, across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Center was constructed at a cost of $123.5 million and totals 197,000 square feet in area. It is Nashville’s premier classical music venue, though jazz and pop music events of many kinds also take place there. Its main venue is the 30,000-square-foot Laura Turner Concert Hall, which features 1,844 seats over three levels and is one of the few American concert halls which extensively employs natural lighting. Despite its relatively recent history, it has already had to withstand two major crises. In May 2010, a devastating flood hit Nashville, causing extensive damage to the center, which cost millions in repairs. In addition, in 2013 the organization faced a debt crisis in which the property was threatened with foreclosure, and a public auction was scheduled. Fortunately, due to the last minute intervention of a patron, a settlement was reached in which the center’s debt was greatly reduced, and the auction was canceled. 

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

The Country Music Association (CMA) first devised the idea of a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1961. The CMA realized the need of a site to house their growing collection and to tell the story of the history of country music. After the initial fundraising stages, the cornerstone ceremony for the Museum took place on March 16, 1966, and it opened the following year on the corner of 16th Avenue South and Division Street. The Walkway of the Stars, a series of stars featuring prominent artists’ names, graced the entrance and lobby of the Museum. Since 1964, the Hall of Fame and Museum has been operated by the nonprofit Country Music Foundation.Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose were the first to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961; all three were inducted posthumously. The first living artist to be inducted was Roy Acuff in 1962. The inductees are annually selected by a panel of industry executives chosen by superior officials. Originally, those inducted into the Hall of Fame were honored with bronze plaques that hung in the Tennessee State Museum, but since 1967, these have been on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The plaques are currently featured in the grand Hall of Fame Rotunda.Also seen in the Rotunda is Thomas Hart Benton’s “The Sources of Country Music,” the last piece of art ever done by Benton. In 1975, two years after beginning the painting, Benton went out to his studio to attempt to complete the painting and sign it. Unfortunately, the 84-year-old artist died of a heart attack before doing so. “The Sources of Country Music” has hung in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum since 1975, unsigned and unfinished.In 1987, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum earned accreditation from the American Alliance Museums. Thirteen years later, after more than thirty years of growing its collection and size, the Museum closed down for a year as their new building, located in the heart of Nashville, was completed. In 2014, the Hall of Fame and Museum underwent a $100 million expansion, doubling its footprint downtown and bringing in a record number of visitors.The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Moving Image Collection contains over 30,000 moving images on a variety of film, video, and digital formats. The Collection boasts an equally massive audio archive that dates back to pre-World War II, and an artifacts collection featuring over 800 stage costumes and 600 musical instruments. There are also many historical and iconic vehicles here on location. These include Elvis’s 1960 “Solid Gold” Cadillac and Webb Pierce’s 1962 Pontiac Bonneville.Throughout the Museum, visitors can see numerous exhibits, such as “Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music,” which takes visitors through the journey of country music. In addition to the rotating exhibits that can be seen in the Museum, there is also the Taylor Swift Education Center, the Hatch Show Print shop, and a gift shop. The Hall of Fame also offers daily tours of the historic RCA Studio B, where famous country artists Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, and many others once recorded. As one of the largest museums in the country, and one of the most visited sites in “Music City,” the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum prides itself on being the leading custodian of country music’s rich history.

Opened in 1967, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum refers to itself as "custodians" for preserving, celebrating, and sharing the culture of country music. The Country Music Hall of Fame, called the "Smithsonian of country music," is the top tourist attraction in the city of Nashville. The current museum opened in 2001 and unveiled a $100 million expansion in 2014. The 350,000 square foot building holds galleries, archives, retail stores, space for events, and the Taylor Swift Education Center. The CMA Theater and Ford Theater often play host to live music and award shows. Guests can take guided tours or self-guided tours of the Museum's galleries and the Hall of Fame Rotunda that features legends such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Garth Brooks, and many others. In addition to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors may also visit the legendary Hatch Show Print shop and the Historic RCA Studio B.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Hatch Show Print was started by William Hatch in Prescott, Wisconsin, who trained his two sons, Charles and Herbert, in the art of letterpress printing. In the mid-1870s, the Hatch family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and Charles and Herbert founded their own print shop called CR and HH Hatch. The Hatch brothers first print job publicized the appearance of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, and soon, they became noted for their simple print jobs made with the perfect blend of type size and style.As the years passed, Hatch posters were seen across the country, plastered on buildings and barns, and promoting circuses, vaudeville acts, minstrel shows, carnivals, and other types of entertainment. To create billboard-sized advertisements, the shop installed two fonts of extra-large wood type that measured 40 x 8 inches.Hatch Show Print boomed during the period of the 1920s to the 1950s. Charles Hatch, William’s son, took over Hatch Show Print and would remain at the helm until his death in 1952. During this time, Hatch Show Print became the face of country music. As the genre grew in popularity, William Hatch became known for “chiseling and gauging” some of the most iconic images of country music singers ever made. In display of Hatch Show Print’s link to country music, in 1925, they opened a shop directly behind the historic Ryman Auditorium. Beyond country music, Hatch Show Print created posters that promoted jazz and blues entertainers like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith.The famed print shop promoted more than music and entertainers, they also created posters for gas stations, movie theaters, grocery stores, and much more. Even with the progress made in printmaking, the country music industry remained faithful to Hatch Show Print, and different forms of entertainment, such as wrestling and rock and roll, began to purchase their posters from Hatch Show Print as well.Over the years, Hatch Show Print was under the ownership of individuals such as Jim Denny and even Gaylord Entertainment. In 1992, Gaylord donated Hatch Show Print to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. From then until 2013, the print shop was located on lower Broadway in Nashville and became more in demand than ever. While continuing to utilize nineteenth century letterpress printing, Hatch Show Print produced around 600 posters annually, still promoting country music but also making artwork for food packages and postal stamps.When the shop outgrew the space on lower Broadway, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which had recently undergone an expansion, included Hatch Show Print in their facility. The shop now has four different spaces designated for them in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and they welcome over 100,000 visitors annually. At Hatch Show Print, visitors may watch printers create posters or even participate in the making of a custom print.

Hatch Show Print in Nashville has been producing custom prints and posters for special events and occasions for over 140 years. Now located inside of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, visitors can stop by the print shop and take a tour to learn more about the art of letterpress printing and even create their own work. Iconic posters featuring legendary artists such as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, and many more can also be viewed and purchased. Hatch Show Print produces new posters daily and continues to promote the music of modern artists with the same turn-of-the-century methods and appeal.

Highlights of Downtown Nashville Walking Tour

Tennessee State Museum

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information