Thursday, December 5, 2019

Bismark Named 2019 TEL Trainer of the Year

By Andrea Zielke, TEL Administrator

I recently had the pleasure of presenting the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) Trainer of the Year to Shannon Bismark at Tenn-Share’s 2019 Fall Conference. At this year’s conference, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of TEL. TEL would not have reached this milestone without teachers and librarians, like Shannon, spreading the word across the state about TEL’s valuable electronic resources, including magazines, scholarly journals, podcasts, videos, e-books, test preparation materials, federal records, and more.

Let me tell you a little more about this year’s Trainer of the Year. Shannon is the Teen Services Librarian at Cleveland Bradley County Public Library. It is her mission to open doors and create partnerships with the local schools. When asked who benefits from TEL, she said, “Students, absolutely, of any grade. The way TEL functions, it is easily accessible for any age and it makes citing sources painless.” Shannon knows this from experience because she used TEL when she was a college student.


Shannon Bismark (left), TEL Trainer of the Year, and (right) Andrea Zielke, TEL Administrator.


Shannon spends her days engaging with students. She helps high school students with their research papers. She uses memes and video games to relate her students, all while teaching them about citations and the importance of knowing the source of their information. Her persistence and good humor set an example of what it takes to reach out and build a community of informed, engaged young Tennesseans.

Congratulations to Shannon for being the 2019 TEL Trainer of the Year! You are an asset to your library and community.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Meet the Staff - Bessie Davis

Q&A with Bessie Davis, Director of Regional Libraries

How long have you worked here, and where were you working before you arrived at the Library and Archives? 

I started employment with the Tennessee State Library and Archives on May 6, 2019. I have spent most of my career in Kentucky. I headed the main library of the Louisville Free Public Library, served as a regional library consultant for the Kentucky State Library and Archives, and I served as the Director of the Cynthiana-Harrison County Public Library. I am a native of Georgia. I earned my finance degree at Mercer University, MLS at Clark Atlanta University, and a J.D. at John Marshall Law School.

What are some of the things you do as the Director of Regional Libraries? 

I supervise regional directors and staff, and I provide guidance and consultation to the regional centers, public libraries, trustees, and local officials. I also manage the overall budget of the regional system, advise libraries and local officials on compliance, and present in-service training and continuing education for regional and public library staff on a wide variety of library topics. In addition, I provide training for library board members and serve as the Library and Archive’s representative to the Friends of Tennessee Libraries.

What is your favorite part of your job? 

I love all aspects of my job because no day is the same. Specifically, I enjoy solving problems on a daily basis, and I love the team spirit at the Library and Archives and within the regions.



What collection or resource are you excited about right now?

I cannot wait to have an opportunity to explore the African American Collections and resources as well as the collections that pertain to women in politics, education, and public services.

What do you wish more people knew about the State Library and Archives?

I wish more people knew about the wonderful resources as well as how the Library and Archives can assist them with their academic, family, or personal research.

Do you have a favorite historical figure, event, or place in Tennessee history? 

I love the Alex Haley Farm in Clinton. Yes, it is a beautiful place, but it also symbolizes an important period in history. It is also utilized to bring about change in the lives of our most important assets—our children.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Women Opposing Women: Josephine Pearson and the Anti Suffrage Argument

By Mary DePeder

2020 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 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. Over the next year, we will be sharing stories of the women’s suffrage movement from across the state to celebrate Tennessee’s unique role in this major turning point in American history. The second story in our series investigates the women opposed to ratifying the 19th amendment.


Broadside outlining anti-suffrage arguments against the 19th amendment.

Vowing to uphold her mother’s dying wish to see the fight for women’s suffrage end in defeat, Josephine Pearson saw the battle for Tennessee as a righteous crusade to defend the fallen Confederacy and traditional, southern gender norms. Her zealous dedication to uplifting true womanhood through feisty, anti-suffragist essays earned her a place as president of the Tennessee State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and the Southern Woman's League for the Rejection of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. At every turn, Pearson and her band of anti-suffs worked tirelessly to unravel the actions of pro-suffragist efforts, coming to a head in the summer of 1920 as the tug of war between yellow and red roses intensified.


Photograph of anti-suffrage leader, Josephine Pearson. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943.


Stoking the political fires through sensationalized cartoons, pamphlets, and newspaper columns, anti-suffragists capitalized on the nation’s fears during a period of incredible flux. In the aftermath of World War I, women’s roles and attitudes toward the public sphere shifted dramatically. Long held beliefs of Victorian womanhood and the ideology of separate spheres between women and men slowly eroded under the guise of the “new woman.” A growing momentum among women instead suggested that they could create a life outside of marriage and motherhood that both economically sustained and intellectually stimulated them.

This curtailed Pearson’s belief in true womanhood which demanded unwavering subordination of women to men and their ultimate dependency on male guidance and economic support. A woman belonged in the home, caring for her family, and needed protection from the corrupt political sphere. Rapidly changing ideas on women’s roles inside and outside the home, however, threatened Pearson and the anti-suffs desired way of life. For the anti-suffragist movement, the defeminization of the American woman, brought on by an increase of women in the workforce and looser morals in terms of fashion and courtship, would spell destruction for the sacred American family. And, as far as the Antis were concerned, the only group to blame for such evils against society were Suffs teeming the line of decency and pushing women closer to the debauched world of politics.


Political cartoon circulated by anti-suffragists warning the public about the dangers of swapped gender roles if suffrage were to pass. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943.


To retaliate, the Antis sought to construct an image of the suffragists as mannish, socialist- leaning rebels hellbent on destroying traditional gender roles. Political cartoons frequently captured this sentiment by depicting an empty home with unattended children, like the image below. Or, preying on the nation’s fear of feminized masculinity, anti-suffragist cartoons depicted households in which traditional gender roles were swapped. These images served to stir the public’s emotions, namely fear at the prospect of a crumbling, family unit, the very fabric of American life according to anti suffrage doctrine in which the wife and mother took center stage.


Anti-suffrage political cartoon anticipating the demise of the American family after the ratification of the 19th amendment. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943.


In response, suffragists widely publicized the image of Anne Dallas Dudley nestled alongside her small children reading. A perfect, domestic scene that would otherwise please anti-suffragist ideology, Dudley’s presence butted up against the Anti’s argument that suffrage for women meant empty homes and empty stomachs. More importantly, Dudley’s presence indicated that a woman could be both a loving mother and dedicated suffragist.


Photograph of Anne Dallas Dudley reading to her children. Bettie Mizell Donelson Family Papers, 1787-1938.


The most pressing threat Pearson and her anti-suffrage sisters capitalized on and exploited was the threat that full equality for women posed to white supremacy. Born and raised in the shadow of a post-Civil War South feverishly steeped in Lost Cause nostalgia, Pearson held fast to the belief that women’s suffrage would upend the social order of the south. Granting women the right to vote meant placing power in the hands of African American women, too. This was a frightening concept to the anti-suffrage campaign as they warned, through lectures and broadsides, that it would create an imbalance of power between the races. White women, they argued, would refuse to enter an integrated polling station preferring instead to stay home than cast their vote. Whereas, African American women would enthusiastically turn out to exercise their newfound political power, thereby threatening the white majority of the south. Moreover, ratifying the 19th amendment would bring about the demise of states’ rights. As Antis insisted, women’s equality would open the floodgates for racial equality as the federal government would enforce strict adherence to the 15th Amendment. All deemed wholly unacceptable and deadly to white supremacy.


Anti-suffrage broadside warning southern men of the dangers of women’s suffrage. Josephine A. Pearson Papers, 1860-1943.


The suffrage movement, in comparison, was not immune to racial prejudice. Rather, support for black suffragists was tentative, wavered often, and, at its worst, embraced racist rhetoric to achieve their own self-interests. For African American women, this meant cultivating their own organizations to fight for enfranchisement. In doing so, they were constantly caught between combating anti-suffrage rhetoric and violence and resisting pushback from suffrage leaders to hurry up and wait for white women to succeed before securing rights themselves.

Although Pearson’s efforts ultimately failed in the summer of 1920 with the passing of the 19th Amendment, the barriers anti-suffragists put in place were long lasting, especially for African American women. Following defeat, Josephine Pearson accepted a dean position with the Southern Seminary of Virginia. For suffrage leaders, the victory in Tennessee was a moment to savor and reflect on their hard-earned success. Their battle for equality was at long last won. For African American women, the success of the 19th Amendment was less clear-cut and in many ways, merely a starting point for full equality.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Friday, November 1, 2019

Tennessee State Library and Archives hosts “Family History Day” on the Saturday after Thanksgiving



Family gatherings, we all have them. Whether they are annual holidays like Thanksgiving, family reunions, or one-time occasions like birthday parties, weddings or funerals, these are times when our family members come together. Join archivist and professional genealogist Melissa Barker for a presentation entitled, “Family Gatherings: Dragging Genealogy Information Out of Your Family.” This workshop will give you tips and tricks to get your family members talking about family history, even if they don’t want to!

Barker’s professional genealogy expertise is in Tennessee records; she has been researching her own family history for the past 30 years. Barker is a Certified Archives Manager currently working as the Houston County, Tennessee Archivist. She lectures, teaches, and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives, and records preservation. Barker also conducts virtual webinar presentations across the United States for genealogical and historical societies and writes a popular blog entitled "A Genealogist in the Archives" and is the Reviews Editor for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) magazine FORUM. In addition, Barker also writes bi-weekly advice columns at Abundant Genealogy and for her local newspaper.

The presentation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, at the Library and Archives auditorium, and research assistance will be available until 4:30 p.m. While the workshop is free, reservations are required due to limited seating.

Please note that Library and Archives will be closed Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday, so it is important to make reservations beforehand. Guests can register at:


The Library and Archives is located at 403 Seventh Avenue North, directly west of the State Capitol building in downtown Nashville. Parking is available around the Library and Archives building.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Thursday, October 10, 2019

The Works Progress Administration and Shady Valley School

By Carol Roberts

In the mountains of Johnson County Tennessee, is a beautiful valley known as Shady Valley. It is tucked between Bristol (Holston Mountain) and Mountain City (Iron Mountain) on the border of the mountains of North Carolina. The community has long been a crossroads of Virginia and Tennessee. In the 1930s, the depression hit unusually hard with the deterioration of business in industries such as timber and manganese mining. The New Deal in Tennessee started numerous benefit projects putting citizens to work.


Shady Valley, Tennessee 1952
RG 82 Dept of Conservation Photograph Collection.
Tennessee Virtual Archive


Same valley today (author photo)

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built roads and schools for many Tennessee counties, including Johnson County, giving many local workers jobs. Shady Valley also has a portion of the Appalachian Trail running nearby, built by the WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) projects. All were New Deal projects that, even today, define this little community. The valley had many small one-room schools with names like Crandull, Winchester, and the Upper Valley, but during the New Deal of the 1930s, it benefited from WPA projects for one, large, new school.

The school of Shady Valley went from a one-room schoolhouse to a new, rock structure with many school rooms, a cafeteria, and all of the other modern amenities of the day. These projects really were cooperative projects of the county, state, and WPA (federal). The state of Tennessee completed its reports on new schools and those records remain at the Library and Archives today. Photos, such as the completed Shady Valley Elementary School in 1937, were kept. Today, these records reflect the history of education and structures from all over the state. The photos of these schools of the 1930s have been digitized and are located in the Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA).


Shady Valley School 1937
Record Group 91 Tennessee Department of Education Records Photographs
Tennessee Virtual Archive


Today, Shady Valley is a busy, little school in the same WPA building at the heart of the community still educating children of the valley. Whiteboards and LED projectors have replaced old, black, chalkboards, but it still has its same shape and style of 1930s WPA construction. It retains local rock supplies on the exterior. The interior, wooden wall paneling of wormy chestnut, now painted white, still exists and even the water fountains, fixtures and WPA school bus garage out back.

September 2019 (author photo)
September 2019 (author photo)

In recent years, the community has joined together with the parent-teacher group to honor this valley, its history, and its unique, land conservancy to celebrate in a festival called the “Cranberry Festival”. Old fashioned bean suppers, BBQs, pancake breakfasts and parades, take place throughout the valley. The school benefits from celebrity auctioneers, usually politicians at auctions, craft booths, quilt shows, and other fundraisers. It all goes to the school, its students, and helping maintain the community spirit. It even serves as a “homecoming” for former students and residents to come back for a visit.

The other celebration of this festival honors the valley’s unique, natural example of the southernmost place of naturally existing cranberry bogs. Cranberries grow near this school in a shaded location of low land. The community now helps the Nature Conservancy protect these natural growth berries. This year marks the 27th Cranberry Festival for the non-profit, joint project to honor history, nature and, most importantly, the school.

The festival is October 11 – 12th, 2019.

Sadly, the 2019-2020 school year will be the last for Shady Valley Elementary. All the students will then ride school buses over the mountain to larger schools in Mountain City. The fate of the building is hopeful but unknown.

Cranberry Festival Quilt Show in the school gym (author photo)
Craft fair on school grounds (author photo)

Old grain silo painted for the festival located at the community crossroads of Highways 421 and 133 (author photo).


To read more about Shady Valley and WPA see the following resources available from the Library and Archives:


  • Tennessee’s New Deal Landscape, A Guidebook by Carroll Van West. University of Tennessee Press, 2001.






  • Microfilm 1472 -- Works Progress Administration (WPA) Records. Division of Operations: Project Proposals and Applications. National Archives film. 1 reel. 16 mm. Microfilm Only Collection



The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Gold Star Mothers' Day

By Michelle Smith, Volunteer

Some of the most rewarding aspects of studying our nation’s history are finding familiar voices within its stories and placing our own families’ histories within its framework. While we often focus on the major figures and events of a particular period, the most illuminating and engaging information can be found in the accounts of the everyday people who experienced the time firsthand. Diaries, letters, and other personal documents fill in the gaps left by broad overviews of specific events and show contemporary readers what life was really like during a particular historical moment.

In an effort to locate and preserve such materials, the Tennessee State Library & Archives launched Over Here, Over There, a project to digitize the World War I memorabilia of Tennessee families. Participants in this project were able to share their documents and artifacts with the general public while keeping the originals, allowing their personal histories to contribute to a greater understanding of the war itself, its brave soldiers, and their loved ones back home. After holding digitization events in several Tennessee cities, the collection grew to contain over 1200 items.


Images from an article on the Ring sons in the Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American, June 30, 1918. TeVA Collection



Several of these items showcase particular families and document their experiences with the war. For example, the Library & Archives now offers a well-rounded collection of information on the Ring family, whose memorabilia was graciously shared by family members at the Franklin digitization event in 2017. Three of the Ring family’s sons, Frank, Nathan, and Joseph, served in the war and their mother, Sarah Frances, later traveled to Europe as a participant in a program for Gold Star mothers and widows. Among the items available to view online are letters between the sons, their mother, and other family members, Sarah Frances’ travel diary, and artifacts and photos that further illustrate the family’s wartime experience.


Letter from Frank M. Ring to his mother, September 8, 1918. TeVA Collection


The sons’ letters offer insight into the conditions that soldiers faced overseas, including the troops’ movement across Europe and their eagerness to maintain contact with their families back home. Thanks to the family’s full collection, we are able to pair the sons’ writing with their photos and to study the war through the lens of their experiences.


Sarah Ring’s diary entry on visiting Frank’s grave at the Somme, August 7, 1933. TeVA Collection


Their mother, Sarah Frances M. Ring, documented her experience with the Gold Star travel program in a well-preserved diary that is available to view via the Library & Archives’ Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA). In 1933, Sarah Frances—whose son, Frank, died in combat—joined a group of other women whose loved ones were killed during the war on a pilgrimage to Europe. Her account describes how their travel group tracked their loved ones’ movement through France, highlighting specific places in which important events or actions took place years earlier.

Sarah Frances M. Ring at the Somme Cemetery, standing next to the grave of her son Frank. TeVA Collection.



The family’s collection also includes a photo of Sarah Frances beside Frank’s grave at the Somme Cemetery for American soldiers in France, which adds even more depth to her written account of the visit. Her diary would make a particularly interesting and timely read as the last Sunday in September approaches, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt set as “Gold Star Mother’s Day” in 1936.

In conjunction, these photos, artifacts, and letters construct a quite clear image of what wartime looked like for American families—both here and there. The Ring family’s records preserve an important piece of World War I history and, thanks to their family’s willingness to share them, prove that every contributing voice makes our nation’s history richer.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Friday, September 27, 2019

Searching Mount Olivet Cemetery Records on TeVA

By Jennifer Randles

The Mount Olivet Cemetery Records Digital Collection is now live on the Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA). This collection contains records related to Mount Olivet Cemetery, a 206-acre cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Mount Olivet was established in 1856 by Adrian Van Sinderen Lindsley and John Buddeke. Notable interments include John Overton, Thomas Ryman, Anne Dallas Dudley and several former governors of Tennessee. Florence M. Redelsheimer (1911-1989), once a public relations administrator for Mount Olivet, compiled the physical collection, which includes accounts, correspondence, legal documents, maps, photographs, land records, and cemetery records.

Mount Olivet Cemetery Records Digital Collection on TeVA


Some of the most exciting items in the collection are three interment books spanning the years 1855-1906, which list the people buried in the cemetery and their burial locations. Information on each page includes interment date, names, age, cause of death, and plot location information. These books are part of an ongoing transcription project at the Library & Archives to record information in all three volumes in the collection. The final full transcriptions will be imported into the Genealogy Index Search, while a name index for each page will accompany the volumes in the TeVA digital collection. Currently, volume II and eighteen cemetery maps are available online, while volumes III and IV will be uploaded when transcription is complete. Unfortunately, volume I is not in the collections at the Library & Archives, so it is not part of this project.

Using the Collection

October 1878 interments listing names, ages, causes of death and burial locations.


Since names in the book are listed on each entry page in the digital collection, you can search for a name and go straight to where that person is listed by typing their name into the search box. Try searching with their last name and look through the pages it appears on to find a person, as many people are listed using initials or alternate spellings of their names. Names tagged on the page are listed in alphabetical order, not the order they appear in on the page.

Volume II has an index in the front with page numbers for each name. When using the book’s index, keep in mind that those refer to the page numbers written in the book. Not all pages have numbers written on them, so assigned each image a number to keep track of them. If you are having trouble finding someone, Ask Us a Question!

Each page lists information about the individual buried in a certain plot, such as name, date of interment, age, cause of death, and burial location. Not every piece of information was written down for each person, but there is still a lot of information in the books. Here are two former Tennessee governors in Volume II:

Interment record for Governor Aaron V. Brown.



This record from March 14, 1859 shows that Gov. Aaron Venable Brown was 63 years, 6 months and 21 days old when he died of pneumonia. Unfortunately, it doesn’t list a lot location.

Interment record for Governor Neill S. Brown.



This record from January 1886 lists Gov. Neill S. Brown (spelled as Neil) dying at age 76 due to paralysis.

I love death records and I encourage you to look through the interment book and search for names and dates in the Tennessean newspaper database, available to Tennesseans through the Tennessee Electronic Library. I often find information on the deceased in obituaries and newspaper articles- especially the social column. If the cause of death is an accident or murder, there is likely an article about the event. Just one line in these interment books can lead to fascinating discoveries about people’s lives in the past.


Mirador Viewer

This TeVA collection is also the first to test out a new feature, the Mirador image viewer. Mirador is an open source tool that gives people new ways to interact with items from digital collections around the world. To open a TeVA item in Mirador, click the button next to Print that looks like an M. It will open up in a new tab/window. Mirador is not optimized for mobile devices, so it is best used on desktop or laptop machines.

Mirador button location in TeVA.

Image view with filmstrip navigation on bottom.


Mirador offers more viewing options, such as Image view (with filmstrip on the bottom) or Gallery view (viewing thumbnails of each page in a grid). Users can double-click, use the on-screen controls, or use the scroll wheel on their mouse to zoom in/out and view different parts of the image. Click and drag with your mouse to move around the image.

Some of the most useful features of Mirador are the image controls. Have you ever found a document that is too dark to read, or a shadow covers part of the writing? Mirador’s image controls allow you to adjust the image to make it easier to view details. The great thing is your changes just affect what you’re seeing and not the original file, so you can play with the controls as much as you want without altering the original.

Mirador image manipulation controls.


To use the image controls, click on the “toggle image manipulation” button in the upper left corner of the image viewer. It looks like three horizontal lines with sliders on each bar.

The controls from left to right are:


  • Image Manipulation Toggle (turn tools on/off) 
  • Rotate image 90 deg right 
  • Rotate image 90 deg left 
  • Brightness 
  • Contrast (difference between darks & lights) 
  • Saturation (how much color is in image, for color images only) 
  • Grayscale toggle (turn color images to grayscale) 
  • Invert colors 
  • Reset image (undo all modifications to image) 


See the example images below to learn how you can play with these controls to make details more legible. The original is on the top, and has been modified in different ways in the examples below it. We encourage users to play with these settings and see how much more information you can get from the books.

Examples of image manipulation in Mirador.


We hope you’ll take this opportunity to explore the Mount Olivet collection and play with the new image viewer controls. As the other volumes of interment books are transcribed they will be uploaded to TeVA, so please come back to see when new material is available in the future. Happy searching!


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Monday, September 23, 2019

Tennessee Maneuvers

By Andrew McMahan


Figure 1: Mary Ward, 9, and Raymond Ingram, 12, of the Second Army on maneuvers in Middle Tennessee, April 28, 1943. Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA).


By the autumn of 1942 the United States had been at war for several months. The first few months had not gone well for U.S. forces. The military suffered several setbacks including the surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, the capture of Wake Island, and the fall of the Philippines. However, the American military was beginning to gain traction. The U.S. Navy dealt a major blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway in June, American forces joined the fighting against the Axis powers in North Africa, and the First Marine Division landed on Guadalcanal in August, effectively beginning Allied offensive operations in the Pacific. The U.S. Army, in preparation for combat in Europe and other theaters of the war, needed to conduct large-scale maneuvers in order to train soldiers for the coming campaigns.


Figure 2: The maneuver area as shown on the cover of With Second Army Somewhere in Tennessee by Gene H. Sloan, 1956.


The Army chose Middle Tennessee to stage these maneuvers because the area’s topography resembled that of Western Europe. These were not the first military training exercises held in the region. During the summer of 1941, General George S. Patton conducted maneuvers in the area around Camp Forrest in Tullahoma. However, the maneuvers beginning in September 1942 were to take place over a much larger area comprised of twenty-one counties. The Second Army, a unit tasked with training soldiers for combat, established their headquarters in Lebanon for the duration of the maneuvers. Soldiers began pouring into the region that September by the tens of thousands. Each unit was assigned to either the Red or Blue army and participated in mock battles across the region. Lieutenant General Ben Lear, commander of the Second Army, stated that the maneuvers would simulate the battlefields of Russia, China, Africa, and the Philippines. The purpose of these exercises was to train troops to prosecute the modern warfare raging on multiple battlefields around the world. The army particularly stressed the importance of coordination between infantry, armor, artillery, and air support.


Figure 3: An M4 Sherman Tank of the 20th Armored Division during a live fire exercise in December 1944. With Second Army Somewhere in Tennessee.


Several new and specialized units honed their skills while on maneuvers. Several of these later became famous because of their accomplishments during the coming campaigns. Among these was the Second Ranger Battalion. This unit was formed at Camp Forrest on April 1, 1943, and received more specialized training than standard infantry. This battalion, along with several others, received further training from British commandos while in England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. The Second Ranger Battalion earned its fame on June 6, 1944, when it captured Pointe Du Hoc, a stretch of high ground that overlooked both Utah and Omaha beaches. In order to take this position, the rangers had to scale a high cliff under covering fire from naval artillery. After reaching the summit, the rangers captured the German positions, destroyed several artillery pieces, and held the area against repeated counterattacks.

During the maneuvers in Middle Tennessee, Gene H. Sloan of the Nashville Banner accompanied a “Red Ranger” patrol from the Second Battalion in August of 1943. The patrol’s original mission was to observe Blue troop movements along Highway 10 (U.S. 231). The rangers worked their way deep behind the Blue lines. However, Red headquarters soon radioed the small force and ordered them to disrupt Blue supply columns. Second Lieutenant Remo Cagna led his ranger force, equipped with two armored scout cars and six jeeps, just south of the Fall Creek Bridge near the Wilson County line. He set up a command post 220 yards from the highway and sent riflemen accompanied by bazooka teams down the road in each direction. The rangers remained concealed on the side of the highway and ambushed lone Blue vehicles. In just a few hours, they captured two supply trucks, six jeeps, and a gasoline truck. However, one vehicle escaped capture and the driver alerted Blue forces. Lt. Cagna “destroyed” the captured vehicles and ordered his men to retreat. Blue armor and infantry scoured every road around Lebanon in search of the rangers. Cagna broke his force into small teams and ordered them to make their own way back to friendly lines.

The 101st Airborne Division also took part in the maneuvers, effectively demonstrating the value of airborne troops delivered via parachutes and gliders. Major General William C. Lee commanded the 101st during this time. The paratroopers of this division later distinguished themselves through their exemplary performance in Normandy (Operation Overlord), Holland (Operation Market Garden), and the defense of Bastogne, Belgium (the Battle of the Bulge). During the wargames, Lee needed to have an urgent conference with his staff. However, several of his officers, including Colonel Robert Sink of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, were 150 miles away in Sturgis, Kentucky. After receiving word that Lee needed him and the officers under his command, Col. Sink and his staff boarded an Army plane and parachuted thirty minutes later, landing in front of Gen. Lee’s headquarters.


Figure 4: Troopers of the 502nd PIR, 101st Airborne Division, parachute over Gallatin. With Second Army Somewhere in Tennessee.



Figure 5: Photograph of a glider landing in a field in Middle Tennessee, June 16, 1943. With Second Army Somewhere in Tennessee.


Several Middle Tennesseans participated in the maneuvers as soldiers. In some instances, soldiers found themselves engaged in wargames in their own communities. Staff Sergeant James Marshall Donnell, a resident of Middle Tennessee, was with his unit on a tactical problem near Auburntown. Evidently, Donnell knew he was in the vicinity of his hometown, but was unsure of his unit’s exact location. He eventually saw his own pickup truck pull into a field. Upon further inspection, he found that he was on his family’s property. His unit bivouacked in the area, allowing him to walk over to his house and spend the night in the comfort of his own home. U.S. Army units participating in wargames disrupted daily life in the maneuver area. As the preparation of soldiers for combat was critical to the war effort, officials asked that civilians in Middle Tennessee be as accommodating as possible during the exercises. For example, an army officer provided the citizens of Woodbury with a list of several ways to ensure the maneuvers in their area ran smoothly. He requested that residents park their vehicles in their yards, not on the street, in order to keep roadways clear. People were asked to walk to work if possible, or to park their vehicles behind their places of business in order to ease congestion downtown. He asked that residents in Woodbury not sweep trash into the streets. Additionally, he said that people should stay off the road at night when troops were in the area driving vehicles with the headlights out and to avoid shining lights in the soldiers’ eyes. The officer also stressed that motorists should not attempt to pass a military convoy and that the speed limit in the maneuver area was 35 miles per hour, which was strictly enforced by local police and military officials.


Figure 6: U.S. Army vehicles, including two M3 Medium Tanks, on an unidentified road in Wilson County. Looking Back at Tennessee, TSLA.


Several towns in the maneuver area provided entertainment for the troops whenever possible. For example, the citizens of Woodbury served lemonade and cookies and provided musical entertainment for soldiers after the town was “captured” on August 19, 1943. Local citizens opened lounges in several towns, providing soldiers with places to relax, have a cup of coffee, and write letters home. Several churches in Murfreesboro opened lounges for the troops. Not only did these lounges provide services such as checking equipment and mailing letters, they also often furnished entertainment such as ping pong tables, shuffle boards, and records. Additionally, it was not uncommon for locals to invite troops to their houses for a meal or to get a good night’s sleep. In fact, the army actually encouraged civilians to invite soldiers into their homes on weekends, though they asked that locals refrain from feeding troops currently working on field problems.


Figure 7: American Legion Post No. 5 members standing outside a bath house which served soldiers during the Tennessee Maneuvers, June 1944. Library Photograph Collection, TSLA.


The influx of soldiers and equipment into Middle Tennessee had a substantial impact on the region. Thousands of men descended on small towns, often taxing facilities to their absolute limits. Restaurants were among the businesses frequented most by soldiers. The Nashville Tennessean reported that large numbers of soldier-patrons were straining the food supply in Lebanon. The Second Army instructed officers to always keep the conservation of the local food supply in mind, and asked them to work with the local civilian authorities in any way possible if said authorities expressed concern over food shortages. Soldiers were prohibited from purchasing rationed food. No more than 25% of a unit could be authorized leave at any given time, and all units had designated areas allotted to them for leave. A Second Army report cited by Murfreesboro’s Daily News Journal stated, “If the civilian authorities become concerned over possible shortage of food due to presence of soldiers within the maneuver area, we will cooperate with them in any regulations they may promulgate in the matter, even to the extent of requiring soldiers to carry food when visiting or on pass away from their units.” Army officials eventually restricted furlough hours, which lessened the week day rushes of enlisted men to local food vendors.

Housing was also in short supply during the maneuvers. Army officers and other officials from the War Department required places to stay for the duration. Additionally, many wives accompanied their husbands to the maneuver area. These women also required places to live, and sought accommodations in the form of hotels, apartments, and even rooms in private residences. The Second Army attempted to discourage women from following their sons or husbands to the maneuver area, claiming that it distracted the men from the war games and hampered their training. Officials also sought to more closely replicate actual combat conditions and ease overcrowding in the region by barring dependents from accompanying the soldiers.

The maneuvers also brought a boon to businesses in the region. Soldiers with pay in their pockets looking for leisure patronized many local businesses. The establishments that saw large increases in revenue during this time were restaurants, hotels, jewelry stores, and theaters. In fact, the Second Army encouraged businesses to provide discounts for soldiers. The army asked theaters, for example, to provide Sunday movies for soldiers at half-price. The Nashville Tennessean reported in 1944 that the city and the region would likely experience a reduction in retail revenue after the maneuvers concluded, citing the departure of officers and men who were payed an estimated $36,000,000 during the exercises. However, business leaders in Nashville concluded that the maneuvers were “wonderful advertising” for Middle Tennessee and expected many soldiers to return with their families after the war.

Army units operating in and around local farms often caused some property damage. The 2nd Army waged its mock battles in cities, towns, and active farms. Troops often had to tear down fences in order maneuver, and tanks frequently deployed in the fields destroyed crops beneath their unforgiving treads. On November 10, 1942, the Fourth Service Command Rents Board requested that farmers and landowners report any damage caused by military units during the war games. The Army instructed their engineers to repair property damage after maneuvers ended.


Figure 8: An M7 in a wheat field outside of Lebanon prepares to fire its 105mm howitzer. Sloan noted that “Crops took a beating when action became hot.” With Second Army Somewhere in Tennessee.


The Second Army maneuvers also had a drastic impact on Middle Tennessee’s roads. Convoys regularly traveled up and down the highways. Opposing Red and Blue armies used the roadways to maneuver into position. Even much of the “fighting” took place on the roads. The high traffic along with the use of heavy machinery, especially tanks, severely damaged many roadways in the region. Congress appropriated $5,000,000 to be dispersed to the twenty-one counties of the maneuver area for road repair. Government agents were sent to each county in order to provide assistance and oversee the repairs.


Figure 9: U.S. soldiers and a vehicle at Doak's Crossroads in 1943. Note the well-worn state of the road. Looking Back at Tennessee, TSLA.



Figure 10: Soldiers, tents, and trucks near Camp Forrest. Looking Back at Tennessee, TSLA.


The Second Army maneuvers were only part of the contribution made by Tennessee to the war effort, but they were among the most crucial. The long days of marching, camping in harsh conditions, and complex military exercises prepared U.S. soldiers for the coming campaigns. Most of the units that participated in the wargames in Middle Tennessee went to Europe, though a small number also deployed in the Pacific. Lessons learned during the maneuvers here saved lives and helped the Allies push on to the final victory over the Axis powers. Army officers, understanding the great importance of these maneuvers in preparation for future battles, remarked favorably on the conduct of Tennessee civilians. Major Gen. W. A. Burress spoke to Gene Sloan of his and his fellow officers feelings towards Tennesseans, stating, “I can imagine what some city dweller would say if you so much as drove a jeep on his lawn. And if you were to step on his flower bed! Here these folks are as courteous and friendly as if you were doing them a favor instead of them catching hell. You ought to write a book to tell the world what real Americans these Middle Tennessee farm people are. The marvel to each one of us is, ‘How do they do it after three years’?”



The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Monday, August 26, 2019

Tennessee State Library and Archives to Host Free Workshop on the History of Slavery in Tennessee

Author Bill Carey examines slavery in Tennessee based on newspaper articles

The Tennessee State Library and Archives will host local author Bill Carey as part of a “workshop series” on Saturday, September 14th. Carey’s latest book, Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls: A History of Slavery in Tennessee, examines slavery through slavery ads appearing in Tennessee newspapers.

Carey will speak with attendees about the research he conducted for Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls. Carey researched every newspaper printed in Tennessee from 1791 until 1864, including newspapers on microfilm held at The Tennessee State Library and Archives.

When examined collectively, these ads provide scholars and family historians a number of details about the people named within them. Carey said, “They give insight into slavery and how it was supported by governments as well as by industries such as banking and journalism."

Bill Carey has a background in journalism as a reporter for The Tennessean, Nashville Scene, WPLN, and NashvillePost.com. He is the co-founder of the nonprofit organization Tennessee History for Kids and author of six books. He also writes a monthly column for Tennessee Magazine.

The workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m. - 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, September 14, in the auditorium of the Library and Archives, located at 403 7th Ave N. in Nashville. Following the presentation, signed books will be available for purchase from the author. Free parking is available around the Library and Archives building.

While the workshop is free, reservations are required due to limited seating. To make a reservation visit click HERE.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Thursday, August 22, 2019

LABM Summer Reading Program celebrates a phenomenal year!

By Ruth Hemphill

The Tennessee Library for Accessible Books & Media’s (TLABM) summer programs has come to an end, but it was a phenomenal year!

This year the programs consisted of weekly podcasts following the theme, “A Universe of Stories.” There were three new podcasts posted each week of interviews conducted with various people discussing their passions and careers, since we all have our own story that makes up the universe in which we all live.

There were podcasts geared for children, podcasts for young adults and podcasts for adults, but anyone could listen to any of the podcasts, if they chose. People who do not have access to the internet can get a recording of the podcasts each week that would play on the audio book player that is available to patrons of TLABM.

Popular podcasts included “Zombies and You: A Life and Death Conversation” with Jacob Lankford, a Wildlife Sciences specialist; “Healthy Mouth, Healthy Life,” with Mirna Caldwell, D.M.D. and “Healthy Aging Made Accessible” with Dr. James Powers, Clinical Associate Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Quality Aging.

These podcasts are still available on the TLABM website: http://sos.tn.gov/tsla/labm.

The podcasts were so popular that TLABM plans to continue the program in the summer of 2020 when the statewide library theme will be “Imagine Your Story!” Be sure to check our website in 2020 for more information.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Meet the Staff - Mary DePeder

Meet Mary DePeder. She is a Micrographics Imaging Operator with the Preservation and Digitization department.

How long have you worked here?

I was very recently hired! I started in January of 2019.

What are some of the things you do as a Micrographics Imaging Operator?

The bulk of my time is spent readying materials to be microfilmed. This includes capturing images of archival and library materials on our digital cameras that I then edit and process in the archive writer. This entails a significant amount of quality checking to ensure that digitized materials are as accessible as possible for public use. When not working on my productivity, I also take on special projects like my current role as a content contributor for the upcoming women’s suffrage centennial.

What is your favorite part of your job?

One of the things I really enjoy is handling original documents every day. Currently I am working on 1918 birth records which so often read like small dramas in the lives of everyday Tennesseans. There’s so much data and research to be mined from these records to help fill in our understanding of ordinary citizens and Tennessee life, so to play a small part in that process is very exciting.

What collection or resource are you excited about right now?

Besides the women’s suffrage collection which we will be highlighting extensively over the next year, I am excited about the John Sales and Christopher D. Ammons Vietnam War collections. These collections cover a period I’m very interested in which is mid to late twentieth century American history. The contents include humorous and sobering letters home and extensive photos that are formidable in widening my understanding of the long term effects of the Vietnam War both locally and abroad.



What do you wish more people knew about the State Library and Archives?

Since I am still fairly new here I have yet to stumble upon any trapdoors or secret passageways. But coming from a public library background one of the primary goals was to widen the public’s perception of what a library is and what it can do for the community and the individual. And so I will take up that same charge again with the state library and archives. One visit or click is simply not enough. Libraries and archives are not static institutions but rather they add and evolve and redirect the public’s eyes to new discoveries. So revisit because who knows what new workshop, book, or collection will be waiting for you next.

Do you have a favorite historical figure, event, or place in Tennessee history?

This is a very difficult question to answer! So I’m going to cheat a little and mention a place/historical figure(s) I have been researching lately for fun on the side. The 1970 Memphis chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is a fascinating organization because it’s complicated and messy and provides lots of room for exploring race, gender, and class conflicts within feminism’s second wave. While certainly not a perfect organization, Memphis NOW was a hotbed of intersectionality working with and against Civil Rights members, anti-feminist groups, and other NOW organizations to help transform themselves and their local communities. To me, this makes it an exciting and important piece of Tennessee history.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Honoring the Historic Women's Schools of Tennessee

By Megan Spainhour

It’s August, and that means back to school! As students meet new teachers, explore new subjects and rush back to see old and new friends, we pay homage to historic colleges of Tennessee, and specifically, historical women’s colleges that were once a staple in Tennessee education, but have since closed and can now only be found in the pages of history.

Anthenaeum College, Columbia, 1866. Book Stacks, 14th Annual Catalogue.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


Colleges for women typically began as female seminaries in the 18th and 19th centuries, when educational opportunities for women were limited. Beginning in 1820, women’s education grew into a growing trend to support women’s equality. According to the Women’s College Coalition, "Seminaries educated women for the only socially acceptable occupation: teaching. Only unmarried women could be teachers. Many early women's colleges began as female seminaries and were responsible for producing an important corps of educators."


Ward Seminary, Nashville, 1902, Book Stacks.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


In Nashville alone, several ladies institutions sprang up, from Boscobel College to Buford College to the Nashville College for Young Ladies. Boscobel College was in operation from 1889 to 1916. Its primary objective was to be able to provide the lowest cost for higher education to young ladies. The 10 acre campus was located in East Nashville overlooking the Cumberland River. The East Nashville fire of 1916 effected its closing.

Boscobel College, Nashville. 1910. Books Stacks, Salmagindi Yearbook.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Boscobel College, 1910. Books Stacks, Salmagindi Yearbook.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Boscobel College, 1910. Women’s basketball team. Books Stacks, Salmagindi Yearbook.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


Dr. Price’s Nashville College for Young Ladies sat not far from East Nashville, where the current federal building sits on Broadway in downtown Nashville. Nashville College for Young Ladies provided a well-rounded education and covered kindergarten to college age. They touted themselves as the "Leading Southern School for the Advanced Education of Women."

Dr Price’s Nashville College for Young Ladies, Nashville- 1896, Book Stacks, The Talisman.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


One of NCYL’s associates, Mary Elizabeth Burgess Buford, became a top educator in Nashville, and went on to found Buford College in Clarksville. Buford College moved to Nashville in 1901 in the neighborhood of Green Hills and Oak Hill area. According to its publications, Buford College was adorned with gardens, springs, an electric car line and even featured a hennery and dairy for healthy dietary needs. After a few more moves around the city, Buford College closed in 1920.

Buford College, Nashville, 1912- Domestic Science Class. Book Stacks, The Mirror Yearbook.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


On the south side of Nashville, right off of Nolensville Road, sits a hill that once held another educational institution for females, Radnor College. Radnor College was started by A.N. Eshman. and served from 1906 until 1914. In 1921, a fire claimed the college’s main building. The school also had its own printing plant nearby, operating for the Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House until 1924.

Radnor College, Nashville, undated. Tennessee Postcard Collection.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


Of course, there were several other women’s colleges outside of Nashville as well. In Murfreesboro, a female academy named Soule College ran from 1851 until 1917. During the Civil War in 1862, the school closed temporarily so that it could function as a hospital by both Confederate and Union Soldiers.

Soule College, Murfreesboro- Newspaper Clipping, 1943, Vertical Files.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


Elsewhere in Tennessee, East Tennessee Female Institute operated out of Knoxville, Howard Female College educated out of Gallatin, Tennessee Female College served in Franklin, Centenary Female College in Cleveland, Mary Sharp College in Winchester, Brinkley Female College in Memphis, and Moses Fisk’s Female Academy in Hilham, among others here and there.

Howard Female College, Gallatin, 1915, Book Stacks, School Directory.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Tennessee Female College, Franklin, 1904-School Directory.
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Tennessee Female College, Franklin, 1904-Book Stacks, School Directory.
Tennessee State Library and Archives


The education provided to these ladies by the fine educators of Tennessee helped to further women’s equality and rights and it can be arguably concluded that their resourcefulness led to the equality we experience today, especially now as we celebrate the 100th year of the passage of the 19th amendment and Tennessee’s important role in this historic milestone.


The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett