Tennessee State Museum
Encyclopedia
Tennessee State Museum is a large museum in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 depicting the history of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Starting from pre-colonization and going all the way to the 20th century, the museum describes the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the Frontier
The Frontier
The Frontier can refer to:* The Frontier previous name for the New Frontier Hotel and Casino* The Frontier , a political group in Hong Kong* The Frontier , a 1991 Chilean film directed by Ricardo P...

, and the Age of Jackson. The museum includes an area of more than 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²) of permanent exhibits and a hall with changing exhibitions covering 10000 feet (3,048 m). The total ground area of the museum is 120000 feet (36,576 m) spread over three floors. The museum's collection of uniform
Uniform
A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

s, weapons, and battle flags from the Civil War is one of the largest in the nation.

The museum is situated in the bottom floors of the James K. Polk building in downtown Nashville, a building shared with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center
Tennessee Performing Arts Center
The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, or TPAC, is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, occupying an entire city block between 5th and 6th Avenues North and Deaderick and Union Streets. Also housing the Tennessee State Museum, the...

. A new building to house the museum is being planned for the Bicentennial Mall State Park
Bicentennial Mall State Park
Bicentennial Mall State Park is an urban state park located in the shadow of the State Capitol in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.The 19 acre park, designed to complement the Tennessee Capitol Building, gives visitors a taste of Tennessee's history and natural wonder...

.

The museum also has a military museum describing the country's military conflicts. This exhibition goes from the early battles of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

 all the way to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The museum features a museum store offering hand-made crafts, jewelry, and Tennessee memorabilia.

History

The earliest recordings of the museum go back to 1817 when a portrait artist, Ralph E. W. Earl opened a museum at the public square of Nashville. The first larger state museum opened in 1937, when the General Assembly decided that the state needed a museum to deal with various collections from the state and mementos from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The museum remained at the War Memorial Building
War Memorial Building
War Memorial Building is a historic community building located at New Martinsville, Wetzel County, West Virginia. It was built in 1929, and is a two story, buff colored wire brick building with Neoclassical design elements. The building was dedicated as a living memorial to the World War I veterans...

 until it moved to its current location in 1981.

Today the museum displays painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

s, silver, weapons, and furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

and has reproductions of a print shop, a painting gallery and a grist mill.

External links

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