A-Z

Organized in 1896, the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs was designed to bring together women's clubs from across the state into one organization that would provide communication among its members. A decade after the founding of the first women's clubs…

The Tennessee Folklore Society is a statewide organization of academics, nonprofit activists, and interested citizens who are concerned with the preservation, celebration, and study of the traditional expressive culture of the state. Such culture ranges from the classic forms of…

The executive power of the state is vested in the office of the governor, the elected official responsible for the enforcement of the laws, collection of taxes, and well-being of the state and its citizens. The recognized state leader of…

A joint resolution of the general assembly established the Tennessee Historical Commission on January 23, 1919. The resolution defined the duties of the committee to collect, compile, index, and arrange all data and information relating to the participation of Tennessee…

Early histories of the Tennessee Historical Society (THS) place its origins in the Tennessee Antiquarian Society organized in Nashville in 1820. The purpose of the society, chaired by John Haywood, was the collection and preservation of important events in the…

The lower house of Tennessee's bicameral legislature is called the House of Representatives. Made up of representatives from the ninety-nine districts of the state, the members are elected for two-year terms, and all representatives stand for election simultaneously. To qualify…

Chartered in 1974, the Tennessee Humanities Council exists to bring the study of the humanities into public awareness, thus fulfilling the mission of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) at the state level. In the beginning, many associated with…

The hillbilly Tennessee depicted in Hollywood films is akin to the romanticized mythographic West of cowboys and Indians. Though there may be a grain of truth imbedded somewhere in the stereotypical image, it is far from representative of the state…

Representative of the many textile mills that opened in Middle Tennessee in the early twentieth century, Tennessee Knitting Mills began operations in Columbia, Tennessee, in June 1931 as Massachusetts Knitting Mills. In that year, a group of Bostonians led by…

The movement for an asylum in Tennessee arose in the context of the nationwide reforming furor associated with the Second Great Awakening. The asylum movement in America built its ideological arguments upon the theories of a group of European physicians…

The Tennessee Main Street Program grew out of a late-1970s national effort to revitalize historic business districts in American small towns and cities. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private nonprofit membership organization, pioneered the downtown revitalization approach upon…

Despite opposition from local whites and without northern missionary help, leaders in the Gay Street Colored Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church in Nashville established Tennessee Manual Labor University, the only freedmen's college in Tennessee founded by African Americans, in 1867.…

The Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) is a 6,800-member professional organization for medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy dedicated to protecting the health care interests of patients and enhancing the effectiveness of physicians throughout the state. Its headquarters is located in…

Founded in Nashville in October 1915, the Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS) is an independent, nonprofit, educational, scientific organization dedicated to the study and conservation of birds. The original objectives of the TOS still hold today: (1) to promote the science…

Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation is a statewide non-profit organization that seeks to conserve and protect Tennessee’s rich heritage and natural resources. The Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation was established in 1997, merging the Tennessee State Parks Foundation and the…

Founded in 1989 as a service organization of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Tennessee Presidents Trust supports financially the work of a unique documentary editing center dedicated to the publication of the papers of Tennessee's three American presidents, Andrew…

Section 32 of the Tennessee Constitution states that "the erection of safe and comfortable prisons, the inspection of prisons, and the humane treatment of prisoners, shall be provided for." In 1796 the legislature passed three separate acts to establish courthouses,…

Regulation of railroads, common carriers, and public utilities in Tennessee has followed not only development in the technological and economic structures of those industries, but changes in general professional and public attitudes toward monopolies, competition and governmental regulation, particularly as…

The Tennessee River system covers 41,000 square miles, draining portions of sixty Tennessee counties and seven states. The Tennessee River is the largest tributary to the Ohio River and is its equal in water volume. From its mouth at Paducah,…