Special Collections Division: Finding Aids

All finding Aids are in PDF format unless otherwise noted. You may download Adobe PDF Reader free here.

The collection consists of primary and secondary sources about the African American Civil Rights Movement, with information about key events, participants, and reform movements aimed at abolishing public and private acts of racial discrimination against African Americans. The collection documents Nashville's role, including information about the Nashville student sit-in movement and the students from Fisk and Tennessee State University and other schools and church affiliations involved in changing the laws and traditions of segregated Nashville. Materials in the collection include published audio and video imprints, ephemera and memorabilia, oral histories, periodicals, photographs, and records and manuscripts.   See also separate finding aid for the Civil Rights Oral History Project.

Ephemera

Business Ephemera Subject Files, 1856-1987
Includes a wide variety of materials by and about Nashville area businesses. Bulk 1945-1970.

Churches Ephemera Subject Files 1814-2003
Contains a wide variety of materials, mostly from the twentieth century, primarily about Nashville area churches. Bulk 1918-1990.

Communities Ephemera Subject Files
Brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, reports, lists, booklets, and a variety of other material concerning various Tennessee communities.

Organizations Ephemera Subject Files, 1884-2004
Includes yearbooks, rosters, brochures, publications, and a variety of other materials by and about Nashville area clubs and organizations. Bulk 1945-1990.

Performing Arts Ephemera Subject Files
Includes programs, brochures, flyers, invitations, posters, handbills, newsletters, and a variety of other materials by and about Nashville area performing arts, including venues and specific performances and performers.

Schools Ephemera Subject Files
Includes a wide variety of material relating to schools in the Nashville area and elsewhere in Middle Tennessee.

Wars and Military Ephemera Subject Files, 1820-2003 (bulk 1964-1999)
A wide variety of material relating to the military service and wartime experiences of military personnel and civilians; monuments, preservation, and commemorations, especially for the Battle of Nashville and the Civil War; unit histories; veterans' reunions, activities, and publications; newsletters, especially relating to local airbases during World War II; and women's involvement in wartime, especially the Civil War and World War II. Formats include letters, memoirs, diaries, essays, brochures, pamphlets, and a variety of other written materials, including some photocopies.  Detailed container list available

Image Collections

Bruce I. Crabtree Architectural Photography Collection, ca. 1960-ca. 1988 (pdf)
A photographic collection of 2133 images donatedby the Johnson Johnson Crabtree architectural firm, of Nashville, Tennessee, documenting four decades of the architectural project work of Bruce I. Crabtree, Jr., F.A.I.A., a senior founding partner in the firm. The collection is comprised of photographic images of design projects of the architectural firm, Taylor & Crabtree, comprised of photographic prints, contacts sheets, and 35 mm color slide transparencies, with a few data sheets related to the construction projects and specific buildings. The photographic images depict buildings chiefly in the Greater Nashville area, with representation of the architect’s design projects in other locations in Tennessee, as well as North Carolina. The collection includes a few 35 mm color slides of Florida Southern College buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Photo Inventory List

Charles Warterfield Architectural Collection (MS Word)
The Charles Warterfield Architectural Collection contains 6,302 slides that span a period c. 1958-1998. The collection consists of slides taken by architect Charles W. Warterfield, Jr. over the course of his adult life. The primary focus of this collection is architecture in Tennessee, especially in Nashville.

Nashville Banner Archives

Nashville Room Historic Photograph Collection
Active collection consisting of over 4,000 photographs with emphasis upon Nashville people, places, buildings, and landmarks. Photos of Tennessee people and places apart from Nashville and of historical interest are also included. The collection contains some illustrated articles (newsclippings) and a pictorial booklet entitled "Beautiful selected colored views of Lookout Mountain: Chattanooga, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge." Nashville persons, places, landmarks and events commonly depicted in this collection include the various Nashville libraries, Centennial Park, the Cumberland River and its floods, historic homes (the Hermitage, Belmont, Cheekwood, etc.), Nashville political leaders, Nashville street scenes, and scenes from everyday life. Most photos date from the twentieth century.

Joe Thompson, Jr. Papers, 1942-2005
The heart of the Joe Thompson, Jr. Papers is the nearly 600 photographs taken by Thompson while serving in the Army Air Force in Europe during World War II.

Joe Thompson Jr Nashville Social Events Scrapbooks
This series of five scrapbooks provides an interesting view of Nashville’s community, civic, and business leadership during the 1940s and 1950s, as well as social events and charitable philanthropy in Nashville. Each scrapbook is indexed by personal names, relating to a broad network of the friends, family, and social and business colleagues of Joe Thompson, Jr. and Martha Cawthon Crook Thompson. The scrapbooks are comprised primarily newspaper clippings from the “Society” sections of the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Tennessean as well as some photographs and ephemera.

Naff Poster and Photograph Collection
Advertising announcements, descriptive folders, letters and telegrams, librettos, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters, programs, realia, scripts, and souvenir booklets gathered by Lula Naff over her many years as manager of the Ryman Auditorium. The materials span Ryman performances between 1901 and 1956, and document Nashville appearances by such cultural, political, and entertainment notables as Gene Autry, Fanny Brice, Jack Dempsey, Nelson Eddy, Helen Hayes, Bob Hope, Guy Lombardo, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Will Rogers, and John Phillip Sousa.

Maps & Microforms

Nashville Room Map Collection
Maps of Nashville; Davidson County; the state of Tennessee; Tennessee cities and counties; Civil War battles, especially those in Tennessee; and a variety of other maps including geologic maps, water resources, and recreation, mostly as they relate to Tennessee.

Microfilm in the Nashville Room

Nashville Newspapers on Microfilm

Oral History

Century III Nashville: Nashville Heritage Project (pdf)
Life in Nashville as recalled by older citizens and tapes from training sessions. Recorded by students in the city, and others, mostly under the direction of Paul Clements, in 1980. Undertaken as part of Nashville's Bicentennial. Listen to excerpts from interviews here.

Civil Rights Oral History Project Collection, 2002 -
The collection includes audiocassettes, videocassettes and transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by library staff and volunteers. Interviewees are civil rights veterans, educators, community members, journalist, police officers, observers, students, church leaders, and activists recalling events related to the civil rights movement in Nashville and the nation during the 1950s and 1960s. There are more than one hundred and twenty interviews.Click here for more information about the Civil Rights Oral History Project.

Montgomery Bell Academy Alumni Interviews, 1980
The collection includes written notes, transcripts, or reports based upon interviews done in 1980 by students with alumni who attended the school between 1913 and 1979. Nearly 200 alumni were interviewed, some of them more than once by different students.

Nashville Business Leaders Oral History Project, 2006 –
Interviews with Nashville civic and business leaders.  The collection is divided into three series:  I.  Southern Foodways Alliance Nashville Eats Interviews; II.  The Turner Interviews; III.  Library Interviews.

Nashville StoryCorps StoryBooth Interviews, 2007-2008
A collection of nearly 500 interviews conducted in the Nashville StoryCorps StoryBooth, located in the Nashville Room of the Nashville Public Library from September 2007 to September 2008.  Each interview is approximately 40 minutes long and conducted with the help of a trained facilitator.  Most interviews were conducted by family members and friends of the interviewees.  Many interviews are accompanied by digital color photographs of the participants taken at the time of the interview.  This collection is currently being processed, and a finding aid will be made available when completed.  Listen to edited stories from the interviews here.

Veterans History Project
The Veterans History Project Collection in the Special Collections Division consists of recorded interviews with local veterans, and documentary materials donated by veterans or their families. Materials in the collection include letters, memoirs, scrapbooks, unit histories and unit newsletters, photographs, oral histories and transcripts, maps, and publications.  There are several finding aids for this collection, including the main project finding aid, a finding aid by special interest categories, interview summaries, a World War II finding aid, and a “collections at a glance” table.

Records & Manuscript Collections

Advance Publishing Company Records, 1910-1937
Business records of the Advance Publishing Company in Nashville document the entire history of that company's weekly, The Presbyterian Advance (1910-1934). The records include the charter of incorporation, company by-laws, letters to stockholders, minutes of stockholders and directors meetings (annual and called), fundraising letters, and special reports prepared for stockholders, directors, or the editorial council.

Baker v. Carr Papers, ca. 1959-ca. 2003 (bulk ca. 1960-ca. 1965)
A collection of documentary sources related to the Baker v. Carr "one man, one vote" case about Tennessee reapportionment, spanning ca. 1959 to ca. 2003 (bulk ca. 1960-ca. 1965). The papers relate to the lawsuit filed by urban voters against Tennessee's Secretary of State and Attorney General in the U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee, (Civil Action No. 2724).

Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors, Inc. Records, ca. 1970-ca. 1988
A collection of organizational records of Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors, Inc., including correspondence, photographs, newsletters and topical research files created by the organization.

Century III Records, 1977-1980
Incomplete records of the Century III Commission and several of its subcommittees, documenting various facets of commemorative activities and planning for the celebration of Nashvilles first 200 years and the beginning of its third century.

David C. Morton DeFord Bailey Collection, 1927-2006 (bulk 1970-2006)
Primarily through photographs, musical recordings, interviews, and clippings, this collection documents the career and legacy of Nashville's legendary African-American harmonica player DeFord Bailey (1899-1982).

David H. Steinberg Papers, ca. 1917-1978
The materials included in this collection provide an abbreviated timeline of Nashville's transportation history from circa 1917 to the middle part of the twentieth century. This collection covers some of the major companies doing transportation-related business in Nashville such as the Nashville Railway and Light Company, the Tennessee Electric Power Company, the Tennessee Transportation Company, the Nashville Coach Company and Southern Coach Lines, Inc.

Edwin A. Price Scrapbooks, ca. 1899 through ca. 1904
A collection of two scrapbooks and a few additional unbound pages of newspaper clippings compiled by Edwin A. Price, who served as Nashville’s City Attorney and later as the Attorney General for Davidson County in the late 1890s and early 1900s, respectively. The materials document local politics and municipal city government, including numerous articles about the legal battles between railroads and streetcar companies pertaining to franchises and rights of way. Includes a few newspaper articles about American politicians William Jennings Bryan and Robert G. Ingersoll. The unbound materials are comprised of Nashville newspaper reports of the Tom Cox murder trial, spanning the dates circa Dec.10, 1903, through March 20, 1904, concerning the pistol duel between Tom Cox and Patrolman Ben Dowell.

English Speaking Union of the United States. Nashville Branch. Records, 1957-1978
The records of the Nashville (Tenn.) Branch of the English Speaking Union of the United States, 1957-1978, include financial records, administrative data, membership rosters, newsletters, clippings, and materials about visiting speakers.

Fannie Battle Day Home Records, ca. 1905-ca. 1998 (bulk 1905-1972)
The collection, spanning nearly one hundred years (ca. 1905-ca. 1998, bulk 1905-1972), documents Miss Fannie Battle's humanitarian vision to build and maintain a charitable day care facility for the care, nursing, and education of underprivileged children in the Nashville area, spanning nearly one hundred years (ca. 1905-ca. 1998, bulk 1905-1972).

Fort Family Papers, 1855-2001 (bulk 1940-1943)
This collection sketches out a larger Fort family history, but it primarily focuses on Cornelia Fort Clark (1919-1943) and her immediate family.

Francis Craig Papers, 1920-2003
Print, manuscript and audio materials document the career of Nashville's big band maestro Francis Craig (1900-1966), composer, pianist, recording star and long-time Hermitage Hotel bandleader.

Gaiete de Coeur Art and Study Club Records, 1973-2007 (bulk 1994-2006)
Records of an African-American women’s arts appreciation organization spanning the years 1973-2007 and containing yearbooks, minutes, anniversary items and correspondence. Also includes programs, brochures and ephemera related to the arts, literature and African-American culture.

Gilbert M. Orr Scrapbooks, ca. 1939-ca. 1949
A collection of two scrapbook volumes and thirty-six folders of newspaper articles and ephemera compiled by Gilbert "Gillie" M. Orr, a nationally prominent authority on the
Tennessee Walking Horse, comprised chiefly of his "Speaking of Horses" articles, a weekly
newspaper column published in the Nashville Banner during the 1940s. Includes a few photographs, ephemera, and additional publications pertaining to horse shows, horse races, equestrian riders, equine breeds, and various Tennessee stables such as the Haynes Haven Stock Farm in Spring Hill, Tennessee and the Milky Way Farms in Pulaski, Tennessee. Additional sources provide information about Shelbyville's Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration and Maury County Mule Day, as well as some articles about horse racing, show horses, equestrians, and horse breeding in the United States.

Gold-Sanderson Collection of American Popular Music, 1903-2002
Sheet music, songbooks and a photograph from the personal collection of jazz violinist Carolyn Gold document a slice of 20th century American popular music, and constitute a useful supplement to the massive Kenneth A. Kanter Collection of American Music and Theater.

Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Records, 1867 to present (bulk ca. 1950-1995)
The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Records collection contains four series of primary and secondary sources created by or collected by the Nashville Board of Realtors and the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors.

Harrison House Collection, 1841-ca. 2000 (bulk 1841-1864)
A collection of primarily 19th-centry documentary sources related to the Harrison House, the plantation home of the William Harrison family, located in Franklin in Williamson County, Tennessee.

Henry C. Hibbs Papers, 1882 – c. 1988
The papers of Henry C. Hibbs (b. 1882, d. 1949), architect and A.I.A. Fellow, document the life and career of this leading designer of academic, religious, and institutional buildings in Nashville, the south and beyond. Detailed listing of properties at Fisk University and Scarritt College represented in the collection available here.

Historic Nashville, Inc. Downtown Survey, 1977-1994 (bulk c.1980) (pdf)
Documents and photographs composing a detailed architectural and historical survey of downtown Nashville buildings, c. 1980. The area included in the survey is bounded on the east by the Cumberland River; on the west by 10th Ave.; on the north by the State Capitol; and on the south by Demonbreun Street. Documents contain detailed architectural descriptions; deed and city directory research; and other research notes. Photographs show front (street) views of most buildings, and frequently include front views taken from an angle to the side. Many properties also have photographs of architectural details, and occasionally side or rear views of a building. Nearly all photographs are of exteriors. Additional finding aid lists properties by address.

Historic Nashville, Inc. Sacred Sites Survey Project, 1946-2003 (bulk 1999-2003)
Records of the Sacred Sites Survey Project of Historic Nashville, Inc., conducted between 1999 and 2003, encompassing a survey of houses of worship in Davidson County, Tenn. over fifty years old as of 2000.  The bulk of the collection is comprised of the church survey forms and photographs of the churches. The collection also includes administrative papers which provide information about the creation and implementation of the project, including preliminary research.

Jack Knox Artist Reference Files, ca. 1932-ca. 1900 (bulk ca. 1952-ca. 1972)
The collection consists of topical subject files and photographs collected by Jack Knox, the editorial cartoonist of the Nashville Banner from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s.

Jack Knox Political Cartoon Collection, ca. 1918-ca. 1975 (bulk ca. 1946-1968)
The Jack Knox Political Cartoon Collection, spanning ca. 1918-ca. 1975, consists of 240 original editorial cartoon drawings by Jack Knox, primarily created during his career with the Nashville Banner newspaper (1946-1972).

James D. Andrews Papers
Series I. James D. Andrews Series, 1912-1943 (bulk 1928-1936)
Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and related materials written and compiled by James D. Andrews which document his efforts and advocacy for a new airport in Nashville, Tenn. in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Contains information about Blackwood Field, McConnell Field, Sky Harbor airport near Murfreesboro, and Nashville Municipal Airport, also known as Berry Field, as well as a variety of other aviation-related topics.
Series II. Frank Maxwell Andrews Series, 1908-c.1950 (bulk 1929-1943)
Manuscripts, including some correspondence, periodicals, newspaper clippings, and related materials about the military career of Army Air Corps general and Nashville, Tenn. native, Frank Maxwell Andrews, spanning the time period from 1908 to about 1950.
Series III. Miscellaneous Nashville Subjects, 1918-1941
Newsclippings spanning dates from 1918 to 1941 concerning a wide variety of subjects relating to Nashville history, including reminiscences which date from the 1880s.

Kenneth A. Kanter Collection of American Music and Theater, ca. 1840-2006
Materials include recordings, souvenir brochures, show posters, sheet music, books, and periodicals, tracing American popular music and musical theater from the mid-1800s into the twenty-first century.

Margaret Lindsley Warden Papers, circa 1897-1997
Contents include autobiography, Nashville history research notes, and early twentieth century programs from Nashville events.

Margaret Parker Performing Arts Collection, 1892-2002
Print, manuscript, and photographic materials document Nashville programs at a variety of local venues (primarily the Ryman Auditorium) between 1892 and 2002, with concentration on the years between 1945 and 1994. Materials include news clippings and reviews, ticket stubs, souvenir programs, publicity and news photos, correspondence, and personal appearance contracts between venues and performers. While most of the documented performances took place at the Ryman Auditorium, a few programs from the War Memorial Auditorium, Vanderbilt University, and the new Grand Ole Opry House are documented. These Nashville performances reflect a wide variety of styles: ballet, circus, classical concerts, popular concerts, dance, drama, and others.

Multiple Listing Service, 1968-1971
Listings of individual residential and commercial real estate properties for sale in Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson counties of Tennessee, 1968-1971.

Nashville ATHENA Award Records, 1991-2008
Records of the Nashville Athena Awards program, including annual event programs, organizational records, nominee materials, publicity, photographs, and video tapes.

Nashville Community Playhouse and Theatre Nashville Records, ca. 1950-ca. 1996
A collection of documentary sources pertaining to the history of two theatre groups of Nashville: The Community Playhouse, and Theatre Nashville. Bulk ca. 1950-ca. 1977.

Nashville Gospel Arts Day Program Records, 1983-1990
Administrative and other materials document the three-year history of Nashville Gospel Arts Day (1987-1989). Materials include planning notes, proclamations, publicity releases, grant funding requests, correspondence, performance contracts, local press coverage clippings, expense receipts, souvenir booklets, invitation lists, guest lists, and descriptive reports.

Nashville Relief Society and United Charities Records, ca. 1887-ca. 1948
A collection of official records of the Nashville Relief Society, the United Charities, the Addison Avenue Settlement Workers, Camp Thomas Social Workers, and the Fannie Battle Day Home. Bulk 1910-1942.

Nashville Room Oversize Collection, 1845-2002 (bulk 1970-1995)
Genealogical charts of prominent families and related materials; posters related to Nashville and Tennessee events and history; diplomas; certificates; photographs; and artwork.

Osta Underwood Papers, 1947-1995 (bulk 1965-1979)
The collection documents Underwood’s life through photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches, certificates, and a notebook compiled at her retirement.

Peter J. Williamson Letters, 1862-1918 (bulk 1862-1865)
The bulk of the collection dates from 1862-1865 and consists of letters from Peter J. Williamson back home to his wife, Eunice, during the Civil War. There are a few letters written by relatives, including Peter's brother, William Williamson. The collection also includes 10 letters from 1869 written by Peter J. Williamson to his wife when she was visiting relatives in California.   Williamson's war-time correspondence sheds some light on his life in various military encampments.  While there are no return letters from Eunice in the collection, Peter's letters give some insight into Eunice's plight back home, including her financial hardships, the loneliness of being without her husband and worrying about the fidelity of soldiers far from home, and dealing with two young sons on her own.

Phil Clinard Collection, c. 1985
Photographs, maps, and documents relating to Clinards interest and research on the Civil War battles of Franklin and Nashville, and his involvement with Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Sarah Foster Kelley Genealogical Papers, ca. 1897-2002 (bulk ca. 1971-ca. 1999)
The collection contains genealogical research files researched and collected by author-historian Sarah Foster Kelley, a seventh-generation descendant of General James Robertson and Charlotte Reeves Robertson.  Includes research papers documenting the lineage and family trees of pioneer Nashville families such as the Robertsons, Cockrills, Dunns, Mays, and Napiers.  Also present in the collection is a portion of Kelley’s research for her book, West Nashville:  Its People and Environs, relating to building property research files with a documentation sheet with deed information for specific homes in West Nashville.  Includes several historical publications authored by Kelley.

Scrapbooks of the Circle Players, Inc. of Nashville, Tennessee, ca. 1949-ca. 1974
The collection consists of fourteen documentary scrapbook volumes pertaining to the history of The Circle Players, Inc., spanning the dates ca. 1949-ca. 1974.

Sylvan Park Neighborhood Survey, ca. 1983
Deed research sheets and color Polaroid photographs, providing architectural and historical information about the Sylvan Park and West Nashville areas of Nashville, Tenn.

Tennessean Tribute to America Collection, 2001-2002
Readers of the Tennessean sent in essays, poems, songs, and other items to the newspaper concerning their thoughts and feelings about the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Some reflected on how their feelings have changed since that time; others wrote about their experiences on that day. Submissions came from communities throughout Middle Tennessee, including Columbia and Clarksville, although the majority of submissions were from the Nashville metropolitan area.

Tennessee Chronologies, c. 1916
Lists of Nashville and Tennessee historical minutiae.

Tennessee Players, Inc. Records, 1986-2008
Playbills, clippings, bookmarks, programs, postcards, posters, CDs, publications, and other material related to Tennessee Players, Inc. productions from 1986-2008.

Tom Tichenor Scrapbooks, ca. 1947-ca. 1988
The collection consists of three scrapbooks and miscellany related to the life and career of Nashville puppeteer Tom Tichenor (1923-1992).

Veterans History Project Collection

Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project Collection in the Special Collections Division consists of recorded interviews with local veterans, and documentary materials donated by veterans or their families. Materials in the collection include letters, memoirs, scrapbooks, unit histories and unit newsletters, photographs, oral histories and transcripts, maps, and publications.  There are several finding aids for this collection, including the main project finding aid, a finding aid by special interest categories, interview summaries, a World War II finding aid, and a “collections at a glance” table.