Resources in African American History at the Tennessee State Library & Archives

Slave auctions

http://www.tn.gov/tsla   Fisk University, 1868

The Fisk Jubilee Singers helped make the nation aware of African American achievement. From the Merl Eppse Papers

The 15th Amendment generated many political cartoons.

Images from TSLA Photo Database http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

This Carte de Visite shows a child with her slave nurse.

Civil War

Jack Knox Cartoons

TSLA also has important photos and documents from the Civil Rights era. Images from TSLA Photo Database

Nat Turner’s Rebellion as portrayed in newspapers of the time

Wessyngton Plantation, Robertson County

The Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) contains a wealth of historic images from the treasures in our collection. It is accessible from our main web page. http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

The Harry Mustard Collection pictures Rutherford County in the mid-1920s.

The Mustard Collection focuses on health issues, as in this photo of children receiving vaccinations

and this delightful photo of a child visiting a health clinic.

Mustard’s images brought changes in Tennessee health standards.

Other relevant TeVA images may be found in “Early 20th Century Schoolhouses”

The Rosenwald schools, a vital part of early black education in Tennessee, were funded by a private foundation, as well as by contributions from private donors and some state funds. Bells School, Crockett County

Other TN Rosenwald schools Lauderdale County Crockett County White County Gibson County

Many other TSLA collections contain remarkable photographs. Photo of Brushy Mountain Prison from Samuel Robert Simpson Papers

Sketches and drawings can provide important information about life in earlier times. Here are some details from a Harper’s article about the prison experience.

Prisons housed both male and female inmates.

This drawing foreshadows the Brushy Mountain Prison photograph seen earlier in the presentation.

Our Cartes de Visite collection is full of treasures like this lovely portrait.

Our online “Exhibits” area showcases the stories of the 14 African American legislators who served in the Tennessee General Assembly during the 19th century. http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

Early Tennessee legislators:

The Education Outreach area of the TSLA website features “Teaching American History,” a set of digitized primary sources (with interpretive text) linked to the 10 eras of history designated by the State Department of Education.

Tennessee Supreme Court, 1894

One of the most interesting photo collections at TSLA can be found in the Merl Eppse Papers, featuring images of cultural, educational, and recreational life in Tennessee. cd

Businesses of the 1940s and 1950s

A Pearl High School basketball team

Business class at Tennessee A&I

Young stenographers (undated photo)

The Tennessee A&I History Study Club traveled to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933

Ceremonies

Social gatherings

The Eppse collection also includes photos of several famous African Americans, including Hattie McDaniel, Louis Armstrong, and Jackie Robinson.

TSLA holdings include a number of drawings and political cartoons, 1866 Memphis riots

Fire in Freedmen’s Schoolhouse, Memphis, 1866

This Harper’s Weekly cartoon shows Hiram Revels, the first black Senator, elected to Jefferson Davis’s former seat.

From Harper’s Magazine, May 5, 1866: “Colored Orphan Asylum, Memphis From Harper’s Magazine, May 5, 1866: “Colored Orphan Asylum, Memphis.” TSLA Photo Database

The Earl S. Miers River Photographs are part of the rich TeVA Collection. http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

Roustabouts http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

This is a favorite from the Miers Collection. http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

The Fisk University scrapbook of W. H. Fort Jr The Fisk University scrapbook of W.H. Fort Jr. contains many historically valuable images. These photos show Langston Hughes on campus and a Nashville flood in 1926.

Our photographic database, accessible from the TSLA home page, contains a wide variety of historic images. http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

Images from TSLA Photo Database Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) Ray Perkins Calvert photo, 1899 Sumner County, 1950

from Photo Database http://www.tn.gov/tsla/

Pikeville School for Colored Boys, 1930s

Did you know that Tennessee did not ratify the 15th Amendment until 1997?

Visit us soon – we have many more surprises Visit us soon – we have many more surprises! __________________ Tennessee State Library & Archives 403 7th Avenue North, Nashville 37243