REMEMBERING THE TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM OF MY CHILDHOOD

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 My memories of growing up in Nashville in the 1950's and 1960's would not be complete without talking about a very special place to me. The Tennessee State Museum. This was my second home. When I lived in West Nashville I would ride the bus at a very young age by myself to my grandparents house in East Nashville. Pedophiles and other miscreants have always been around but it was a more innocent time and parents felt safe allowing kids more freedom to venture out on their own. I couldn't imagine allowing a 10 or 11 year old child to ride a city bus clear across Nashville by his or her self today. The bus transfer shelters were where Legislative Plaza is now. I would ask for a transfer ticket when I boarded the bus in West Nashville and transfer to the East Nashville bus at the transfer station. If there was time I would go to the museum before catching my bus. The State Museum took up the whole south wing of the War Memorial Building on the bottom floor. This was long before the Tennessee Performing Arts Building was built. The military portion of the museum is in the south end of the War Memorial Building today and the rest is in TPAC. Soon the museum will be in a new location in north Nashville.

 The Andrew Jackson Hotel was where TPAC is now. After my parents died on January 16, 1963, I would go to the museum every chance I got and spend hours reading about and examining every exhibit. Many of the old displays are still in TPAC or the Military Museum. For example I can still see the mummy and most of the military exhibits are the same. Sam Davis's actual boot that he carried the dispatch that he had been caught with and had been cut open by Union soldiers is still there. A few of the old exhibits are gone. Like the 10' foot polar bear. A few years ago I asked the man on duty in the military museum where the bear went to and he said it was traded to the Oak Ridge Museum for a full size replica of "Little Boy" the uranium atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. When I was 14 or 15 a friend gave me what I thought was a World War I gas mask. I took it to the museum and showed it to the curator who was a World War I veteran himself and he identified it as a German gas mask. He asked if I wanted to donate it to the museum and I did. It used to have my name and address as the donor and although it no longer has my name on it I believe it is still there. This museum had much to do with forming my love and early interest in history. I have had the pleasure of visiting many history museums over the years and I believe that our museum is one of the best in America.
Sam Davis Exhibit

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