Expansionism, Slavery, and Sectionalism

Fotouhi, David. "Expansionism, Slavery, and Sectionalism: James K. Polk and American Enlargement under the Fluctuating Forces of Manifest Destiny." Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal [Online] Vol. 2, No. 0 (12 August 2006) Available: http://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/vurj/viewarticle.php?id=55.

Abstract:
This article explores the relationship between President James K. Polk’s progressive ambition in the national electorate and the geographic expansion of the United States, particularly with regard to the social and religious foundations for manifest destiny in the public conscience. The author finds that manifest destiny played a central role in President James K. Polk’s successful campaign for the White House as well as his handling of foreign and domestic affairs.

They Moved the Earth

Broderick IV, Thomas. "They Moved the Earth: The Slaves Who Built the Tennessee State Capitol." Vanderbilt Undergraduate Research Journal [Online] Vol. 4, No. 0 (3 June 2008) Available: http://ejournals.library.vanderbilt.edu/vurj/viewarticle.php?id=95. Abstract: By utilizing primary and secondary source material, this essay attempts to examine both the use of slavery during the construction of the Tennessee State Capitol and the lives of the slaves involved. Though written histories on the Capitol agree that slavery was used at the construction site, no further details are given. The goal of this essay is to bring to light the full story of the group of slaves that were involved in the construction. In the spring of 1846, fifteen slaves, all men, were loaned to the state government by A.G. Payne, a Nashville stone mason. For nearly a year they carved out the Capitol’s cellar, their skilled labor worth nearly twice as much as the unskilled labor of free men. These slaves broke through tons of limestone rock, carting it away after digging. When construction required skilled stonemasons, the slaves returned to their master’s properties. For fourteen years up until Payne’s death, they worked at both a farm and brick factory, the monotony briefly punctuated by being hired out. Due to debts incurred by Payne just before his death, the slaves were to be sold. The Civil War imminent, the slaves remained with Payne’s widow until their emancipation. After emancipation, the records on all but three of the men stop completely. Out of the three remaining men, the children of one were prospering. They had been taught to read. The government their father had helped physically build was finally working for their interests.

Political campaigns

Governor for All Tennessee, It Has to Be Dunn (Albert Gore Research Center)

Have political campaigns changed? Check out the campaign brochures and letters in Volunteer Voices for a historical perspective.
See campaign brochures for Shelton Edwards (1948), Frank Clement (1952), John Bragg (1968), Bill Brock (1970), and Ben Hall McFarlin (1976). Correspondence also documents elections at the state and national levels. In one letter from 1884, Church Howe asks for O.P. Temple's help and advice in making Tennessee vote Republican.

Scopes Trial

Volunteer Voices includes music scores from the Center for Popular Music (MTSU), documents and photographs from the Tennessee State Library and Archives, as well as photographs from Bryan College and the University of Tennessee Libraries. View Scopes Trial items.

Image caption: Monkey-Biznizz (Center for Popular Music, MTSU)

Learn more:
Scopes Trial (Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture)

Rosenwald Schools

More than 5,300 Rosenwald schools and auxiliary buildings were constructed between 1912 and 1932. A recent article in USA Today, Partnership to preserve places of black opportunity
notes the historical significance of these schools. The article also highlights a joint initiative by National Trust for Historic Preservation and Lowe's to restore 17 Rosenwald schools, including two schools (Gallatin and Pikeville) in Tennessee.


Image credit: Ingram Rosenwald School (Tennessee State Library and Archives)

Early 20th Century Schoolhouses
(TeVA, Tennessee State Library and Archives) includes a selection of photographs of Rosenwald schools and other rural schools in Tennessee. Interested in learning more about Rosenwald schools? Check out Mary Hoffschwelle's book, The Rosenwald Schools of the American South (University Press of Florida, 2006).

40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's Death

The Memphis Commercial Appeal's excellent web site, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 1968, includes the newspaper's stories and photographs from 1968 that document the sanitation worker's strike, King's assassination, memorial service, and efforts by the National Guard to restore peace.
Volunteer Voices includes 75 photos from the 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike collection (University of Memphis Special Collections), as well as a several documents related to the assassination of King.

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps was established 75 years ago this month. See the article about the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Tennessean (March 19), Boys of 'Roosevelt's Tree Army' helped build bridges, roads, parks


C.C.C. workers from Co. 1473 splitting logs at Camp Evan Shelby
(Tennessee State Library and Archives)

After reading history articles like this one, it's very easy to search the Volunteer Voices database to see if relevant primary source materials appear. In this case, Volunteer Voices includes the Civilian Conservation Corps in Tennessee, 1933-1942 collection from the Tennessee State Library and Archives.



Camp Tenn., TVA 29 Christmas 1936 Menu and Roster (Tennessee State Library and Archives)

In addition to a very nice collection of photographs, yearbooks, and documents, you will find a number of unexpected treasures. In the newspaper article, Robert L. Griffin recalls, "I ate better in the CCC than I was getting at home." The menus for Christmas and Thanksgiving seem to support Mr. Griffin's view.