TN History for Kids
TN History for Kids: Zollicoffer remembered for duel, Civil War fate
By Bill Carey/Tennessee History for Kids TN History for Kids: Zollicoffer remembered for duel, Civil War fate The next time you’re in Nashville, visit the City Cemetery. There you will find the graves of no less than four Civil War generals—one of whom is Felix Zollicoffer. Zollicoffer was born in Columbia, Tennessee, and was trained…
Read MoreTN History for Kids: Ruskin commune made home in Dickson County
By Bill Carey/Tennessee History for Kids TN History for Kids: Ruskin commune made home in Dickson County Just when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes the following anecdote: Over a century ago, Dickson County was home to one of the world’s most famous communes. It was started by Julius Wayland, publisher of one…
Read MoreTN History for Kids: They still make pencils in Pencil City USA
By Bill Carey/Tennessee History for Kids TN History for Kids: They still make pencils in Pencil City USA I had my notebook open and pencil in hand not long ago, trying to come up with an idea for a new column. I suddenly realized it was right in front of my face. You see, it…
Read MoreTN History for Kids: From Textbook Photo to a Book about Slavery
TN History for Kids: From Textbook Photo to a Book about Slavery By Bill Carey/Tennessee History for Kids It started when John Baker was a seventh grader at Westside Elementary School in Springfield. While paging through his social studies book, he was drawn to an 1891 photo that showed four older people in front…
Read MoreTN HISTORY FOR KIDS: Eight things that make Andrew Johnson a fascinating person
TN HISTORY FOR KIDS: Eight things that make Andrew Johnson a fascinating person We in Tennessee talk more about Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk than we do Andrew Johnson. Therefore, I’ve come up with a list of things that make this much-maligned president from Greeneville, Tennessee, a fascinating person: When he was nine, Johnson’s…
Read MoreTennessee History For Kids: 51 years ago, Nixon gave Elvis a Badge
Tennessee History For Kids: 51 years ago, Nixon gave Elvis a Badge On December 21, 1970, a White House photographer snapped a photograph of Elvis Presley and Richard Nixon together in the Oval Office. Today, that photograph is the most requested image in the National Archives. So what’s the story behind this meeting? According to…
Read MoreTennessee History For Kids: The Canal that Nearly Changed Tennessee History
Tennessee History For Kids: The Canal that Nearly Changed Tennessee History By Bill Carey Tennessee’s eighth grade students learn about the Erie Canal—the artificial body of water that connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes. They also learn that the Erie Canal is largely responsible for making New York the largest city in America.…
Read MoreTennessee History For Kids: Fried Chicken, the Colonel and the Nashville businessman
Tennessee History For Kids: Fried Chicken, the Colonel and the Nashville businessman By Bill Carey You may not have heard of the late Nashville businessman Jack Massey. But if it weren’t for Massey, you probably never would have heard of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Born in Georgia in 1904, Massey moved…
Read MoreTennessee History For Kids: The Vanishing remains of the first road across the Plateau
Tennessee History For Kids: The Vanishing remains of the first road across the Plateau By Bill Carey Tennessee likes to boast about old structures it has preserved and historical markers it has erected. However, in terms of remembering migration routes, our state could do a much better job. The first road across the Cumberland Plateau…
Read MoreTennessee History For Kids: “Doctor Woman” became a legend on the Cumberland Plateau
Tennessee History For Kids: By Bill Carey/Tennessee History for Kids “Doctor Woman” became a legend on the Cumberland Plateau By Bill Carey If people who lived in Tennessee 100 years ago could speak to us today, they’d tell us we are spoiled.…
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