Your Tennessee State Museum (TSM) has special offerings during May — a new TN Writers | TN Stories presentation, a Lunch & Learn event, and the annual Tennessee Statehood Day Celebration .
Saturday, May 10 at 10:30 a.m., John P. Williams discusses “Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist” (Acclaim Press) in conversation with Clay Bailey. The name Montgomery Bell is well known to residents of Davidson County and the greater Middle Tennessee region. Montgomery Bell State Park is located in Dickson County, forty minutes west of Nashville, and Nashville is home to Montgomery Bell Academy. Both were named for the successful 19th Century industrialist and iron master, who moved to the Cumberland River region about 1802 and helped make Tennessee the third highest iron-producing state by the mid-1800s. “Montgomery Bell” is the first full – length biography of Bell, written almost 170 years after his death in 1855.
John P. Williams is a graduate of Montgomery Bell Academy, Davidson College, and Vanderbilt Law School. He has practiced law in Tennessee since 1972 and is currently Of Counsel with the firm Tune, Entrekin & White. He is a frequent contributor to legal and historical journals. This is his first book.
Dr. Clay Bailey is a history professor at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville.
Thursday, May 15, 12:00 Noon – 1:00 p.m., Lunch and Learn: “Name It and Take It: Kasper Mansker and the Long Hunters of Tennessee,” Part of Tennessee’s America 250 commemoration. Before Tennessee was settled, an intrepid group of hunters and explorers — known as the long hunters — ventured into the uncharted wilderness of the trans-Appalachian frontier. Their journeys helped map the land, introduced them to Indigenous peoples, and shaped the early settlement of Tennessee. This presentation, drawn from his forthcoming book, will highlight the remarkable stories of figures like Kasper Mansker, exploring their role in frontier expansion, mythmaking, and the lasting impact they left on the state’s history.
Gordon Belt is an author, public historian, and Director of Public Services for the Tennessee State Library & Archives with more than two decades of experience in historical research and public outreach. He is the author of “John Sevier: Tennessee’s First Hero.”
Tennessee Statehood Day Celebration 2025 is May 31, from 10:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.. Celebrate Tennessee’s 229th birthday a day earlier this year on Saturday, May 31 with free, family-friendly activities Tennessee State Library & Archives (TSLA), TSM, and Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. A complete schedule will be available on each participating agency’s or department’s website.
TSM will open at 10 a.m. to the public and offer highlight tours, a Storytime with reigning Miss Tennessee Carley Vogel, period games on the front lawn, and a cupcake celebration. Highlight Tours will be provided at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Vogel will read in the Children’s Gallery at 10:30 a.m. The cupcake celebration, which will include Vogel reading the Tennessee State poem, “Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee” by Commander William Porter Lawrence, will begin at noon in the Museum’s Grand Hall.
TSLA showcases Tennessee’s founding documents and new exhibits, and also host living history interpreters and indoor and outdoor activities — including a scavenger hunt. Tennessee’s three priceless original constitutions will be displayed, guarded by the Tennessee Highway Patrol Honor Guard as part of the opening ceremony at TSLA. See the full Library schedule at https://sos.tn.gov/tsla/plan-your-visit.
Park rangers will offer free guided tours of Bicentennial Mall State Park.
