This month, the Tennessee State Museum (TSM) presents TN Writers | TN Stories: Joe Pagetta, “The Apostle of Tennessee: The Indefatigable Life and Ministry of Father Aloysius Orengo” (Vanderbilt University Press) with Katie Peterson on Saturday, September 12, 2026, from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM. The following Thursday, September 17, 2026, from 12:00 Noon – 1:00 PM TSM presents Lunch and Learn: “The Battle of King’s Mountain: Tennessee and the War for Independence” with Dr. David Coffey. Then, on Friday, September September 18, 2026 @ 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, a special Lunch and Learn, entitled “AmericanaFest: Root Keepers: Black Music Stewardship & the Infrastructure of Legacy.”
When Nashville became a Catholic diocese in 1837, it was mostly an aspirational exercise. The few Catholics scattered throughout the state were ministered to only occasionally by missionary priests who traveled by horseback from Kentucky. It is believed that Hugh Rogan, who arrived in Middle Tennessee in 1780 after working as a surveyor for the Continental Army, did not see a priest for 50 years. That all changed when the Italian-born Father Aloysius “Luigi” Orengo arrived in Nashville in 1848. He traveled all over the state, sleeping in the woods, using his saddle for a pillow, and eating cheese and crackers. He is credited with building churches in Franklin, Columbia, Pulaski, East Nashville, Tracy City, Gallatin, Humboldt, Brownsville, Grand Junction, Covington, Jackson, and McEwen. But for as influential as he was, Father Orengo’s story remained untold, until now.
Joe Pagetta began his career writing for the Jersey Journal in his hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey, and has called Nashville, Tennessee, home for close to thirty years. His personal essays and writings on faith and culture have appeared in America: The Jesuit Review, Ambassador Magazine, Today’s American Catholic, Chapter 16, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, and Tennessee Home & Farm. He currently serves as the director of communications for the Tennessee State Museum. Katie Peterson has been a journalist with the Diocese of Nashville’s Communications Office since August 2021, writing and taking photographs for the Tennessee Register newspaper, the quarterly Catholic Awakenings magazine, and NashvilleCatholic.org, and is Associate Editor and Multimedia Journalist.
The Battle of King’s Mountain was a small but consequential engagement fought in South Carolina in October 1780, as part of the larger Southern Campaign. It involved, almost exclusively, American combatants — Patriot militia, many from what would become Tennessee, led by Colonel Isaac Shelby, versus a Loyalist (Tory) force under British Major Patrick Ferguson. Dr. David Coffey will discuss this stunning Patriot victory that helped change the trajectory of the War for American Independence on Thursday, September 17.
Friday, September 18, enjoy a very special Lunch and Learn, entitled “AmericanaFest: Root Keepers: Black Music Stewardship & the Infrastructure of Legacy.” Americana has long drawn from the well of Black musical tradition — gospel, blues, sacred song, and the sounds born from Nashville’s historic Jefferson Street and the churches and communities that surrounded it. But drawing from a well is not the same as protecting it. While recent conversations have addressed Black artist visibility in Americana spaces, a quieter question remains: who is doing the institutional work of preserving, honoring, and building infrastructure around the Black musical traditions that make this genre possible?
Part of the AmericanaFest lineup, this panel brings together scholars, curators, institution – builders, and industry professionals to examine what active stewardship of Black music legacy looks like — organizationally, financially, and culturally. The conversation moves past representation into responsibility: what does the industry owe the traditions it celebrates, and what models already exist in Nashville that Americana should know about? September is Gospel Music Heritage Month — no coincidence AmericanaFest convenes the same month. Panelists include Gina Waters Miller (Moderator), Dr. Ambre Dromgoole, Dr. Bryan Pierce, Shannon Sanders, and Lorenzo Washington.
