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Nashville & Selma
Watching the new movie Selma was like seeing Nashville’s Civil Rights “All Stars”: James Bevel, Diane Nash, C.T. Vivian, John Lewis, Bernard LaFayette are all depicted in the film. To be sure, the...
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Popmatic Podcast February 18th, 2015: Rutherford B. Hayes was a Werewolf
The library is an educational institution; therefore, we spend most of our President’s Day episode talking about conspiracy theories and werewolves. Duh. Our post-Grammys discussion devolves to...
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There’s No Time Like Snow Time
February 6, 1979 As we experienced the icy weather of the last week, Megan (guest blogger) and I decided to dig up some memories of Nashville snowstorms of the past. The following images and captions...
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Paul LaPrad: Civil Rights Activist
The Civil Rights Movement is often presented as a battle for equality that pitted all blacks against all whites. And, from afar, this is true. But, in Nashville and throughout the country, there were...
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Book review: Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio
Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio by Jeffrey Kluger Ok, how interesting can a book on researching a cure for polio, a non-threat in this century, be? Very! This is a thriller even...
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Book review: Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip By Matthew Algeo Harry Truman left office in 1953, before ex-Presidents had Secret Service protection or pensions. With...
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Book review: 1491
1491 By Charles C. Mann Ancient histories rarely read like detective stories, but Charles Mann is travelling the globe investigating the origins of the Americas. In 1491, Mann hunts down the latest...
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Book list: LGBTQ History
Like many, I am anxiously awaiting the publication of Larry Kramer’s The American People: A History which is set to be released in 2012. That book is sure to be equal parts insight and controversy....
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Book review: Island of Vice
Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York by Richard Zacks This is the first nonfiction history book I’ve ever read that had me laughing out loud numerous times....
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Book Review: My Dear Governess and The Age of Desire
For you fans of Edith Wharton, there have been two great books recently released that explore her relationship with her governess Anna Bahlmann. Both of these authors recently gave a talk at the...
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The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest
The Philistine explodes bomb-bombs to fire the bum-bums and the should-be dumb-dumbs . . . The good stuph is gathered every month by Elbert Hubbard, plucked sizzling from the fiery furnace, and put in...
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Survey Graphic Magazine and the Harlem Renaissance
While helping some high school students research the Harlem Renaissance, I discovered that Nashville Public Library owns the March 1925 “Graphic Number” of The Survey magazine. This volume was a...
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Historic Nashville Inc. Downtown Survey
Historic Nashville, Inc., (HNI) documents and preserves the cultural, historical, and architectural heritage of Nashville. HNI has been instrumental in saving some of Nashville’s most iconic and...
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Hume-Fogg History
Fogg School Class of 1902. As the school year comes to a close, many families are thinking about more than just summer vacation. Thousands of seniors throughout Davidson County will graduate this month...
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Nashville and Old Glory
Flag Day (June 14) is just around the corner, and although not as widely observed as other patriotic holidays, it’s a good opportunity to examine Nashville’s unique contribution to flag history by...
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Immigrant Heritage Month
June is Immigrant Heritage Month, a time to look at the diversity and similarities in our community and revel in the ways that we all come together. Sometimes finding our immigrant ancestors involves...
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Popmatic Podcast for June 24th, 2015: Regency, or Sense and Snarfibility
The Regency period looms disproportionately large in any public library collection. We’ll clue you in as to why. Amanda challenges listeners to give her a reason to read Jane Austen. And we ask you,...
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Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues
Legendary blues singer Bessie Smith was born in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She performed on the vaudeville circuit and was one of the first African American vocalists to be recorded (along with...
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Book review: The American People
The American People Volume 1, Search For My Heart by Larry Kramer Kramer has teased readers with this work for thirty years. Four years ago, I mentioned I was anxious for it come out. All 775 pages of...
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Savor Summer: Chefs and the Community
The kitchen was the gathering place in my home growing up so food always plays prominently in my family memories, like the way eating a chocolate chip cookie always feels like getting a great big hug!...
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