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Peyton, Balie
Balie Peyton, born near Gallatin, Tennessee, was an attorney and colorful political figure whose career included public service in Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; Louisiana; Chile; and California. Throug... Continue Reading »
Pillow, Gideon Johnson
Gideon J. Pillow, politician and general, was born in Williamson County and raised in Maury and Giles Counties. He received a classical education at local academies and graduated from the University o... Continue Reading »
Polk, James Knox
James K. Polk, a native of North Carolina, served one term as United States president, 1845-49; won election seven times to Congress and presided over the U.S. House as its Speaker for the last four o... Continue Reading »
Polk, Sarah Childress
Sarah Childress Polk, wife of the eleventh president of the United States, privately strengthened the role of first lady, acting as her husband's closest political ally while publicly dignifying ... Continue Reading »
Porter, James Davis
Governor and President of Peabody Normal School James D. Porter was born in Paris, Tennessee, on December 7, 1828. An 1846 graduate of the University of Nashville, Porter was admitted to the bar in 18... Continue Reading »
Priest, James Percy
Born in Maury County on April 1, 1900, James Percy Priest went to county public schools before attending classes at the teacher's college in Murfreesboro (now Middle Tennessee State University), ... Continue Reading »
Public Works Administration (PWA)
Organized with funds from the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 1933, the Public Works Administration (PWA) was one of the New Deal's several attempts to revive the nation's depressio... Continue Reading »
Pusser, Buford
Immortalized by three screen portrayals of his career, Walking Tall (1973), Walking Tall II (1976), and Walking Tall III: The Final Chapter (1977), McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser earned a reputa... Continue Reading »
Quillen, James H.
When Republican Congressman James H. Quillen decided not to seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's First Congressional District in 1996, he ended more than thirty y... Continue Reading »
Ragland, Martha Ragsdale
Martha Ragsdale Ragland, reformer in political, health, and women's issues, was born near Russellville, Kentucky. She wanted to attend law school and later run for Congress, but the Great Depress... Continue Reading »
Ramsey, James Gettys McGready
J. G. M. Ramsey made an indelible mark on the political, economic, and social development of antebellum East Tennessee. He was a physician, public official, religious leader, banker, railroad advocate... Continue Reading »
Reconstruction
In the immediate aftermath of Confederate defeat, northerners and southerners alike widely recognized two clear-cut consequences of the Federal victory in the Civil War. First, the Union had been pres... Continue Reading »
Reece, Brazilla Carroll
Congressman B. Carroll Reece was born in Butler to John Isaac and Sarah Maples Reece. He was one of thirteen children in the Reece family. Named for an ancestor, War of 1812 General Brazilla Carroll M... Continue Reading »
Rhea, John
John Rhea, pioneer, statesman, and early advocate of higher education, was born in northwest Ireland in 1753. He was the son of Joseph Rhea, a Scottish Presbyterian minister transplanted to Ireland, a... Continue Reading »
Richardson, James Daniel
James D. Richardson, prominent turn-of-the-century Democratic leader, U.S. congressman, and nationally recognized historian and editor, was born in Rutherford County on March 10, 1843. His grandparent... Continue Reading »
Roane, Archibald
Archibald Roane, second governor of Tennessee, was born in 1760 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He became a lawyer and served with distinction in the Continental Army during the Revolution. Roane a... Continue Reading »
Roberts, Albert H.
Governor Albert H. Roberts was instrumental in obtaining state ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment for woman suffrage. His highly unpopular tax reform, his use of state troops against labor, and ... Continue Reading »
Rocky Mount
Rocky Mount, the home of William Cobb, served as the first capitol of the Southwest Territory. William Blount, the governor of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio, presided over... Continue Reading »
Ross, John
John Ross, son of Daniel and Mollie McDonald Ross, was born in the fall of 1790 in present-day Cherokee County, Alabama. At the age of seven, the Ross family settled in southern Tennessee near the nor... Continue Reading »
Runyon, Marvin T.
Marvin T. Runyon, past president of Nissan, U.S.A., chairman of the board of Tennessee Valley Authority, and postmaster general, was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, on September 16, 1924. He did not become ... Continue Reading »