- Ruby Falls
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ruby Falls is one of Chattanooga's major tourist attractions. Its entrance is situated in a medieval-style stone edifice, Cavern Castle, locate... Continue Reading »
- Rudolph, Wilma (1940-1994) and the Tsu Tigerbelles
- The Tigerbelles Women's Track club at Tennessee State University became the state's most internationally accomplished athletic team in the mid-twentieth century. The sprinters won some twent... Continue Reading »
- Rudy’s Farm
- Rudy's Farm, once home to the Rudy Sausage Company, was a family operation dating back to 1881. Daniel Rudy made and sold his own sausage in Nashville on a farm near the railroad on Lebanon Road.... Continue Reading »
- Rugby
- A Victorian-era village at the northern tip of Morgan County, Rugby was founded by a company of British and American capitalists who cleverly traded on the popularity of Thomas Hughes, a noted English... Continue Reading »
- Rugel, Ferdinand
- Ferdinand Rugel was a professional field botanist who primarily collected in the Southern Appalachians, Florida, and Cuba. His collections were sold in Europe, mainly through Robert James Shuttleworth... 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 »
- Rural African American Church Project
- The Rural African American Church Project seeks to identify and document historic African American churches located in rural areas throughout Tennessee. Administered by the Center for Historic Preserv... Continue Reading »
- Ruskin Cooperative Association
- The Ruskin Cooperative Association (RCA) existed in Dickson County from 1894 until 1899. Established at Tennessee City, the colony soon moved five miles away to a site by a large cave on Yellow Creek ... Continue Reading »
- Russell, Fred McFerrin
- Born August 27, 1906, and raised in Wartrace, Tennessee, Fred McFerrin Russell was known to thousands of readers for his “Sidelines” column in the Nashville Banner. Russell first entered T... Continue Reading »
- Rutherford County
- Created in 1803, Rutherford County came from sections of Davidson, Wilson, Williamson, and Sumner Counties and is named in honor of Griffith Rutherford, an Irish immigrant who served on the council of... Continue Reading »
- Rutherford, Griffith
- Griffith Rutherford was born in Ireland in 1720. Soon after his birth his parents took voyage to America. Unfortunately, both of his parents died at sea, and Griffith arrived in America a homeless orp... Continue Reading »
- Rutledge Smith
- Rutledge Smith enjoyed careers in journalism, banking, and railroads. He was called "Major" by most people and was best known for his role in preparing the state for mobilization in both Wor... Continue Reading »
- Rye, Thomas Clarke
- Governor Thomas C. Rye was born in a log cabin in 1863 to Wayne and Elizabeth Atchison Rye of Benton County. Growing up on his father's farm, he attended county public schools. After studying law... Continue Reading »
- Ryman Auditorium
- Built as the Union Gospel Tabernacle between 1888 and 1892, Nashville's Ryman Auditorium gained international renown from 1943 to 1974 as home to the Grand Ole Opry, the premier live country musi... Continue Reading »
- Safford, James Merrill
- James M. Safford was a geologist, chemist, and professor in Tennessee from 1848-1900. Originally, his highest qualification was training in the famous chemistry lab at Yale, but his fame is from geolo... Continue Reading »
- Sam Houston Schoolhouse
- In 1792, according to tradition, a North Carolina Revolutionary War veteran named Andrew Kennedy settled with his family on a parcel of land along Little River near Maryville in Blount County. Sometim... Continue Reading »
- Sanders, Newell
- Born in 1850 in Indiana, Newell Sanders moved as an adult to Chattanooga at the encouragement of General John T. Wilder. Recognizing the need in the South for reliable farm machinery, Wilder encourage... Continue Reading »
- Sanford, Edward Terry
- An influential Tennessee lawyer, civic leader, orator, and U.S. Supreme Court justice, Edward T. Sanford was born in Knoxville on July 23, 1865, the eldest of six children whose wealthy parents stress... Continue Reading »
- Sasser, James Ralph
- Attorney, U.S. Senator, and Ambassador to the People's Republic of China James R. Sasser was born in Memphis in 1936, the son of Joseph Ralph and Mary Nell Gray Sasser. He attended the public sch... Continue Reading »
- Saturn Corporation
- On July 31, 1985, Governor Lamar Alexander announced that a new General Motors company--Saturn--would build a giant industrial complex in Spring Hill, a small town located thirty miles south of Nashvi... Continue Reading »
- Saunders, Clarence
- Clarence Saunders changed the way people buy their groceries. In his innovative Piggly Wiggly self-service stores no clerks fetched groceries for customers. Instead shoppers selected from items placed... Continue Reading »
- Savage Gulf State Natural Area
- The largest and most significant portion of the South Cumberland State Recreation Area is the Savage Gulf State Natural Area. Located on the Cumberland Plateau in Grundy County, Savage Gulf contains a... Continue Reading »
- Savage, John Houston
- John H. Savage, congressman, state legislator, and veteran of three wars, was born at McMinnville on October 9, 1815, the son of George and Elizabeth Kenner Savage. Savage attended common schools and ... Continue Reading »
- Scarbrough, W. Carl
- International president of the United Furniture Workers, W. Carl Scarbrough was born in Henderson, the son of Joseph Scarbrough, a farmer. Scarbrough graduated from Chester County High School in 1952 ... Continue Reading »
- Scarritt College for Christian Workers
- Scarritt College was moved from its original home in Kansas City, Missouri, to Nashville in 1923. Established as an institution to train women missionaries by the United Methodist Church, the school w... Continue Reading »
- Schermerhorn, Kenneth Dewitt
- Music director and conductor for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (NSO) from 1983 until his death in 2005, Kenneth DeWitt Schermerhorn is credited with leading the orchestra to national prominence. Hi... Continue Reading »
- Science and Technology
- The history of science and technology in Tennessee dates to the early settlement era when explorers recognized the geological and botanical diversity of the state. Soon after the initial tasks associa... Continue Reading »
- Scott County
- The location of Scott County on the Cumberland Plateau abutting the Tennessee-Kentucky state line makes for beautiful landscape, poor soil for farming, and a small population. The region is blanketed ... Continue Reading »
- Scott, Evelyn
- Novelist and essayist Evelyn Scott was born Elsie Dunn in Clarksville on January 17, 1893, the only child of Seely and Maude Thomas Dunn. After living in Clarksville as a young child, she moved to New... Continue Reading »
- Second Army (Tennessee) Maneuvers
- In the autumn of 1942, the War Department decided to resume field maneuvers in Middle Tennessee. Large-scale war games had been conducted in an area around Camp Forrest, near Tullahoma, the previous s... Continue Reading »
- Seeing Eye, Inc.
- Seeing Eye, Inc., a New Jersey-based corporation that enhances the independence and dignity of blind people through the training and use of "Seeing Eye" dogs, traces its roots to Nashville a... Continue Reading »
- Senter, Dewitt Clinton
- Dewitt Senter, farmer, state legislator, and governor, was born in McMinn County on March 26, 1832, the son of William T. Senter, a Methodist minister, and Nancy White Senter. He attended the public s... Continue Reading »
- Sequatchie County
- On December 9, 1857, the Tennessee General Assembly created Sequatchie County from a section of Hamilton County and named Dunlap as the county seat. Europeans first settled in the area in 1806. The la... Continue Reading »
- Sequoyah
- Sequoyah, the originator of the Cherokee syllabary, was born in the Cherokee town of Tuskegee (or Taskigi) on the Little Tennessee River in what is now Monroe County. The son of Nathaniel Gist (or Gue... Continue Reading »
- Settlement Schools
- At the end of the nineteenth century no universally accepted standards or requirements for any level of education existed in the South. Defeated in the Civil War and their economies devastated, the so... Continue Reading »
- Sevier County
- Located in East Tennessee, Sevier County has the distinction of having three birthdays: in 1785 under the State of Franklin, in 1794 under the Southwest Territory, and in 1796 under the State of Tenne... Continue Reading »
- Sevier, Catherine Sherrill
- Also known as "Bonnie Kate," Catherine S. Sevier was the wife of John Sevier (1745-1815), Revolutionary War hero, Indian fighter, governor of the State of Franklin, and first governor of Tennessee. Le... Continue Reading »
- Sevier, John
- John Sevier, pioneer, soldier, statesman and a founder of the Republic, was Tennessee's first governor and one of its most illustrious citizens. Married and on his own at age sixteen, he was in t... Continue Reading »
- Shape-Note Singing
- Shape-note singing, a predominantly rural, Protestant, Anglo-American music tradition, involves singing from hymnals or "tunebooks" having shaped notes (aka "character notes," &quo... Continue Reading »
- Sharecropping
- Technically defined, sharecropping is a land and labor arrangement whereby an individual or family receives a stipulated proportion of the crops produced on a particular plot of land in return for the... Continue Reading »
- Sharp, Aaron J. "Jack"
- Jack Sharp, internationally acclaimed botanist and author of over two hundred publications, was born in Plain City, Ohio, on July 29, 1904, the son of Prentice Daniel H. Sharp and Maude Herriott Sharp... Continue Reading »
- Shaver, Samuel M.
- Portraitist Samuel M. Shaver was born in Sullivan County, the son of David Shaver and Catherine (Barringer) Shaver. He may have been influenced by William Harrison Scarborough (1812-1871), a native-bo... Continue Reading »
- Shavin House
- The only dwelling designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Tennessee is the Shavin House in Chattanooga. In 1949 newlyweds Gerte and Seamour Shavin contacted Frank Lloyd Wright to design a home for them on M... Continue Reading »
- Shawnees
- The Shawnees, the most southerly located of all the Algonquian tribes, are one of several tribes who speak the Central Algonquian dialect. In most Algonquian languages they are called Shawunogi, which... Continue Reading »
- Shelby County
- The Tennessee General Assembly established Shelby County on November 24, 1819, just a little over a year after the "Jackson Purchase" and Chickasaw treaty freed West Tennessee from Indian cl... Continue Reading »
- Shelby, Isaac
- Isaac Shelby, early Tennessee settler, Revolutionary War veteran, and governor of Kentucky, was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1750 to Evan and Letitia Cox Shelby, who moved their family to Sapling ... Continue Reading »
- Shelby, John
- A significant figure in Tennessee’s early medical history, John Shelby submitted a medical dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania “On Gunshot Wounds,” the interest of a true ... Continue Reading »
- Shelbyville Mills
- In 1852 Gillen, Webb, and Company established Sylvan Mills on the Duck River outside of Shelbyville as a woven cotton fabric mill. It produced fabric from raw cotton throughout the late nineteenth and... Continue Reading »
- Shiloh, Battle of
- In February 1862 a Union army-navy offensive succeeded in capturing Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, located respectively on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, near the Tennessee-Kentucky border, and t... Continue Reading »
- Shofner, Austin Conner
- Brigadier General Austin C. Shofner, retired, a native of Bedford County, was a career Marine Corps officer and soldier in World War II. Shofner's heroic exploits in the Philippines--his escape f... Continue Reading »
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