State Library and Archives Exhibits Go on the Road

Visitors to Collierville’s public library can learn about some of the state’s most horrific natural and human-caused disasters from an exhibit on loan from the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

The “Disasters in Tennessee” exhibit will be on display at the Lucius E. and Elsie C. Burch, Jr. Library, 501 Poplar View Parkway in Collierville, through the end of February.

The free exhibit chronicles major natural disasters such as the New Madrid earthquake of 1811, the blizzard of 1951, as well as train wrecks, disease outbreaks and the sinking of the Sultana steamboat in the Mississippi River near Memphis.

The library is open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Gibson County High School also has an exhibit on loan from the State Library and Archives concerning the women’s suffrage movement’s history in Tennessee. That exhibit, located in the school library, is also available for public viewing during regular school hours.

“It is one of my goals to expand the definition that Tennesseans have of our State Library and Archives,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. “It’s more than a building in downtown Nashville. It’s a treasure trove of historical resources that we want to make more accessible to people throughout the state through online exhibits, traveling exhibits and other outreach programs. I encourage citizens to visit these traveling exhibits and to explore the State Library and Archives’ online collections of materials, which are available free of charge year-round and around the clock.”

If you are interested in learning more about the traveling exhibits available for display, please e-mail: Exhibits.TSLA@tn.gov.