Publications

Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

       The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, a partnership project of the Tennessee Historical Society (THS), the Tennessee Historical Commission, and the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation, was released in August of 1998. A special bicentennial project of the THS, the Tennessee Encyclopedia was also supported by individuals, private foundations across the state, and the Tennessee General Assembly, with design and distribution assistance from Rutledge Hill Press.

       The volume of over 1000 pages includes 1506 entries, color and black and white photographs and illustrations, on topics ranging from African Americans to architecture, politics to poetry, recreation to religion, and science to sports. Anyone with a question on Tennessee will find this indexed publication a valuable reference.

Encyclopedia Staff:

• Carroll Van West, Editor-in-Chief
  
• Connie Lester, Associate Editor
  
• Margaret Binnicker, Assistant Editor
  
• Anne-Leslie Owens, Assistant Editor
  
• Susan Gordon, Assistant Editor
  

       The word "volunteer" is the best way to describe the way that many Tennesseans stepped up and made invaluable contributions to the Encyclopedia, The editors asked every county historian in Tennessee to prepare a county history that identified important people and events in each individual county. They also surveyed all literature published about Tennessee in book form or in historical and other associated journals since 1985, in order to identify the scholars doing the best and most timely research on the state's history and culture. Finally, the editors asked the board members of the Tennessee Historical Society, the editorial board members of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, and a select group of scholars which formed the Encyclopedia Advisory Committee, chaired by Dr. Don H. Doyle of Vanderbilt University, to review the developing entry list periodically and to suggest additional authors and topics for the encyclopedia. The end result of everyone's labors is a comprehensive book about the distinguished Tennesseans, and key events and places, that have shaped the state's history from the prehistoric period to modern times.

Inquiries about ordering the book should be directed to:

Ann Toplovich
Executive Director
Tennessee Historical Society
Ground Floor, War Memorial Building
Nashville, Tennessee, 37243

Inquiries about the book's content should be emailed to Carroll Van West.

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