The West Tennessee Delta
Heritage Center, Brownsville, will host the Tennessee State Museum traveling
exhibition "Becoming the Volunteer State: Tennessee in the War of 1812"
Dec. 19 - Feb. 3, 2014. The exhibit commemorates the war's 200th anniversary
and features artifacts, maps and an indepth exploration of the significant role
of Tennessee and its people in this important chapter in history.
Curator
Myers Brown will lead a tour of the exhibition and answer questions at an
opening reception Thursday, Dec. 19, beginning at 6 p.m. Brown is an Archivist
with the Tennessee State Library and Chair of the Tennessee War of 1812
Bicentennial Commission.
After years of
escalating tensions, the United States declared war on Great Britain on June
18, 1812, the war culminated with the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815. By
the time the war was over several Tennesseans were beginning to emerge as important
American figures, including Andrew Jackson, David Crockett, Sam Houston, Edmund
Gaines (Act of Congress Medal winner), and Sequoyah.
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| Portrait of Andrew Jackson by Ralph E. W. Earl, ca. 1837 |
The war in the south
was waged predominately by Tennessee militia, volunteers, or regular army units
raised in the state. So many Tennesseans volunteered for service that the state
was soon known by the nickname, the “Volunteer State.” The victory at the
Battle of New Orleans propelled Andrew Jackson to the White House and
established Tennessee at the forefront of American politics.
Two notable events from
the War of 1812 are forever etched in the collective consciousness of America’s
heritage: the British burning of Washington, D.C. when First Lady Dolly Madison
saved the portrait of George Washington before she fled the capital, and the
writing of the “Star Spangled Banner” by attorney Francis Scott Key during the
British attack of Ft. McHenry at Baltimore.
The Tennessee State
Museum collaborated with other organizations to develop and produce the
exhibition, including The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson, the
State Library & Archives, and the Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial
Committee. Important art, portraits, uniforms, weapons and period artifacts
from the era, as well as a broad variety of documentary art, maps and
illustrations have been selected to recreate a flavor of the times.
“Becoming the Volunteer State: Tennessee in the War of 1812” is an exhibition of the Tennessee State Museum in collaboration with the American Association of State and Local History. The exhibit’s statewide tour is supported in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
“Becoming the Volunteer State: Tennessee in the War of 1812” is an exhibition of the Tennessee State Museum in collaboration with the American Association of State and Local History. The exhibit’s statewide tour is supported in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
