The Tennessee Historical Records Advisory Board (THRAB) is now accepting applications for the 2010 State and National Partnership Regrant Program. The purpose of the SNAP regrants is to provide support to Tennessee repositories by increasing funding for Tennessee’s historical records, preserving and providing access to Tennessee’s historical records, educating and training records custodians, and supporting archival program development and enhancement.

Eligible historical records repositories will receive limited grant funds for projects to support basic preservation, arrangement and description, proper storage, and public access to its collections. Funding for the SNAP program comes from a federal grant awarded to THRAB from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

The grant guidelines and application are available here.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) is highlighting two collections relating to the state’s African-American history that have been added within the last year.

Last fall, TSLA added a collection called Guide to African-American Genealogy-Related Documents Prior to 1865, which includes a large selection of Supreme Court cases, state acts from 1796 through 1850, legislative petitions from 1799 to 1861, church records, correspondence, diaries, memoirs and other documents.

TSLA also added a new collection, Reconstruction and the African-American Legacy in Tennessee, to the Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) within the last year. That collection, which includes photographs, scrapbooks and other images, can be found on the web at: http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/reconstruction.php

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TSLA will be closed on Monday, February 15th for the President's Day holiday. We will reopen at 8am on Tuesday, February 16th.

Charles Sherrill, a Middle Tennessean with 25 years of experience as a library administrator, will begin his new job as State Librarian and Archivist Feb. 5, Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced this week.

The State Librarian and Archivist directs operations at the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA), the agency that collects, stores and displays state documents and records. The State Library and Archives also operates the Tennessee Regional Library System, provides training and support for other public libraries throughout the state and oversees the Tennessee Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which offers free library services to people with disabilities.

“I am very pleased to have someone with Mr. Sherrill’s background and skills in this esteemed position,” Secretary Hargett said. “Our goal is to increase the awareness of the great programs available to Tennesseans through the State Library and Archives. Our goal is to extend our outreach beyond our downtown Nashville location and I know Mr. Sherrill will provide excellent leadership and vision not only to TSLA, but also to libraries throughout our great state. "

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A scan of the directory for 1867 has been added to our collection of Scanned Copies of Nashville City Directories.

If you have lived in this state for a while, you have probably heard stories about famous Tennesseans such as Casey Jones, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.   But have you ever heard about the time it rained blood or about the woman who lived to be 149 years old? 

The Tennessee Myth and Legend exhibit, located at the Tennessee State Library and Archives Building in downtown Nashville, touches all of these topics as well as ghosts, the Bell Witch, Tommy Knockers, opossums, giant catfish, falling stars, Elvis, Jack Daniels and Jesse James. Read more...

Go to online exhibit