Tennessee series, 1934-1997
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Abstract: A wide variety of materials, spanning 1934 to 1997, documenting various Tennessee subjects and used by Nashville Banner newspaper reporters for reference during their daily work. Items were originally housed in the Banner Clippings Files and were removed for preservation purposes by Nashville Public Library staff to form this collection.

Scope and content: The Nashville Banner Reporter Reference Files, Tennessee Series has information about statewide topics, places, organizations, and county government outside of Davidson County that received news coverage in the Nashville Banner newspaper. Materials date from the 1930s to the 1990s. Formats include press releases, brochures, booklets, reports, texts of legislative bills, clippings and magazine articles, wire service stories, and more. Quantity of materials is usually less than ten items for each topic. Some items are photocopies.

All the materials in this collection were originally housed in the Banner Clippings Files, but were removed by library staff for preservation purposes. Thus, although the Banner Reporter Reference Files is a separate collection, due to its size, it nevertheless bears a very close relationship and indeed should be viewed as an extension of the Banner Clippings Files. Information in both instances was compiled and used by reporters at the Nashville Banner as references when writing about significant events of the time. Researchers are advised that due to its being a much more comprehensive resource, the Banner Clippings Files will likely be a more useful and productive source of information than the isolated items to be found in the Banner Reporter Reference Files.

Some items of special note include various materials about state government, departments, and specific legislative bills; and information on the 1996 Olympics whitewater canoe/kayak slalom event at the Ocoee Whitewater Center on the Ocoee River in the Cherokee National Forest. Additional materials include: historical information compiled around 1966 on the 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell including brigade histories, as well as considerable information about the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) and training exercises around 1962 called "Big Slam/Puerto Pines." Other materials document Sewart Air Force Base, the 18th Air Force, and the 314th Troop Carrier Wing. Significant quantities of materials concern: the legal case of the merger of the L&N and N.C. & St.L. Railroads; various aspects of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); and the University of the South at Sewanee, including information about segregation and race relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Additional materials of interest to individuals researching Tennessee's Civil Rights history include: wire service stories about the desegregation of Clinton High School in Anderson County; a blank membership form for the White Citizen's Council; items relating to organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of White People, and the Tennessee Federation for Constitutional Government, which opposed desegregation; and a legal complaint filed in the Baker v. Carr reapportionment case.

For a complete list of subjects, please refer to the finding aid for this series.

Cite as: [item description, file title], Series IV. Tennessee Series, Nashville Banner Reporter Reference Files, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Irby C. Simpkins, Jr., and Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. transferred any copyright they held in Nashville Banner materials to the Public Library Board in 2002. However, this collection may contain items for which they did not hold copyright, such as wire service items, booklets and brochures, and others, and therefore rights were not transferred to the Public Library Board. In either case, items in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code)

Irby C. Simpkins, Jr., and Brownlee O. Currey, Jr.;,Gift;,1999.,Acc. RT-102

The Nashville Banner newspaper began publication on Apr. 10, 1876 and ceased publication Feb. 20, 1998.

In English.

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_BannerTennesseeSeriesFA.pdf

In possession of Irby C. Simpkins, Jr. and Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. until donated to the Nashville Public Library in 1999.

Forms part of the Nashville Banner reporter reference files.

Process;,2013-2014;,Jennifer Quier;,removal of items from Clippings files, rehouse, preliminary inventory.

Process;,2016;,Poppy Krump, intern;,initial physical processing and conservation work.

Process;,2017;,Quinntana Slaughter, intern,final processing and formal finding aid

No further accruals are expected.