May 2013 | June 2013 | July 2013       

Some of the events listed here are not sponsored directly by the Department of History, but they are of special interest to historians.

May 2013

9 May - 28 June 2013
Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery, 401 Charlotte Ave., Nashville, TN
“Pictures from the Floating World”

Exhibition of photographs by Dr James Blythe. Because of governmental cutbacks there is no opening ceremony. The gallery’s hours are 8 am - 4 pm, Monday through Friday.

For more information, telephone 1.800.848/0298 or visit the Arts Commission’s Web site.

The exhibition consists of 29 photographs taken between 12 March 2011 and 27 March 2013. For those who would like a preview or who will not be able to view them in Nashville, Dr Blythe has posted the photographs to his Flickr account. Shown here is “Shadow of the Pleasure Dome.”

June 2013

3 June 2013
7 pm
Wunderlich Auditorium of Memphis University School
6191 Park Avenue
Meeting of the West Tennessee Historical Society

This month’s presentation will be “Memphis: Going through Changes, 1890-1929” by Joe V. Lowry.

7 June 2013
8:15 am - 4:30 pm
Rose Theater
The Delta — Everything Southern! Conference

Day-long celebration of the history, culture and life of the Delta region, now in its eighth year. Admission includes a continental breakfast and a buffet luncheon with entertainment by singer Jonathan Blanchard. The atmosphere will be relaxed and interactive, with plenty of time for discussion.

Last year’s participants liked the new format, so the conference will offer even more intimate sessions this year — a choice of not two, but three of five breakout sessions with conference experts and additional guest panelists.

A printable brochure listing all the speakers and performers and containing a registration form is available as a PDF document.

You may register online. Early Bird registration (on or before 3 May) is $65; regular registration (between 4 May and 30 May) is $75; non-U of M student registration is $25; U of M students will be admitted free on a space-available basis. Early Bird and regular registrations cover continental breakfast, lunch, breaks, presentations, and parking.

Visit the event’s Facebook page or contact Jennifer Schnabel at 901.678.8210 or jschnbel@memphis.edu or Dr Nicholas Gotten at 901.682.9955 or ngotten@aol.com.

July 2013

1 July 2013
7 pm
Wunderlich Auditorium of Memphis University School
6191 Park Avenue
Meeting of the West Tennessee Historical Society

The July meeting will feature a presentation by Murray Hudson of Halls, TN, owner of Antique Maps, Historical Books and Prints and Antique Globes, who will present a small portion of his collection of maps of West Tennessee and other gems.

Mr Hudson’s collection started In 1964, when he was studying at Oxford University in England. He bought fifty maps from a shop to bring home gifts for relatives and friends. Although he kept some for himself, he gave no more thought to the maps for years as he completed his graduate work and began his career as an English professor at Auburn University.

By 1978, with deep roots in Dyer and Gibson Counties, he had returned home to Dyersburg to help run the family farm. During the four months of the year when he was not farming, he was traveling across the country and abroad. And wherever he traveled, he found himself at map dealers, buying and trading. Then came an idea: Why not, he thought, turn his hobby into a business?

Hudson moved his growing cartography collection into the old post office in Halls, TN. Today, by his estimation, it includes over 23,000 maps, 800 globes, several thousand historical prints, and several hundred wall maps. Although the collection is particularly strong in maps of the southeastern and southwestern United States, nearly any type of map can be found in the shop: topographic maps, country and world maps, Pony Express routes, Prohibition maps, Methodist church expansion, even maps showing places that no longer exist. Among the globes are one that depicts the route of Sputnik and some that were used as training for bomber pilots.