Tennessee State Museum
The mission of the Tennessee State Museum is to procure, preserve, exhibit, and interpret objects which relate to the social, political, economic, and cultural history of Tennessee and Tennesseans, and to provide access to educational and cultural programs and exhibitions for the people of the state.
One of the best ways to experience Tennessee's history is to see the objects that helped build that history. The Tennessee State Museum has created over a dozen free programs that allow your students to dive deep into various topics and time periods.
Our flexible, educator-led programs allow you to custom-build a field trip to fit the needs of your class and make sure all teachers, parents, and students have a great visit.
If you want your students to engage with the museum but can't make it all the way to Nashville, our Virtual Field Trips are perfect for you. All 13 of our virtual programs are led, live, by a museum educator and allow your students to explore the museum exhibits or museum artifacts from your classroom.
Tennessee’s Traveling Treasures brings Tennessee to life in your classroom. This educational outreach program developed by the Tennessee State Museum provides teachers with hands-on materials that will connect students to Tennessee history and culture in a very real and engaging way.
Filled with real and reproduction artifacts, portraits, paintings, books, music CDs, DVDs, and more, the trunks allow teachers to tap into new and creative ways to experience social studies in their classrooms.
The Tennessee State Museum offers professional development opportunities for teachers throughout the year. Workshops based around various Tennessee history topics will be hosted at the Tennessee State Museum and partner locations across the state. As new professional development dates are scheduled, they will be added here. Please check back for more information.
Tennessee State Museum educators are also available to lead individual sessions on a variety of topics at your school system's professional development at no charge. To learn more about availability and topics, contact our K-12 Education Manager here.
On the Junior Curators blog, we travel back in time to a different place in Tennessee history. Stories may be about a famous person, place, or event from Tennessee’s past. They will include things like priceless artifacts, pictures, videos, and even some games. Be sure to better understand the story by answering the questions at the end of each post.
After learning the story, be sure to share what you've learned with your parents, family, or friends. Try making your own exhibit about it, shooting a movie, or writing a story about it. Let your creativity run wild!