Recent Acquisitions

The Gore Center continues to hold off on making major acquisitions pending our move to new, larger quarters in Todd in 2003.  We have, however, acquired a few very small collections or individual items in the past few montths.

Aaron Weise Collection, 1 linear foot

Aaron Weise was a successful businessman and prominent member of Nashville's Jewish community in the early 20th centruy.  In 1913, he married Leah Goldstein of Murfreesboro, whose father owned Goldstein's department store.  The collection includes a scrapbook detailing Weise's business and professional career along with his efforts to mount charity minstrel shows.  He also was one of the first military aviators; another scrapbook documents his military training and service in WWI.  In addition to the two scrapbooks, the collection includes more than 40 letters and 70 photographs.  One letter, signed "E.E.& B." (Ethel, Esther, and Bertha) was written in 1983 and contains the Licker sisters' recollections of Aaron Weise.  Leah Goldstein Weise was a cousin of the Lickers.  The Gore Center also holds a collection of letters and photographs documenting the three sisters and their family, so the two collections are quite complementary.

The Weise Collection was donated by Peggy Leftwich of Albuquerque, N.M.

Ionie Sanders Scrapbook

Ionie Sanders was a student at Tennessee College for Women in the mid-1930s.  This scrapbook documents her activities as a student and includes such novelties as a menu from the Red Rose cafe and a poster of the Glee Club posed in front of an American Airlines plane on which they were departing for a singing tour.

This scrapbook was donated by Beverly Cole of Nashville.

Lamar Baker Political Memorabilia Collection (3 linear feet)

Lamar Baker served as a state representative in 1967-68, and state Senator in 1969-70, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1971-1975.  He was also a delegate to the state Republican convention from 1964-1972 and to the Republican National Convention in 1972.  This collection contains photographs and memorabilia documenting Baker's political career and the history of the Republican party in Tennessee in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Baker Collection was transferred to the Gore Center from the Tennessee State Museum.