Gore Center focuses on county's birthday
To celebrate the 200th birthday of Rutherford County, the staff of the Albert Gore Sr. Research Center has mounted a new exhibit in the foyer and hallway of its quarters in Room 111 of the Learning Resources Center (LRC) on the MTSU campus.
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"Business Builds a Community: The
Large & Small of Commerce in Rutherford County" is the title of the current
foyer exhibit, which features photographs, memorabilia and advertising for
businesses such as the Cedar Bucket Factory, Brown's Mill in Lascassas,
Goldstein's Dry Goods, Smyrna Roller Mill, DeGeorge Wholesale Fruit, a
cotton gin in Smyrna, Kerr Drug Store and blacksmith shops in Rockvale and
Barfield, as well as several railroads. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays, will be on display throughout the fall 2003 semester. However, a portion of the exhibit will relocate to the Rutherford County Courthouse in downtown Murfreesboro on Oct. 25 for the countywide Heritage Celebration, reports Lisa Pruitt, director of the center. |
| "The hallway exhibit features a
variety of photographs and memorabilia from the Gore Center's collections
that document various aspects of the county's history," Pruitt says. "The
county's earliest years are represented in a display of letters, wills,
slave receipts and photographs. (And) local organizations such as the
Charity Circle, Woman's Club, Frances Bohannon Music Club and the League of
Women Voters are represented. "Moreover, the "Business Builds a Community"
exhibit also showcases the research collections of local historians Mabel
and Homer Pittard, Robert Baskin and Walter King Hoover, all of which now
form a part of the Gore Center's holdings. Regarding other aspects of
the current display, Pruitt notes, "Another exhibit panel, 'War Clouds over
Rutherford,' highlights the 2nd Army maneuvers that took place in the county
in the early 1940s, as well as the impact of the Smyrna Army Air Field
(later known as Sewart Air Force Base). "And last but not least, three panels (of the exhibit) depict in photographs the history of MTSU from 1911 to 2003." In addition to its current "Business Builds a Community" display, the Gore Center will commemorate the bicentennial by conducting oral history interviews with longtime county residents. To date, more than 20 interviews have been conducted. |
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For information
regarding the center's current exhibit, or to learn more about participating in
its oral history project, contact Betty Rowland at the Gore Center at 898-2632.
