In 2019, at an all-day event in Greeneville, we got a tour of the Andrew Johnson Mansion. Teachers who attend our event on July 11 will do this tour!
Tennessee History for Kids will stage three all-day Summer Road Shows in July 2025.
Each event will cost teachers $40 each — an amount that helps pay the cost of speaker fees, lunch, site rentals and admissions fees. Teachers who attend each event will receive a certificate showing 6 hours of professional development.
The first will occur on Friday, July 11, at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site and the General Morgan Inn in Greeneville.
Ashley Burns
The national park staff, led by ranger Ashley Burns, will lead in the morning. Teachers will hear presentations on Andrew Johnson and then divided into groups and tour the historic mansion and visitor’s center.
In the afternoon, teachers will migrate to the General Morgan Inn and hear presentations by Bill Carey on slavery in Tennessee; Tennessee in the 1850s; and the Tennessee during the Civil War.
This event is limited to the first 40 public and private school teachers who register. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
(Please note that the $40 pays for lunch, General Morgan Inn Space rental, and overhead. Andrew Johnson NHS is free, open to the public, and does not charge a fee for educational institution tour groups.)
David Ewing
Our second Summer Road Show will be Friday, July 18, at the downtown Nashville Public Library. It will have a Civil Rights theme, and we are billing this is our 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!
On July 18, we will have 3 guest presenters:
Daphene McFerren
Daphene McFerren of the Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. Daphene’s parents (John and Viola McFerren) were important leaders on Fayette County’s Tent Cities, and she is partially responsible for this website that contain first person accounts of that event. She will tell the detailed story of the movement — why it occurred, what was it like, what it achieved, etc.
Emily Senefeld
Emily Senefeld of Volunteer State Community College. Senefeld has known all about the Highlander Folk School, going back to her days when she was a graduate student at the University of the South and gave tours of the former Highlander site. Professor Senefeld now teaches about Highlander, and she will talk about Highlander at this event.
Preeminent Nashville historian and walking tour guide David Ewing — click here to see his instagram page — will talk about the Nashville Sit-Ins of 1960. (David will even tell us the story about how and why he dug John Lewis’ mug shot out of the Metro Archives!)
Finally, Bill Carey will do present on race relations in Tennessee before 1950 and about school integration in Tennessee between 1955 and 1971 — which encompasses Oak Ridge, Clinton, Nashville and the federal busing order.
CLICK here TO REGISTER FOR THE JULY 18 EVENT IN NASHVILLE.
Here was the crowd in 2019, when we had an all-day event at Discovery Park of America
Our third Summer Road Show be Monday, July 21, at Discovery Park of America in Union City.
In the morning, the Discovery Park of the America staff will take teachers on a fascinating tour of the facility — which includes exhibits on everything from prehistory to military history and now contains a fascinating science exhibit called “Real Bodies.” Teachers will also visit the Discovery Park tower and grounds, where you can see (among many other things) a train, several old log buildings that have been moved to the site, and a remarkable collection of antique cars.
Discovery Park of America
After lunch author (and Discovery Park director) Scott Williams will talk about David Crockett, and Bill Carey will do presentations on the Mississippi River and on the history of West Tennessee.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE JULY 21 EVENT AT DISCOVERY PARK OF AMERICA.
