Civil Rights History in Tennessee

Civil Rights & Heritage

Tennessee’s history is anchored by pivotal sites like Memphis’s National Civil Rights Museum, located at the Lorraine Motel, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. This collection spans the state's complex narrative, from the Hermitage and Belle Meade Plantation’s exploration of the antebellum South to the historic Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga and RCA Studio B in Nashville. These locations preserve the legacies of the Civil Rights Movement, the American Revolution at Sycamore Shoals, and the state's significant impact on global music and trade.