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The stellar spectroscope is from the Garland Collection and is currently being held by the Dyer Observatory. It is constructed with multiple prisms to allow one to visually observe the spectrum of the stars.

Until the mid-18th century, sailors traveling out of sight of land had few ways of measuring their longitude. It could be done if the ship could know the time difference between local time and some set standard. The chronomer allowed for the accurate…

There is some dispute about early telescopes, but they were probably invented in the early 17th century. Galileo built one in 1609 and was the first to point a telescope at the skies. In the beginning they were cumbersome, but soon nautical…

A sextant is used to determine the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon and was used by sailors for celestial navigation. The angle, combined with the time it was measured, was used to calculate position on a chart.

This watch was presented to E. E. Barnard upon his discovery, in 1892, of Amalthea, the fifth and first non-Galilean, moon of Jupiter. The gift was from Frank H. McConnell, watchmaker and jeweler of San Francisco.

Vladimir Orlando Key’s (1908-1963) Southern Politics in State and Nation is a microscopic examination, state by state, of southern politics using interviews and statistics. The book is considered one of the most influential books on the subject.…

The Nashville Tennessean editor John Seigenthaler (1927-2014) and reporters Frank Sutherland (1945- ) and Wendell “Sonny” Rawls (1941- ) stand in the reporter’s bullpen of the newspaper. Journalism in the 20th century went through tremendous changes…

A Memo from John Seigenthaler to Ben Cantrell and William Farmer about Jimmy Hoffa. 54 pages in all.

James R. Sasser (1936- ) served three terms as a United States Senator from Tennessee (1977-1995) and was the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. From 1996 to 1999 he served as the United States Ambassador to China. In this political cartoon by…

In his bid for a fourth term in the Senate, Democrat James R. Sasser (1936- ) ran for re-election in 1994 against the Republican candidate Bill Frist (1952- ). In one of the largest upsets in the November 1994 general elections, Frist defeated…