Browse Items (1664 total)

Lamar Alexander( 1940- ) ran for governor of the state of Tennessee three times; in 1974 he lost to Ray Blanton, in 1978 he handily beat Jake Butcher, and in 1982 he defeated Randy Tyree by a wide margin. By the time of his 1982 campaign, Alexander…

Lamar Alexander won the 1978 Tennessee gubernatorial election over incumbent Ray Blanton by a wide margin. This button was part of Alexander’s re-election bid in 1982. Referencing his trademark red and black plaid shirt and his walk across the…

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was a congressman from Massachusetts and the thirty-fifth President of the United States. He was assassinated during a November 22, 1963, visit to Dallas, Texas. The 1954 letter from then Senator Kennedy, the 1967…

Corruption at the highest level of state office forced Governor-elect Lamar Alexander to make a difficult decision—to take office early and risk the appearance of a coup, leading to four years of struggle with a democratic house. If he did not act,…

John Egerton (1935-2013) was an author and journalist known for his insightful writings on the Civil Rights Movement and southern culture. Generations: An American Family, written after extensive interviews with members of the Ledford family of…

Jack Hurst interviewed country music star Eddy Arnold (1918-2008) in 1977. Arnold is known as the progenitor of what is called “The Nashville Sound” in country music. This tape is one of the hundreds of audio cassettes that comprise the Jack Hurst…

In 2012, Jack Hurst donated his interviews with celebrities and industry leaders from the 1970s and 1980s to Vanderbilt University's Special Collections. These are a rich treasure trove of insider information from the people who made country music.…

Jack Hurst was the first full-time music writer for The Tennessean, the first Nashville contributing editor for Country Music Magazine and originated the country music beats at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune. In 1981, the…

In this arguably disingenuous letter addressed to the citizenry of Colombia, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera (1798-1878) disclaims any interest in serving as president for an additional term, and praises the qualities of another prominent figure. Despite…

A passport created for Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera.