Mechanics' Institute and Library Association of Tennessee reports, 1855-1857.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arranged chronologically.

Materials housed in the Nashville Room of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Housed in Small Collections Box 2.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Published reports for annual exhibitions of the Mechanics' Institute and Library Association of Tennessee which include the organization's charter; constitution; memoranda; addresses; and exhibit reports including classifications, awards, award winners, and judges' comments.

Classifications include agriculturally related products and processes such as cotton, wool, leatherwork and saddlery; domestic products and skills such as clothing, knitting and embroidery; mechanical and industrial products such as pig iron; machinery; inventions; "philosophical instruments" such as opera glasses; and a wide variety of other skills and professions such as dentistry, bookbinding, and musical instruments. Women were participants in the exhibitions, as well as men.

Cite as: Mechanics' Institute and Library Association of Tennessee Reports, Ephemera Collections, Nashville Room, Nashville Public Library.

Copyright status undetermined.

Source of acquisition unknown;,Acc. RT-100.

The Mechanics' Library Association of Nashville was incorporated by act of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1844. Subsequently, the charter was amended and the name changed to the Mechanics' Institute and Library Association of Tennessee in 1854. Their purpose was to form an organization of mechanics, manufacturers, artisans, and others to foster "the inventive genius of their countrymen;" to exalt the character of members in their professions; and to encourage manufacturing, trade and business. Their activities included holding an annual exhibition with prizes so that "all who may have made any discoveries in the Arts and Sciences may be enabled to exhibit the productions of their skill and ingenuity;" establishing a School of Design where members may be taught drawing and engraving; hosting lectures; and forming a library "with a Cabinet of Minerals, Models and Philosophical and Mechanical Apparatus."

In English.

Unknown provenance.

No further accruals are expected.