''Tennessee Encyclopedia'' is a
reference book on the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
that was published in book form in 1998 and has also been available online since 2002. Contents include
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
, culture, and
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
.
The original print edition was developed as a
Tennessee Historical Society
The Tennessee Historical Society is a historical society for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was established in 1849. Its founding president from 1849 to 1856 was Nathaniel Cross, a Princeton-educated professor of Ancient Languages at the Universi ...
educational project for the Tennessee state
bicentennial in 1996. The idea of the encyclopedia was proposed in 1993 and work began the following year. The
Tennessee General Assembly provided project funding in
fiscal year
A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
s 1995 through 1998. Additional funding came from several
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
s;
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...
provided some in-kind support.
[Foreword]
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' website, accessed April 23, 2011
When the book was completed in 1998, it became the third state
encyclopedia to be published in the United States. The print edition ( and ) has 1193 pages containing 1,534 entries contributed by 514 authors.
[ It was a co-winner of a Tennessee History Book Award and was recognized with a 1999 ]American Association for State and Local History
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a non-profit association for state and local history, with a primary focus on history professionals, history volunteers, museums, historical societies, and other history-related organi ...
(AASLH) Award of Merit.[
An online edition of the encyclopedia has been on the ]Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
since 2002. It includes the contents of the book plus some new entries and some multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
content. The online edition is jointly produced and maintained by the Tennessee Historical Society and the University of Tennessee Press
The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee.
UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.
The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each ...
.[ Access to the full contents is free.][ The online interface was revised and updated in February 2011.UT Press Helps Produce Updated Online Tennessee Encyclopedia]
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
press release, March 9, 2011
Editor for both the print and online versions is Carroll Van West
Carroll Van West is an American historian. He is the Tennessee State Historian and a professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author or editor of several books about Montana and Tennessee.
Early life
Carroll Van West w ...
, a Middle Tennessee State University history professor who is director of that university's Center for Historic Preservation.[Carroll Van West]
MTSU Center for Historic Preservation website, accessed April 23, 2011 Copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
to the contents of both the print and online versions is held by the Tennessee Historical Society.[Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture]
, Tennessee Historical Society website, accessed April 23, 2011
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
*
The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
' (online edition)
20th-century encyclopedias
21st-century encyclopedias
American online encyclopedias
Books published by university presses
Encyclopedias of U.S. states
History of Tennessee
Tennessee culture