Warren County history is alive and well at the Southern Museum and Galleries of Photography, Culture and History on Main Street. Partners Monty Wanamaker and Chris Keathley have dedicated themselves to years of researching local history, from the well-known to the relatively obscure.
An accomplished artist, Wanamaker says that although he always had a passing interest in history, the history part of his life truly began when he opened an art gallery and shop in which he displayed his art on Morford Street in the late 1990s. In 2000, Wanamaker opened a museum in a building adjacent to the gallery. After a year, he and Keathley relocated to their present location.
Wanamaker says his true interest in history began when he met Chris Keathley, a historian and artist. Wanamaker says, “I have really learned a great deal from him. I had always been interested in history but I had not pursued the history of McMinnville per se until after we met and we opened the museum together.”
With a life-long interest in history and genealogy, Keathley already had many notebooks compiled and albums full of historical information about his own family and other families in McMinnville.
The museum offers exhibits on several key historical figures of McMinnville and Warren County, including world famous photographer W.S. Lively.
Lively ran the Southern School of Photography, formerly on Donnell Street, in the early 1900s. Wanamaker and Keathley have many unique Lively items on display, including his cameras and examples of Lively photography.
Says Wanamaker, “We have probably more Lively items than anything else or anybody else. We’re very proud of those. We have a whole case full of cameras from the Livelys, plus this huge reflex camera here that was probably one of the largest ones he used in his school of photography when he opened it in 1904.”
The museum also has an exhibit dedicated to one of McMinnville’s most nefarious characters, J. Fletch Woodward, a pioneer photographer and printer who published his own books. Having made enemies in the town, he was ultimately accused of killing a constable and spent three years in prison before being pardoned and released. Says Wanamaker, “While he was in prison he had time to write a lot. So he wrote notes and journal items that he published in a booklet after he got out of jail. It was a very irate and accusatory booklet. He accused some of McMinnville’s own citizens of the murder and he told how he had been framed.”
Another key exhibit features Virginia French, a writer and poet who came to McMinnville in the 1850s as wife of a McMinnville horse breeder. According to Wanamaker, “She kept diaries during the Civil War and she’s known primarily as a writer of some fame with those complete and detailed diaries of the Civil War. One of the diaries she kept during the time that the battle was raging in Murfreesboro that was so controversial and was so destructive.”
Dottie West is prominently featured, with many historical photographs, letters from members of the country music community, portraits, and even some pieces of clothing. Wanamaker wrote her biography. He says, “I did five years of research to publish that biography of her and her accomplishments. The more I knew about her, the more fascinated I became with her life. It was an incredible life and I wanted to tell the story, so I worked hard on that.”
The museum also features artwork by Wanamaker, Keathley, and other artists, as well as pottery by Smithville artist Susan DeMay, who teaches pottery at Vanderbilt University.
The partners are also quite proud of their gift shop, with a wide variety of offerings from vintage jewelry to their selection of 300-400 historical books, several of which they authored. They also sell original paintings and limited edition prints of their artwork.
Wanamaker just produced his 14th calendar of historical landmarks. Keathley, recently appointed editor of the Warren County Genealogical Association, just finished the fall and winter issue of the journal. In addition to the two recently printed books on McMinnville and Warren County history, they have two more books they hope to release in early 2015.
“That’s basically what we’re about here. We’re still trying to carry on the history part of the museum. We’re always adding items and always interested in other things. We’re always working on creative projects here and we hope to continue to do those projects,” explains Wanamaker.
The Southern Museum and Galleries of Photography, Culture and History is located at 210 East Main Street. For more information, call 507-8102 or email southernmuseum@frontier.com.