<p align="center"><strong>Letters from Famous Tennesseans & Notable People</strong></p>

<strong>Famous Tennesseans</strong>

<p align="center"><strong><i>Robert Church, Jr., community leader</strong></i></p>

Robert Church, Jr., was an influential Black businessman and civil rights leader from Memphis. In 1917, Church organized Tennessee’s first NAACP branch in Memphis. In this letter, he thanks Governor Thomas Rye for the appointment to the National Memorial Association. The group planned to build a monument to Black veterans.

<p align="center"><strong><i>Dolly Parton, singer & philanthropist</strong></i></p>

In 1995, singer and philanthropist Dolly Parton launched the Imagination Library in her native Sevier County, Tennessee. The program provides free books to children until the age of five. In this 2009 letter, Parton shares with Governor Phil Bredesen that the Imagination Library expanded to Canada and the United Kingdom. Today, the program mails over two million books a month to children worldwide.

<p align="center"><strong><i>Pat Head Summitt, UT Lady Volunteers Basketball Coach</strong></i></p>

Clarksville-native Pat Summitt spent most of her career as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team. In 1987, she led the team to their first national championship title, referenced in this letter to Governor Ned McWherter. Summitt led the Lady Volunteers to a total of 5 national titles and a perfect season in 1998. In 2009, Summitt and the team won their 1000th game making her the winningest Division I basketball coach in NCAA history.

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<p align="center"><strong><i>Cordell Hull, U.S. Secretary of State & Nobel Peace Prize Recipient</strong></i></p>

Originally from Byrdstown, Cordell Hull served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1941, he helped establish the United Nations for which he received a Nobel Peace Prize. In this letter, he thanks Governor Jim McCord for his support after receiving the award.

<strong>Notable People</strong>

<p align="center"><strong><i>Walt Disney, filmmaker</strong></i></p>

In 1955, the Disney movie Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier filmed scenes at the Tennessee State Capitol. The movie was a hit and David “Davy” Crockett became a pop culture phenomenon. Filmmaker Walt Disney wrote to Governor Frank Clement thanking him for previewing Disneyland in California and for his support of the upcoming movie.

In the movie, actors Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen portrayed Davy Crockett and George Russell. The movie’s success popularized the use of the name “Davy” instead of “David.”

<p align="center"><strong><i>Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross</strong></i></p>

After working as a Civil War nurse, Clara Barton volunteered with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Europe. In 1881, she founded the American Red Cross and served as its president for the next 23 years. In 1901, she organized a National Advisory Board with the hopes that it would continue the Red Cross’s mission of providing care and relief to citizens during national disasters. She invited governors across the country, including Tennessee’s James B. Frazier, to join the cause.

<p align="center"><strong><i>J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director</i></sub></p>