History held in good hands
Lipscomb Bisons from three generations are preserving, restoring and safeguarding Tennessee’s history for the generations to come after.
Middle Tennessee’s history is in good hands. Lipscomb hands.
Decades of history graduates from Lipscomb University are now the ones charged with preserving the state’s historic roots today. Each day they bring their passion for history and its value in shaping our world today to some of the city and state’s premier historic organizations.
- Two are currently operating and safeguarding two of Nashville’s historic sites: Fort Negley (with site renovation going on all around its borders) and Two Rivers Mansion, looking to expand its operations and links to the city’s history;
- Two played pivotal roles in developing and strengthening Nashville’s and the state’s archival records for more than 30 years; and
- Two play pivotal roles in caring for artifact storage, maintenance and display at the Tennessee State Museum, looking after more than 170,000 artifacts.
Check out these six Lipscomb historians, each from a different generation, all committed to keeping Tennessee’s heritage safe, strong and treasured throughout our community.
Emily Nix and Tracy Harris
Lipscomb alumni work to preserve, nurture and expand city-owned historic sites for the future
Both Tracy Harris (BA ’10) and Emily Nix (BA ’08) are moved by the same historical experience: standing in the very spot where history occurred.
Although they came to their current roles from very different starting points, they have both ended up as caretakers for Nashville’s real-life, living history at sites that played integral roles in the city’s development: Fort Negley and Two Rivers Mansion.
Ken Fieth and Carol Roberts
Two alumni from the 1980s have shaped and strengthened the county’s and state’s historic legacy for the future.
The paths of Ken Fieth (LA ’76, BA ’80), of Nashville, and Carol Ann Roberts (BA ’81), of Shelbyville, began in the same place: in the history classrooms at Lipscomb University and later at Middle Tennessee State University, where both earned a master’s in historic preservation.
Their career paths converged and diverged throughout their lives, but they both ended up in roughly the same place: caring for the records and documents of their beloved hometowns.
Caleb Williams and Kate Gunn
Two younger alumni are safeguarding the state’s 170,000+ artifacts to bring Tennessee’s history alive for the public.
The Tennessee State Museum has been on the move since 2023, and two recent Lipscomb graduates have been making it happen, coordinating and safeguarding centuries-old artifacts as they travel to new storage and exhibit spaces.
Caleb Williams (BA ’22) came to the state museum as the associate registrar shortly before he graduated and moved up to operations coordinator in January 2024, just in time to oversee the move of more than 170,000 historic artifacts to the museum’s newly constructed state-of-the-art storage facility in East Nashville.
Backing him up is Anna Kate Gunn (BA ’20) who took over as associate registrar in 2024. Registrars are the collection managers who install and take down exhibits, arrange the loans of artifacts and ensure proper packaging and storage for items travelling to storage or other exhibit sites, such as legislators’ offices or travelling exhibits.