Nashville 2020-2021 collection
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: Chronological by year and month

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library

In library use only. Available by appointment

Personal contact information of individuals who sent thank you notes to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp has been redacted by Special Collections Division staff in order to maintain privacy. A photocopy with redactions was placed in the publicly-accessible research collection. Original submissions containing this information reside in the NCVC donor file and are closed to the public, as a policy of the Special Collections Division of the Nashville Public Library.

Abstract: Materials, mostly from the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, documenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nashville's local economy, particularly as it relates to the hospitality and tourism industry, including music performances, sporting events, restaurants, bars and hotels. Public health protocols, such as masking, social distancing, and capacity restrictions as they relate to these activities are also mentioned. Other major events of 2020-2021 are tangentially documented in the collection.

Scope and Content: Most of this artificially assembled collection consists of printed emails from Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., (NCVC) and printed electronic newsletters from both NCVC and Nashville Downtown Partnership. These materials document the sudden and unexpected appearance of the coronavirus, and its short and long-term impacts upon Nashville’s major businesses, with emphasis upon the downtown core, and in particular, the hospitality and tourism industry, including hotels, restaurants, bars, music venues, and country music performances, as well as major sporting events and other special events. Also included is how many of these same businesses sought creative ways of maintaining their business activities despite restrictions and prohibitions imposed upon them by the pandemic. Statistics, economic numbers, revenue, and other data demonstrating the impact of the pandemic are also included throughout the collection, including periodic "surges" in illness prompting a resumption of public health restrictions. Other items in the collection include newsletters or brochures from individual businesses or organizations, sharing their experiences and challenges with the pandemic. Collectively, the materials in this collection document the unusual and unexpected connections between public health and the hospitality industry, as well as the significant economic impact the pandemic had on Nashville. One key aspect documented in materials from NCVC is the effort to sustain and build demand for Nashville’s products (tourism, festivals, events) even though many events had been cancelled.

Although the coronavirus pandemic is the central focus of this collection, numerous other events in 2020 and 2021 would prove equally important to document but appear in this collection only incidentally as they impacted downtown businesses. Some of these topics include: the March 2020 tornado; the summer of 2020 calls for racial justice, and how those protests, both peaceful and turbulent, unfolded in Nashville; holding a metropolitan election during a worldwide pandemic during the fall of 2020; and the Second Avenue bombing on Christmas Day, 2020. An extensive timeline is a part of the finding aid to this collection, providing a contextual overview of all of these events.

Very few items in this collection originate from the mayor’s office, the Public Health department, or other offices of Metro government, as these materials will likely one day be available through Metro Archives. However, actions of Metro government and the Mayor’s office, as well as Public Health, may still be documented through some of the newsletters or other items within the collection, particularly as NCVC was advising its members about the latest COVID protocols, restrictions, and numbers. Similarly, although students, faculty, and administrators at both Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University were deeply involved in fighting the pandemic both locally and nationally, very little about these institutions will be found in this collection.

Cite as: [Item description], [folder title and date], Nashville 2020-2021 Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S. Code). The Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials.

Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp;,Gift;,2021.,Acc. 2021.002

Intentionally collected and assembled by staff of the Special Collections Division;,2020-2021.,Acc. 2020.001; 2021.001

Related Materials: Digital photographs taken of buildings damaged by the Christmas Day bombing can be found in the Special Collections Second Avenue Bomb Damage Photographs collection.

In mid-March 2020, the Nashville Public Library along with other offices of Metro Government, and like many businesses and office buildings, shut its doors. Staff were sent home for what was anticipated to be a two-week closure. Special Collections staff did not return to the building until October 2020, and the Library would not open its doors to in-person visitors until March 2021, a year after its initial closure. Due to the closure of the Library, other closures throughout the city, COVID restrictions and health protocols, as well as the proliferation of digital-only content, very little could be done by Special Collections staff to actively document the coronavirus pandemic while it was happening. Much of collecting efforts were done after-the-fact, or were created by printing out emails, newsletters, and other electronically delivered documents that were already being sent to staff. Such materials form the basis for this collection. The materials in this collection are not to be considered comprehensive in any way, although they do serve to document a snapshot in time and provide more information than would otherwise be available, particularly as it relates to the coronavirus pandemic, public health, and their impacts on the business and tourism community of Nashville, especially the downtown entertainment district.

In English

Finding aid available in repository;,folder level control.,https://catalog.library.nashville.org/Record/CARL0001044020/DownloadSupplementalFile?fileId=179

Collected and intentionally assembled by the Special Collections Division in 2020 and 2021, with a direct deed of gift from the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, 2021.

process;,2023;,Linda Barnickel

catalog;,2024;,Linda Barnickel

No further accruals are expected.

Book jacket image from Box 1 folder 9: Good to Go kit