UNION CITY, Tenn — On Saturday, May 9, at 10:30 a.m., Discovery Park of America CEO Scott Williams will participate in the Tennessee State Museum’s TN Writers | TN Stories series in a conversation moderated by Charles A. Sherrill. The program will focus on Williams’ recent biography, “Townmania: Marcus Winchester and the Making of Memphis.”
Marcus Winchester (1796–1856), son of Middle Tennessee settler Gen. James Winchester, devoted his life to transforming a small settlement on the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff on the Mississippi River into a center of transportation, commerce and industry that became Memphis. Barely out of his teens, he was sent there by Andrew Jackson, John Overton and James Winchester following the Treaty of 1818 with the Chickasaw Nation. Marcus Winchester then made Memphis home for the rest of his life, serving as the city’s first real estate agent, mayor, store owner, banker and postmaster. Despite these contributions, he and his family faced sustained attacks because his wife, Amarante Loiselle, was a free woman of color during a period of increasing national division over slavery. He was ultimately forced to move his wife and children outside the city limits of the community he helped establish.
Moderator Charles A. Sherrill, M.A., M.L.S., retired as Tennessee’s state librarian and archivist in 2022. He has more than 40 years of experience in Tennessee history and genealogy. He has served as editor of the Middle Tennessee Journal of History and Genealogy since 2002 and currently serves as vice president of the Tennessee Historical Society. Sherrill is the author of approximately 20 books on Tennessee history and genealogy.
Williams has held leadership roles at the Newseum in Washington and at Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis. He returned to West Tennessee in 2018 to serve as CEO of Discovery Park of America. In Washington, he served on the advisory board of Destination DC, as co-chair of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and on the board of the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. He currently serves as president of the Tennessee State Library and Archives Friends.
“The release of this biography aligns with several upcoming anniversaries,” Williams noted. “May 28 marks the 230th anniversary of Marcus Winchester’s birth, and June 1 marks the 230th anniversary of Tennessee becoming the 16th state. The United States will also commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year.”
Discovery Park recently received a Tennessee America 250 grant from the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial to support a year of programming. The museum and heritage park is presenting exhibitions, festivals, concerts and educational programs in support of Tennessee America 250.
The TN Writers | TN Stories series is free and will take place in the Digital Learning Center at the Tennessee State Museum, 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208. Copies of “Townmania: Marcus Winchester and the Making of Memphis” will be available for purchase in the museum gift shop, and an autograph session will follow the program. For more information, visit tnmuseum.org/