The State Historian is appointed by the Governor for a term of four years and until such time as he shall appoint a successor. The office is honorary and without compensation and is administratively attached to the State Library and Archives. It is the State Historian’s statutory duty “to prepare for publication and to disseminate historical data upon Tennessee history, past and present.”

Walter T. Durham is the current State Historian. His predecessors, since the office was established by act of the General Assembly in 1955, were Robert H. White, Dan M. Robison, Stanley F. Horn, and Wilma Dykeman. Durham is the author of many articles and seventeen books on Tennessee history subjects. In 2004, he published a study of the state’s historical agencies and their activities. The study included A Directory of Tennessee Agencies, Governmental and Non-Governmental, Bringing State and Local History to the Public, 2004, and a report, The State of State History in Tennessee in 2004. In 2006, he produced the follow-up report The State of State History in Tennessee in 2006.

These publications represent the first attempt to assemble such a comprehensive directory and to discuss the state of state history in Tennessee . Together they establish a benchmark for future cooperation and planning in the field.

The State Historian can be reached at 1010 Durham Drive, Gallatin, TN , 37066-3412, or by phone at 615-452-3201.