Permanent Exhibits

Heritage Classroom

Imagine youself as a student of Bradley Academy in the 1920s. After being called to morning class by the Bradley drummer boy, you take your seat and remove your books from your desk.

Bradley Academy's Heritage Classroom is a re-creation of an authentic Bradley Academy classroom. With its wooden desks, ink wells, orange-crate 'library', and a teacher's bell, the classroom really takes museum visitors back in time. The Heritage Classroom also serves as a wonderful resource for hosting special educational programs.

Heritage Classroom

“A Century of Change: Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, 1800-1900”

This exhibit tells the story of our community during the 1800s. The exhibit was designed, fabricated, and installed at Bradley Academy in 1999 by the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Topics include early Native Americans, early settlers, agriculture, architecture, commerce, education, religion, the Civil War, politicians, and President James K. Polk and wife Sarah Childress Polk of Murfreesboro.

Century of Change Exhibit

“Pillars and Foundations: Building Murfreesboro's African-American Community”

In the Spring of 2002, the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center installed their second permanent exhibit entitled Pillars and Foundations. The exhibit was designed to celebrate the important role of Bradley Academy and Holloway High School in the development of Murfreesboro's African-American community. These instituions were centers of education, religion, healthcare, the arts, and social activities. This exhibit also highlights the significance of early black churches, important members of Murfreesboro's African-American community, and includes many works by local artists.

Pillars and Foundations Exhibit

“From African Warriors to Civil War Soldiers”

In the Spring of 2003, the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center added their latest permanent exhibit entitled From African Warriors to Civil War Soldiers. With artifacts, paintings, historic photographs and documents, this exhibit tells the story of how Africans were enslaved on their continent and brought to North America to work in a slave society. But the story does not end there. The exhibit continues with how African-Americans were able to fight for their freedom before and during the Civil War both as part of the Underground Railrod and as actual soldiers. The numerous topics in this exhibit include traditional African Cultures, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the cotton industry in the South, slave society in North America, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the Underground Railroad, daily life of a Civil War soldier, the famous 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, and Women during the War. This exhibit continues to grow as we search for more local histories of the colored men and women from our community that aided in the War Between the States.

Warriors and Soldiers Exhibit

Temporary Exhibits

Bradley Academy hosts traveling exhibits of cultural, historic, or artistic emphasis. In the past, Bradley has displayed exhibits touring nationally in addition to large collections of art work and crafts by local and regional artisans. Some of our temporary exhibits have included "African American Yards and Gardens in the Rural South" (February 2002), "Crossroad Quilters: Stitching the Community Together" (February 2003), "Made with Our Hands: A Celebration of Local Quilts and Quilters" (Spring 2003), and "Two Centuries of Hallowed Ground: The Story of Murfreesboro as told in the Old City Cemetery" (Fall 2003).