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A resolution celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Adventure Science Center.
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WHEREAS, World War II was coming to an end and the nation was beginning to look toward the future. Sgt. John Ripley Forbes had a vision that Nashville's future should focus on children. His enthusiasm for a children's museum sparked some of the city's most prominent and influential citizens to get involved, including the museum's first president, Vernon Sharp, Jr. On October 31, 1945, the Children's Museum of Nashville opened its doors to the public for the first time; and
WHEREAS, as a founding trustee of the Children's Museum of Nashville, Anthony "Tony" Sudekum shared the museum's mission to inspire children to learn and explore the world around them. After his death in 1946, his widow, Mrs. Nettie Elizabeth Sudekum, gave the museum $5,000 in his memory to build a dome and install a Spitz star projector. At that time, it was the only planetarium in Tennessee and one of only three in the South; and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 1952, a ceremony was held to dedicate the Sudekum Planetarium where the inventor of the projector, Armand Spitz was the guest of honor alongside members of the Sudekum family; and
WHEREAS, by the 1960s, the museum was quickly outgrowing the old building on 2nd Avenue South and more space was needed. In January 1966, Mrs. Albert Menefee Jr., one of the directors of the Justin and Valere Potter Foundation, announced a donation for a new building. Museum trustees were already negotiating with the Metro Parks Board of Commissioners to set aside part of Fort Negley Park as the site of the new museum building; and
WHEREAS, in the fall of 1972, the trustees voted to change the name of the museum to Cumberland Museum and Science Center in recognition of the increasing number of adults engaged in programs including lectures, movies, field trips, and clubs; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1980s, the museum's Sudekum Planetarium brought a new show to Nashville - "LASER...
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