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A resolution recognizing the Ryman Auditorium - "The Mother Church of Country Music" - and its 130 years as Music City's most famous and respected concert venue.
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WHEREAS, on May 10, 1885, Captain Thomas G. Ryman attended the Reverend Sam Jones tent revival held in Nashville and, after being converted, promised Rev. Jones he would build a tabernacle for him and others which could hold thousands indoors; and
WHEREAS, in 1892, Captain Ryman opened the Union Gospel Tabernacle on Summer Street (now Rep. John Lewis Way) -- a massive brick building which was the largest auditorium south of the Ohio River and was open to all people to hear the top ministers and speakers of the day; and
WHEREAS, during Captain Ryman's funeral on Christmas Day 1904, Rev. Jones, at the end of his eulogy, asked the four thousand people in attendance who wished the name of the tabernacle be changed to the Ryman Auditorium to stand. Everyone rose from the wooden pews and the building has been known as the Ryman Auditorium ever since; and
WHEREAS, beginning in 1904 and until her retirement as General Manager in 1955, Lula Naff booked some of the most famous speakers and acts of the day at the Ryman, including President Teddy Roosevelt, President William H. Taft, Caruso, John McCormack, Bob Hope, Nat King Cole, Houdini, Will Rogers, Bessie Smith, Helen Keller, and hundreds of other famous acts and performances; and
WHEREAS, on June 5, 1943, the world's oldest and most famous radio show, the Grand Ole Opry, began a 31-year run at the Ryman. Country music fans from across the globe saw Opry members Hank Williams, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Charley Pride, Little Jimmy Dickens, Loretta Lynn, and many others on the Ryman stage; and
WHEREAS, when the Opry moved to its new home in 1974, the Ryman was at risk of being torn down by its previous owner, but musicians, politicians, and preservation-minded Nashvillians all spoke out to...
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