Regional Planning Summit Proceedings, 1999

Summaries of The Proceedings

Introductory Comments- Jeff Carr, Vice Chancellor for University Relations, Vanderbilt University:

I welcome you on behalf of Vanderbilt University and the, Greater Nashville Regional Council and thank you for attending. I also want to thank Cliff Russell and May Shayne for the inspiration and hard work that resulted in the Peirce Report on Middle Tennessee, the financial supporters, some of whom are here today, and the Tennessean for enabling and publishing the Peirce Report.

Seed time on the Cumberland by Harrieqe Simpson Arnow tells the history of the region and the story of the middle basin and the Cumberland watershed, what the author calls “Cumberland Counrty,” which includes all or parts of the ten counties of this region.

The story of Cumberland Country begins with ancient geology, the formation of the limestone that is so much a part of this region, and evolves through the contributions of Native Americans and the hardships arrived dedication of the earliest settlers.

Mrs. Arnow credits Dr. Thomas Wallker, a Virginian in search of new land, for giving the Cumberland its name in 1750. By 1780, Kasper Mansker, the first settler in Middle Tennessee, had been joined by others, and one of them, Richard Henderson, drew up a document that he called the Cumberland Compact, which was signed by 263 settlers. It dealt, in part, with issues of government, but was primarily concerned WIth developing a common understanding of the Costs and methods of buying land. Although the Compact was short-lived, it was perhaps the first attempt at regional planning.

On petition of Jaffies Robertson in 1784, the North Carolina Assembly considered a “Bill for the Relief of Sundry Inhabitants of Davidson County,” and, when enacted, the statute conferred title on the early settlers to the land they had settled. This ‘statute was notable and in sharp contrast t~ the treatrrientof settlers in other regions in that it conferred title to land on those who had settled it, irrespective of money, influence, or family history.

This, as Mrs. Arnow interprets it, may have been the basis of the rich cultural history of Middle Tennessee. She contrasts that history with other regions where a few great landowners owned much of the land. Middle Tennessee, she says, was a wider world with many voices and clashing opinions, the voice of the young United States, able to outshout the likes of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, and providing three presidents for this young country.

In her epilogue, Harriette Simpson Arnow concludes that the first settlers on the Cumberland, like most first settlers everywhere, invented nothing. They pioneered no new system of government, religion, or architecture. Rather, the pioneers were successful at adapting old learnings to a new environment, both those derived from the region like corn, moccasins, and the poplar dugout, and those from distant places lil<:e the technology of the log house and the tenets of religion, education, and democracy.

And perhaps that best characterizes the spirit of today's meeting. We hardly expect to invent anything. At the end of the day, we may be shouting at each other or embracing each othe; or both. But we are here in one room for one day for one reason: because we care about this region.

View the Full Publication:
Regional Planning Summit Proceedings, 1999, PDF Part 1
Regional Planning Summit Proceedings, 1999, PDF Part 2
Regional Planning Summit Proceedings, 1999, PDF Part 3