ARTS & CULTURE | The Tennessee Historical Commission and the Tennessee Historical Society recently announced the 2024 Tennessee History Book Award, The Realms of  Oblivion: An Excavation of the Davies Manor Historic Site’s Omitted Stories by Andrew C.  Ross and published by Vanderbilt University Press. The prize includes $2,000 to the winning author. 

Judged by a panel of historians from across Tennessee, two other books were finalists for the  prize: Radical Volunteers: Dissent, Desegregation, and Student Power in Tennessee (University  of Georgia Press) by Katherine J. Ballantyne and Tennessee’s Experience During the First  World War (University of Tennessee Press) edited by Michael E. Birdwell. 

The panel of judges described The Realms of Oblivion as a powerful and humanizing  examination of a cultural site and praised Ross for elegantly illuminating an important aspect of  West Tennessee history. The book explores competing narratives of the Davies Manor, located  in Bartlett. By including the voices of the Davies family and of the Black families they enslaved,  the author tells the larger story of Shelby County and Tennessee. 

“We are honored by our partnership with the Tennessee Historical Society on this longstanding  annual award program that highlights works centering on Tennessee History,” said Patrick  McIntyre, Tennessee Historical Commission executive director and Tennessee State Historic  Preservation Officer. 

THS executive director Jennifer C. Core said, “We’re happy to join with THC in congratulating  Andrew Ross on this well-deserved honor. His skill in challenging accepted lore with extensive  archival research is a model for historians documenting omitted stories and overlooked peoples.” 

The winning author, Andrew C. Ross, formerly served as the projects director and executive  director for the Davies Manor Historic Site. He later worked as museum director for the Blues  Foundation’s Blues Hall of Fame Museum in Memphis. He is currently the director of  exhibitions for Humanities Texas. 

Additional information about the award and nomination forms can be found on the Tennessee  Historical Society website. Nominations for the 2025 Tennessee History Book Award will be  accepted in November 2025.  For more information about the Tennessee Historical Commission, please visit the website. •

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