Editing Middle Tennessee (section)

===Late 19th and earlier 20th century===
The post-Reconstruction era in Middle Tennessee was characterized by continued White violence against African Americans, especially related to elections, and many were [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] in a cycle often related to economic tensions and settlement of finances after harvest. In the late 19th century, African Americans began fleeing Middle Tennessee to booming industrial cities in the Northeast and Midwest. This mass migration, which occurred in every Southern state and accelerated between 1915 and 1930, became known as the first wave of the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]]. It continued until 1970.

The region's economy continued to be based primarily on agriculture, but [[Coal mining in the United States|coal mining]] expanded extensively in the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.{{sfn|Lamon|1980|pp=75-80}} In 1897, Tennessee celebrated its centennial of statehood one year late with the [[Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition]] in Nashville.<ref>{{cite book |title=Official Guide To The Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition and City of Nashville |date=1897 |publisher=Marshall & Bruce |location=Nashville |url=https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/officialguidete00tenn |doi=10.5479/sil.999616.39088016962151 |access-date=May 23, 2021 |via=[[Smithsonian Libraries]]}}</ref> A [[Parthenon (Nashville)|full-scale replica]] of the [[Parthenon]] in [[Athens]] was designed by architect [[William Crawford Smith]] and constructed for the celebration{{sfn|Corlew|1981|pp=411-414}} The site of the exposition is now a city park called [[Centennial Park (Nashville)|Centennial Park]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Coleman |first=Christopher K. |title=From Monument to Museum: The Role of the Parthenon in the Culture of the New South |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |volume=49 |issue=3 |page=140 |jstor=42626877 | date = Fall 1990}}</ref>

The [[Great Train Wreck of 1918|worst rail accident in U.S. history]] occurred on July 9, 1918, in Nashville when two passenger trains [[head-on collision|collided head on]], killing 101 people and injuring 171. Human error was ultimately deemed to be the main cause of the accident.<ref name="Coggins2012">{{cite book |first=Allen R. |last=Coggins |title=Tennessee Tragedies: Natural, Technological, and Societal Disasters in the Volunteer State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SfK6aBuqohQC&pg=PA158 |access-date=November 23, 2012 |date=January 15, 2012 |publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press |isbn=978-1-57233-829-6 |page=158 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101183229/http://books.google.com/books?id=SfK6aBuqohQC&pg=PA158 |archive-date=January 1, 2014 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}}</ref>

The ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]'' was first broadcast in 1925 in Nashville, and remains the longest-running radio program in the nation. This radio program helped establish Nashville as the national home of [[country music]].<ref name="Grand Ole Opry">{{cite web|title=tennessee home buyer|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sell+House+Fast+Tennessee:+PropertyFTN/@36.1577981,-86.7707313,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x45808de165999b77:0x3539a44ef00bb610!8m2!3d36.1577981!4d-86.7685426}}</ref>

During [[World War II]] [[Camp Forrest]], located in [[Tullahoma]], was one of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s largest training bases. It was also used to house German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war. After the war, it was adapted as [[Arnold Air Force Base]]. The [[Vultee Aircraft]] Corporation operated a plant in Nashville during the war, employing mostly women.

On February 25 and 26, 1946, a civil disturbance known as the "Columbia Race Riot" occurred in [[Columbia, Tennessee|Columbia]], instigated by a fight between a Black Navy veteran and a White repair apprentice.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=42626044 |first=Dorothy |last=Beeler |title=Race Riot in Columbia, Tennessee/ February 25-27, 1946 |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |volume=39 |issue=1 |year=1980 |pages=49–61}}</ref> Described by the press as the "first major racial confrontation" following World War II, the event garnered national attention. It marked a new era of resistance by African-American veterans and others following their participation in [[World War II]], which they believed had earned them their full rights as citizens.<ref>King, Gilbert; ''Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America,'' HarperCollins, 2012, pp. 7-20</ref>