Bemis Mill Village Museum

Soon after it was incorporated, the Bemis Historical Society had an opportunity to acquire the building and grounds of the Bemis Auditorium. Following negotiations with the former owner, a warranty deed for the property was issued on March 19, 1999 (Deed Book 453, page 122), which passed fee simple ownership of the property to BHS on the date of recording of March 22, 1999.

Since that time the Society has worked actively to develop a plan for the restoration and development of the Auditorium as a Museum. The Society retained the services of Hopkins & Associates of Memphis, Tennessee, to assist with an analysis for the restoration of the building and its development for future service as a museum dedicated to the history of Bemis.

The Bemis Auditorium, constructed in 1922 from the designs of Massachusetts-based architect Andrew Hepburn, was to be the focal point of cultural life in the unincorporated model "company town" of Bemis, Tennessee, now a part of Jackson. The Auditorium Building is an elegant, sophisticated example of Beaux Arts design, and the circumstances surrounding its construction are equally impressive. While the Auditorium alone would be an extraordinary building in any small town, it is only one element of the nationally significant collection of resources nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as the Bemis Historic District.

Mission Statement: To acquire and make accessible important historical documents and artifacts pertaining to the history of Bemis, Tennessee, a mill town forged in the cotton field by world-renowned entrepreneurs, engineers and architects.

Strategic Goals and Objectives:

Goal 1

• Establish a research center for documentation of the history of the mill town of Bemis, Tennessee

Objectives:

• Maintain storage of and access to pertinent magazines, books and blueprints relevant to the history of Bemis.
• Provide access to historical records related to Bemis, including cemetery records and data on the original workers at the Bemis Cotton Mill and their families.
• Install an Internet-linked computer to allow research through pertinent national and international resources.

Goal 2

• Develop educational activities pertaining to life and work in a mill town

Objectives:

• Establish permanent educational venues that depict life in the mill town of Bemis, Tennessee, including
• Textile Production: From the Cotton Field to the Factory
• Bemis, Tennessee: The Great Socio-Economic Experiment

World-Renowned Bemis Founders

• House of Bemis - Unique Architectural Design for Affordable Housing
• The World-Wide Impact of Bemis Company

Goal 3

• Provide access to exhibits relative to the history and culture of Bemis, Tennessee

Objectives:

• Provide access to traveling and rotating displays pertinent to the culture and work of the Bemis mill town
• Establish a theatre for the viewing of historical audio-visual presentations and period films
• Provide demonstrations of period work and cultural activities

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