Nashville, Bound

Wesley Scott Benton

Nashville Bound is a history podcast where Wesley Scott Benton reviews the books, documents, and stories that hold the past of Nashville and Tennessee. Each episode puts one source on the desk, a rare book, a forgotten paper, a court record, a documentary, and follows it into the people, places, and turning points it reveals. History you can hold, told through the artifacts that carry it, with a nudge toward where you can read and explore more yourself. A production of Cumberland Commons Press.

Episodes

  1. Sep 6

    The Book that No One Wrote: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and The Little Engine that Could

    The Book That No One Wrote: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and the Little Engine That Could In 1995, Dolly Parton ordered one thousand seven hundred and sixty picture books for the children of her home county, a tribute to a father who could never read one. She figured the idea might reach a couple of counties over. This is the story of what she actually built, and the strange little book she chose to send first. Dolly Parton's Imagination Library ​Enroll a child or donate: imaginationlibrary.com. ​Her letter about her father, read aloud in this episode: Letter from Dolly​How it is paid for: the Dollywood Foundation covers overhead and negotiate book pricing; local partners raise the money for the books and postage. Imagination Library support page​Tennessee's statewide program, Governor's Early Literacy Foundation, founded in 2004 as Governor's Books from Birth: governorsfoundation.org​The 100 millionth book at the Library of Congress, February 27, 2018: dollyparton.com​The book on the deskPiper, Watty [Arnold Munk]. The Little Engine That Could. New York: Platt and Munk, 1930. Retold from "The Pony Engine" by Mabel C. Bragg (1916). The 1930 text entered the US public domain on January 1, 2026. ​Buy it: 90th Anniversary Edition (2020), illustrated by Dan Santat, with a letter from Dolly Parton. ISBN 9780593094396. Any independent bookstore can special order it. One indie page​Used copies by ISBN: AbeBooks​Read it free: the 1930 text is public domain. Search "Little Engine That Could Piper 1930" at archive.org.Sources for the story ​John Tebbel, A History of Book Publishing in the United States, vol. 4 (Bowker, 1981), p. 476, on the 1955 reward. Quoted here​Frances M. Ford papers, History Nebraska, the family's seven-year authorship claim: finding aid​WGBH, 2014, on Arnold Munk and the Ford case: article​Tennessee's 60 million books, Governor's Early Literacy Foundation statement: NewsChannel 9​Dolly Parton, January 19, 1946 to August 25, 2026: WSMV This episode is dedicated to the most famous Tennessean since Andrew Jackson, Dolly Parton. In Tennessee, Dolly, we will always love you. Nashville Bound is a history podcast where Wesley Scott Benton reviews the books, documents, and stories behind Nashville and Tennessee history. A production of Cumberland Commons Press. If this one moved you, share it with someone who loves this city.

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Nashville Bound is a history podcast where Wesley Scott Benton reviews the books, documents, and stories that hold the past of Nashville and Tennessee. Each episode puts one source on the desk, a rare book, a forgotten paper, a court record, a documentary, and follows it into the people, places, and turning points it reveals. History you can hold, told through the artifacts that carry it, with a nudge toward where you can read and explore more yourself. A production of Cumberland Commons Press.