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The tabernacle
Thomas Ryman, who came to heckle a revival, pledged to build a tabernacle
The auditorium opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892. Thomas Ryman, who owned several saloons and a fleet of riverboats, attended one of Samuel Porter Jones' 1885 tent revivals with the intent to heckle, but was instead converted and pledged to build a tabernacle for large revivals indoors.
The name
The building was renamed Ryman Auditorium at a memorial service in 1904
Jones sought to name the tabernacle in Ryman's honor, but Ryman denied the request several times. At Ryman's memorial service in 1904, held at the tabernacle, Jones proposed renaming the building Ryman Auditorium, which was met with the overwhelming approval of the attendees.
Lula Naff
Lula C. Naff booked the stage and won a suit against the censors in 1939
In 1904 Lula C. Naff, a widow working as a stenographer, began to book speaking engagements, concerts and boxing matches at the Ryman. She was its official manager by 1920, and in 1939 she won a landmark lawsuit against the Nashville Board of Censors.
The Opry
The Grand Ole Opry broadcast from the Ryman from June 5, 1943
The Grand Ole Opry was first broadcast from the Ryman on June 5, 1943, and originated there every week for nearly 31 years. Every show sold out. The Ryman got the nickname The Mother Church of Country Music, which it holds to this day.
Backstage
With no backstage, performers crossed the alley to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge
Because the Ryman was not designed as a performance venue, it lacked a true backstage area. The shortage of space forced performers to wait in the wings, the narrow hallways and the alley. Many crossed the alley to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge and other bars, where they sometimes performed.
Day 1, afternoon
It comes after Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Then Lower Broadway.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Ryman Auditorium, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.