Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

After seven years of construction, the Ryman Auditorium first opened its doors in 1892. It wasn’t called the Ryman Auditorium then, but rather the Union Gospel Tabernacle. In fact, Thomas Ryman, the building’s sponsor, insisted that it not be named for him. Ryman, a local Nashville businessman, conceived the idea of building the tabernacle shortly after attending a tent revival meeting where he became a devout Christian upon hearing a sermon by evangelist Samuel Porter Jones. Shortly after Thomas Ryman’s death in 1904, the building was renamed the Ryman Auditorium.

Although intended primarily for religious services and used as such for many years, the Ryman Auditorium has always been host to other shows, plays, concerts and lectures. Initially, this was meant to offset some debt incurred during construction but ultimately because it was the largest gathering place in Nashville. The list of folks who have appeared on stage at the Ryman over the years, reads like a catalog of US postage stamps. Besides the country music performers who have been stamp subjects, there’s John Phillip Sousa, Susan B. Anthony, Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, Jane Addams, John McCormack, W. C. Fields, Charlie Chapman, Enrico Caruso, Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, Ethel Barrymore, Marian Anderson, Helen Hayes, Fannie Brice, Katharine Hepburn, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bob Hope, Louis Armstrong, Jackie Robinson and, of course, the “King,” Elvis Presley.

In 1943, the Ryman Auditorium became home to the “Grand Ole Opry,” a kind of weekly country music jamboree sponsored by local radio station WSM, and which had outgrown its previous venue, the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville. For the next three decades, the Ryman hosted the “Opry” and became so associated with it that its name was officially changed to the “Grand Ole Opry House” in 1963. The last Grand Ole Opry held at the Ryman was on March 15, 1974. That show featured (among others) country music legends Dottie West, “Whisperin’” Bill Anderson and US stamp subject, Roy Acuff; “Hee Haw” staples, Archie Campbell, Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones and my personal favorites, Jim & Jesse.

The stamp’s design is based on a painting by Nashville artist, Michael Summers called “Union Gospel Tabernacle – 1895.” This painting can be found in the lobby of the visitor’s center. The Ryman Auditorium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and has been named a National Historic Landmark.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 18-Mar-2000 Denomination: 20c Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/10/2019 Benchmark Blasterz visited it