National Life and the Grand Ole Opry

While impressive, this building does not appear to have an obvious connection to music. But what if I told you that this was the headquarters of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company from 1970 to 1994. So what? Well, without this insurance company, we would not have the Grand Ole Opry—Nashville’s most famous music show and broadcast. To tell the whole story, we have to go back 100 years.

In the 1920s, National Life founded WSM radio, so named because of the company’s motto: “We Shield Millions.” The idea worked like this: rather than pay for advertising, National Life could broadcast directly into people’s homes and work their advertising into the programming. In May 1922, a 16-year-old sound engineer named Jack DeWitt installed a twenty-watt transmitter at Ward-Belmont College (now Belmont University). It was Nashville’s first radio station. Three years later a new program launched on November 28, called the WSM Barn Dance or “Saturday Night Program.” The very first act was Uncle Jimmy Thompson, a 77-year-old fiddle player. [Audio Clip] Another early musician was a local Edgehill resident named DeFord Bailey. Despite Jim Crow laws and racial prejudice and discrimination, Bailey became country music’s first African American star and was a virtuoso on the harmonica. [Audio Clip]

WSM also aired classical music, but the popularity of the live country music broadcast skyrocketed among rural populations and the working class. In late 1927, after a performance by DeFord Bailey, the host said, “For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from the Grand Opera, but from now on, we will present the Grand Ole Opry.” And the name stuck. 

Edwin Craig, National Life’s longtime CEO, expanded the radio station in 1932 with the help of WSM engineer Jack DeWitt. They built a 900-foot radio tower just south of Nashville. The tower was the largest transmitting device in the nation—allowing WSM to broadcast into millions of homes across the U.S. and even some foreign countries! The weekly show brought musical performers from every corner of the country to Nashville—all with the hope of making it to the Grand Ole Opry. Look for the historical marker for Edwin Craig across the street.

The Grand Ole Opry moved several times as the live show’s popularity increased. You’ll hear more about its time at War Memorial Auditorium at the next stop. In 1943, the Grand Ole Opry moved to the Ryman Auditorium and performed there every week for the next thirty years. The Opry moved to a new complex 20 minutes east of the city in 1974. It is located between Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center and Opry Mills Mall (formerly Opryland U.S.A. theme park). In 1994, this building was sold by National Life and purchased by the state of Tennessee who renamed it the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower. To learn more about this building, take our Capitol and Church tour.

Fun Fact: The Grand Ole Opry is the longest running radio program in the world and you can still listen to it on 650 am radio frequency. You can also stream the station live at wsmradio.com/.

Ok just one more fun fact for the Nashvillians. The local television station called WSMV, or Channel 4, is also part of National Life’s history. It first aired in 1950.

Now continue walking up Seventh Avenue with the War Memorial on your right. The War Memorial also houses the Tennessee Military Museum which is on our Hidden History tour. Once you reach the crosswalk directly across from the entrance to the Snodgrass building, turn RIGHT and walk up the staircase in the middle of the War Memorial Building. You are in the right place if you can see the bronze butt of the statue named Victory.