Nourishing The Community Podcast · STP Productionss

Exploring Heritage and History: Oakland’s Mansion with Connor Moss

·34 min·2 clips

Oakland’s shifted from “pretty furniture” and “gold gilt mirror” tours to slavery-centered interpretation.

1. Nourishing The Community Podcast episode “Exploring Heritage and History: Oakland’s Mansion with Connor Moss” centers on Oakland’s Mansion in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 2. Connor Moss is the events representative at Oakland’s Mansion and says he has worked there for 17 years, while the hosts focus on his role in tours, events, gardening, and interpretation. 3. The episode asks what Oakland’s Mansion is for now: museum, park, arboretum, event space, and history site. 4. Connor says Oakland’s highlights the early residents of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, especially the Manny family and the people enslaved there. 5. He explains that the site also serves as a public park and a registered arboretum, which he describes as “a place for trees.” 6. He says the arboretum has 76 native Tennessee trees, level two certification, and a white oak that is about 350 years old. 7. Connor describes the community garden with Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation as “very bountiful” and says the garden will provide food to share. 8. He says Oakland’s hosts something almost every weekend from March until Christmas, with weddings, fundraisers, and other events filling the calendar. 9. He notes that winter rentals became more available after the exhibit “wedding dresses through the decades” ended after 10 years. 10. Connor explains that the Oakland’s Association began in 1959 when women organized to keep the mansion from being demolished, and the museum opened in 1960. 11. He says the organization now relies on a board, an executive director named James Manning, staff, volunteers, memberships, grants, tourism, and rentals. 12. He notes that self-guided tours started in 2019, continued through the pandemic, and are currently offered Tuesday through Friday with summer weekend hours. 13. Connor says the grounds are open from dusk till dawn, and he mentions sitting by the Manny spring as his “outdoor office.” 14. He explains that the spring stays 62 degrees year-round and was important historically because the mansion was built there for fresh water. 15. Connor says Oakland’s moved away from a tour style centered on “pretty furniture” and “gold gilt mirror” displays. 16. He says descendant information, including work from Alma McKnight, helped the site expand interpretation of slavery and the lives connected to the mansion. 17. The tone is conversational and local, with the hosts joking about coffee, weather, trees, and event schedules. 18. The format mixes interview questions with practical visitor information, historical explanation, and event promotion. 19. People interested in Murfreesboro history, gardens, and historic sites. 20. People looking for a fast entertainment-only conversation.

As heard by us

A warm look at a historic house that links local memory, public events, and harder history.

Connor Moss frames Oakland's Mansion as both a museum and an event space, and the strongest parts of the story tie the preserved Manny family home to the people it helps interpret: enslaved individuals, the wealthy planter class, and everyone in between.

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Want local history with a community calendar and a little cicada banter?

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