Pearls of Wisdom

According to Tennessee State Symbols (1995), Murfreesboro natives Charles Bradford and James Johnson were fishing in the Caney Fork River in the early 1880s when, on opening mussels, they found a large white pearl. They took it to William Wendel, a local druggist, who sent it off to Tiffany’s in New York. A few days later the boys had a check for a then-impressive $83.

More than 130 years later, mussels are a $40 million industry in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee River Freshwater Pearl Museum. And the freshwater pearl is the official state gem.

Pearls are formed when freshwater or saltwater mollusks—clams, oysters, mussels, and more— secrete layer after layer of ultra-thin fluid in an onion-like manner around an irritant.

Conceptually speaking, we believe mollusks producing pearls are a good metaphor for the various research centers and institutes housed on the campus of MTSU. Each in its own way, shape, and form is cultivating important research for the state’s benefit, responding to a need and resulting in valuable gems for Tennessee’s economy and workforce development.