Welcome Lafayette, Friend of Liberty

During the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette of France volunteered to fight in the Continental Army. His service became a symbol of the alliance between France and the burgeoning United States. Lafayette became a trusted army officer and valued friend of George Washington. In 1824 and 1825, Lafayette returned to the United States for a tour stretching from New York to Louisiana, including stops in Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee. When he arrived at the Nashville Public Square, on May 4, 1825, a sign proclaimed, “Welcome Lafayette, Friend of Liberty.”

On the 200th anniversary of the tour, explore what Lafayette’s visit meant to Tennesseans through a temporary display of artifacts from the collection of the Tennessee State Museum and other institutions.

Artifacts from the State Museum collection include shoes worn and goblets used at a ball honoring Lafayette in Nashville; a curtain hung from a bed in a Nashville home where he stayed; a souvenir paperweight; a commemorative saucer; a pistol carried by one of Lafayette’s guards during his visit in Nashville; and a cane made from a hickory branch at Andrew Jackson's Hermitage cut during General Lafayette's visit by S.P. Ament. 

This event is part of Lafayette 200 and presented in partnership with the American Friends of Lafayette Bicentennial Committee. Throughout 2024-25, the American Friends of Lafayette is hosting educational programming across the United States and in France to commemorate the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s return to America as the “Guest of the Nation.” Learn more at Lafayette200.org.