So they decided to collect something. One small object for every life. They chose paper clips, because they had read that Norwegians wore them on their lapels as a quiet symbol of resistance during the Nazi occupation.

Then the letters started arriving.

What Actually Happened

The project began as an after-school lesson in tolerance in a town that was, by the students' own description, almost entirely white and Christian, with very little direct experience of the history they were studying. That is precisely what makes the story land.

Word spread — first locally, then through journalists, then internationally. Paper clips came in by the envelope and by the sack, many with letters attached: from survivors, from the families of victims, from schoolchildren in other countries, from public figures. The count passed six million and kept going, eventually running into the tens of millions.

To house them, the school acquired an authentic German rail car of the type used to transport people to the camps, had it shipped to Tennessee, and installed it on the school grounds as the memorial. Inside, the clips sit in the car alongside letters, documents and artefacts sent from around the world.

The Documentary

The story became Paper Clips, a 2004 documentary that took the project well beyond Tennessee and brought a steady stream of visitors to a town most people had never heard of. If you want context before you visit, watch it first — though the memorial works perfectly well without it.

What It Is Like to Visit

It is quiet, and it is small, and it is on a school campus rather than in a purpose-built museum. That is part of its power: there is no architecture doing the emotional work for you, no lighting design, no gift shop. There is a rail car in a schoolyard in rural Tennessee filled with paper clips that strangers mailed in.

Give it more time than you think you need. People routinely arrive expecting a twenty-minute stop and read letters for an hour.

Practical Notes

• Contact the school before you come. This is an operating middle school, not a public attraction with staffed opening hours. Access arrangements vary during term time, and groups should always arrange a visit in advance.
• It is free. If you want to support it, ask the school directly rather than assuming there is a donation box.
• It suits older children and teenagers. The subject matter is handled thoughtfully, but it is the Holocaust — judge for your own family.
• Combine it with the valley. Whitwell sits in the Sequatchie Valley, one of the better scenic drives in the region, and Ketner's Mill is nearby.

Frequently Asked Questions