The Heritage Foundation Celebrates Preservation with a Preview of The American Buffalo

Cloaked in twilight under a shroud of history, guests arrived at The Franklin Theatre for an early preview of The American Buffalo — a new documentary directed by filmmaker Ken Burns and written by Dayton Duncan — sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, The Better Angels Society and Nashville Public Television. The Franklin Theatre — itself rescued from destruction by The Heritage Foundation of Williamson County — served as the perfect setting for the preview of a film that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The film delves into a dark chapter in American history — the near-extinction and subsequent revival of the American buffalo. Earlier that day, The Better Angels Society — which funded a portion of the project and whose mission is “to be the preeminent organization supporting American history documentary filmmakers, advancing the use of their body of work to promote civic engagement and educate generations of students and lifelong learners” — invited high school students to be the first in the area to view the film.

As preservation supporters gathered, the theater buzzed with anticipation for the new film. The evening — hosted by Tracy Frist and her husband Bill Frist — brought together luminaries of historic preservation and chroniclers of our nation’s history. After a warm welcome from Bill, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham took the stage, greeting the crowd with a humorous “Welcome to Monday night football for dorks” — eliciting hearty laughter. Jon invited the film’s writer, Dayton Duncan — known for illustrious works like Mark Twain, Country Music and The National Parks: America’s Best Idea — to the stage. “The story this film tells is not a fairy tale. It is a story of a complicated human saga,” said Dayton. The series — produced over the span of four years — takes viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history, tracing the mammal’s evolution, its significance to the Great Plains and, most importantly, its relationship to the Indigenous people of North America.

Following the screening, Dayton, Jon, board member Kathy Mattea and Dwayne Estes — executive director of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute — took the stage for a Q&A session moderated by Bill Frist. The night concluded with remarks from Heritage Foundation president and CEO Bari Beasley, who deemed the night a perfect example of preservation bringing the community together to celebrate the past, present and future.