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This Monday morning about 10:00, The alarms went down in The Tennessee River Museum,external frame, retaining clips, and glass plate removed to the exhibit which housed Mr. Wade's famously historic Specimen of Amber. That day had been prearranged & was preparatory for a Meeting in Nashville the next day. I was actually allowed to remove the specimen out of the display, privately inspect, take measurements of, and photograph it. What an amazing feeling it was to actually roll it around in my hand and closely view it in detail...I will always remember it. For those who may not know, that piece of Amber was the first recorded specimen in North America (!) To contain an Insect inclusion. As Scientific material, it is over 100 years old...in the Paleobotanical world, it's a Grand Slam. And in my mind, it's historical record achievement combined with it's contribution to science and continuous documented history......well, it surely must be such a unique thing that a monetary value must can't be placed on it...it's like the Liberty Bell man.I would argue it to be an iconic piece of American History at any rate. Here I present to you the best photos I could (sorry about image quality) of the specimen. My eyewitness testimony may perhaps be credible enough to resolve a few issues regarding what the inclusion(s) appears like..to the naked eye at least. Some recordings speak of a "whole" inscect, others say only a wing is contained in it, while it is also recorded to have disarticulated remains in the form of a wing and ,two body sections ( best I remember). I did notice 3 different inclusions in the piece. One of the Two key holders to the cases in the Museum told me he couldn't remember the specimen ever coming out of the case!And it had been so long he couldn't remember how many years it had been on display.this first pic is a historic photograph for Tennessee,if nothing more, but may be elevated to a higher status in the future. It is Gwynneth Marie Welch, my daughter, holding Bruce Wade's specimen in her right hand, and in her left hand lays a specimen of from our recoveries which contains two "whole" insects from the Cretaceous, a first for Tennessee. My expertise in insects being minimal, I can only relate one looks like a nat and the other a mosquito. Other inclusions occurring in the specimen, bubbles, ect. Perhaps they may turn out new to science...a dream come true. At any rate, enjoy these photos of Wade's specimen, they aren't the best perhaps, but there really isn't that many pictures floating around on the internet to view the specimen either. I have another post to make about similar connected events that will also be made today