Love of history leads to lifetime plan

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She’s a familiar face to fans of the long-running, popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow, where she serves as a specialist in Native American art. And while she’s recognized globally for her expertise in Tribal Arts, Linda Dyer’s talents expand to other areas, as well. She’s also a general appraiser, broker, and consultant in fine arts and antiques. 

Her fascination with antiques, art, and artifacts began as a young child growing up in Boston. 

“I grew up at a time where you’d open a door in the morning, and your parents would tell you to be back for dinner,” she recalls with a laugh. “And you were off and running. When I was, I think around eleven, I used to get on buses, they had a great bus and subway system, and I’d go down to the Harvard campus and spend time at the Harvard museums. Then, when I got older, I’d go into the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and wander through the halls.”

Back then, she was especially drawn to ancient Egyptian exhibits. Later, when a good friend got a job developing a gift shop at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Ethnology, Dyer devoted a lot of time to helping out. It allowed her access to a wealth of knowledge.

“There was a time when museums were just gigantic glass cases with handwritten cards, and I was captivated by everything I saw.”

While Dyer would later go to school to become a nurse, she remained dedicated to pursuing her passion for art history and antiques. She eventually left nursing full-time and got a job at a major auction house.

“I was working as a nurse for 12-hour weekends. Then I’d work at an auction house about four days a week as a consultant and building a department for them.”

It gave her an invaluable education from people who were standouts in many different fields.

“I was surrounded by everything, not just my specialty, and I got to learn from the masters of this ilk. There were some tremendous people there that have since passed on. But they were all engaging human beings who were absolutely willing to share what they knew.”

Dyer credits her love of art to her mother and father, whose own parents fled the genocide in Armenia. She said her mom and dad, who grew up during the Depression, had an “eye” and appreciation for art and passed it on to her. As far as her becoming a specialist in Native American Art, that has a lot to do with her father, who traveled while serving in the Air Force.

“He’d travel on a troop train across the U.S., and while other people would send home satin pillows that said, ‘Made in Taiwan,' he was always buying things woven into the experience. He bought a lot of Native American jewelry and pieces of pottery for my mom. So, I developed a fascination with the American West.”

Her expertise shines through on the Antiques Roadshow. Through the years, she’s had the chance to evaluate a wide range of artifacts. 

“People come and share their different stories,” she says. “The show is part adventure, part history lesson, and part treasure hunt. And who wouldn’t enjoy that?”

When she’s not traveling for PBS, she shifts to her expertise as a generalist, working as a consultant for auction houses, companies, and individuals, trying to determine the value of many types of items. 

“What I do the most here in Tennessee is help people divest their homes, whether it be an estate or just a collection. Because you can have the True Cross or the Hope Diamond, but if you don’t know where to place it, you can make a big mistake.”

Dyer says there’s a kindred spirit between those who share a love of history and items that tell the story of a time gone by. At one point, Mike Wolfe (of American Pickers), now a friend, consulted with her before he developed his show. There’s something special that draws like-minded people together.

“We’re all cut from the same cloth,” she says. “My colleagues on the Antiques Roadshow are the most passionate, adventurous, romantics - all fascinated by history. And every time we go on tour, it’s like going off to summer camp.”

If you’d like to contact Linda Dyer regarding her appraising or consulting services, you can email her at ledyer256@aol.com or call (615) 791-9242.

Maury County is a proven hotspot for people moving to Tennessee. Like other counties surrounding the fast-growing city of Nashville, it’s felt the ripple effect of people moving farther out from the bigger city. Over the past five years alone, the population here has grown almost 19 percent, with experts predicting a similar increase between now and 2025. Businesses are also gravitating to the area. Will Evans, President and CEO of the Maury County Chamber and Economic Alliance, says people have discovered what this part of the state has much to offer.

“We have access to everything that Nashville has to offer such as world class entertainment, world class travel out of the airport, and all of that,” he explains. “But we also have a very genuine sense of place with our own unique shopping, dining, entertainment, quality healthcare, and so forth. Then, when you drill down into the various cities, whether it be Spring Hill, Columbia, or Mount Pleasant, you get a different feel, all positive but different. You can go from more suburban to rural depending on what you would like to have in your community.”

Nashville isn’t the only nearby metropolitan area influencing Maury County’s population boom. 

“What differentiates us from some of the other Nashville MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) counties, is we’re also uniquely positioned next to Huntsville, Alabama," says Evans. "So, that provides additional opportunities for our residents, whether it be professional job opportunities or additional entertainment opportunities."

Evans and his team are on the front lines of helping Maury County’s economy grow, attracting new businesses, and supporting existing businesses as they evolve or expand. They have a strong track record over the past decade. 

“2014 is when the tide started to turn for Maury County, and we started to see growth and new companies come to town. If you look back over that ten-year period, our partners at the local and state level have announced forty-three new companies or current companies expanding. That totals over six thousand new jobs and $5 billion dollars in new investment in the county."

As they’ve worked to attract new businesses and industries, it’s been important for them to get strategic input from local business owners, city and county government leaders, investors, and others. 

“When it comes to recruiting businesses in the county, we spent the better part of 2022 and 2023 engaging with our community stakeholders," Evans says. "We wanted to know what they would consider a successful economic development project. What would they be excited for us to announce, as a new company coming to our community."

He says it gave them a lot of insight and helped narrow their focus. They came away with three priorities: higher wages (higher than the average county wage), a diversification of industries and job opportunities, and a responsible use of the community’s resources.”

Attracting new businesses requires a strong workforce. Evans says they realize the need to pool resources to help train and prepare the local workforce for the technical job skills some of these companies will require.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time with what we call Align Maury,” Evans explains. “It’s our workforce program where we’ve brought together the education partners, the technical colleges and community colleges, and employers in the county to figure out what we can do to fill those gaps and really develop some strategies to help the employers find the workforce they need.”

It's an exciting time for Maury County, and Evans says he and his staff are currently working on the plan for the next five years. The goal is to embrace growth but maintain a balance.

"We know we're growing, but how can we grow responsible, and how can we make sure the entire community's input is sought in determining where we want to go as a county in the future. 

That skill set has come in handy in his efforts to help promote and develop Columbia. It’s been rewarding to see the growth so far, while continuing to build for the future.