The signage reads “Nashville’s Gateway to the Jet Age, Athens of the South.” American and Eastern airlines were the first air carriers to serve Nashville. Nashville’s airport officially opened in 1937 as Berry Field, in honor of Colonel Harry S. Berry, the state administrator of the Works Progress Administrator, or WPA. Berry Field became the military base for the 4th Ferrying Command during World War II and was returned to the city when the war ended. The airport’s name was officially changed to Nashville International Airport in 1988, but the original three-letters BNA, which stands for Berry Field Nashville, remains.
The three men in the picture are, I think, left to right:
Beverly Briley – County Judge (chief executive) of Davidson County and later Mayor of consolidated metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County
Buford Ellington – Governor of Tennessee
Ben West – Mayor of Nashville before the city and county established the consolidated metropolitan government