Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Civil War Roundtable announces its July 2023 program and speaker. The meeting is always open to interested members of the public.
The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 19th, 2023 at Fort Defiance Park, our new home, 120 Duncan Street, off New Providence Boulevard. Turn onto Walker Street off New Providence Blvd. and then onto Duncan Street. There are site markers on New Providence Boulevard above and below the park.
The meeting begins at 7:00pm and is always open to the public. The Clarksville Civil War Roundtable began in March 2004 and features well-known authors and historians as speakers.
Our Speaker and Topic – “Confederate Collections in the Tennessee State Museum”
The Tennessee State Museum is a world-class institution with amazing holdings in its collections. Of course, a central core of these is their Civil War collection consisting of Union artifacts but mostly Confederate since the state seceded from the Union in June 1861 and sent thousands of men into the Confederate Army. The state also turned out numerous officers from colonel upwards to general ranks including Ben Cheatham, George Maney, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Gideon Pillow, Daniel Donelson, and many more.
Thus, when the Tennessee Historical Society in the post-Civil War years began taking in artifacts, documents, and more when the state museum began in the 20th Century many of those ended up in their collections. Our speaker this month, Chief Curator Richard Wright, will present a program in chronological order of many of these artifacts via a PowerPoint program.
Richard White, Chief Curator, manages the curatorial team, directs artifact acquisition and interpretation, engages with the public, and generally assists in the management and conservation of the collection. Richard has more than eight years of experience with the Tennessee State Museum, beginning in the Education Department before advancing to the Collections Department.
Richard is a native of Nashville and attended Hillwood Comprehensive High School. He holds a B.A. in History from Belmont University and a master’s degree in History from Middle Tennessee State University.
