Topic: History

Inauguration viewing linked to curriculum; some CMCSS students denied a view of “history as it happened”

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 21, 2009 |

“Are you kidding me?” was my initial response when the parents of two Clarksville students (middle and high schoolers) reported that their two students (high school and middle school) were not afforded the opportunity to view the presidential Inauguration in their  Clarksville-Montgomery County School System classrooms.

The parental understanding was that by CMCSS decree  “unless the inauguration was directly related to what was being taught in a given class” the inauguration would not be watched. “Are you kidding me?” was quickly followed by feelings that  can best be described as “appalled, irate, embarassed…”

I, as a writer, history lover, activist, parent and grandparent, was, well,  stunned.

“Classroom teachers were not allowed to show the inauguration unless it dealt specifically with curriculum.” The parents in question said their understanding was that some parents did not want their children “to be ‘exposed’” to the  views of the candidate.” Candidate. First of all, Barack Obama stopped being a candidate when he won the election in November, 2008. Having taken the oath of office, he IS the President. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion | 6 Comments

Groundbreaking planned for Fort Defiance Interpretive Center

December 3, 2008 |

The City of Clarksville will break ground on an interpretive center planned for Fort Defiance Park on Tuesday, December 9 at 3 p.m.

Fort Defiance Park, located at 120 A Street in New Providence, is the site of a Civil War-era fort used by the and later occupied by the Union Army. Today the earthworks (mounds) of the original fort are all that remain. The new interpretive center will illustrate through images and artifacts the story of Fort Defiance and the significance of the fort’s position as a controlling point on the Cumberland River.

The interpretive center will also feature exhibits depicting the history of the New Providence area starting with the Frontier Era (1780-1819), to the Steamboat Era (1819-1843), The Civil War Era (1861-1864), and through the Reconstruction Era (1865-1876).

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Education, Events | 2 Comments

Port Royal Historic Park offers tours by Lantern light

By Beth Britton | October 20, 2008 |

Have you ever wondered what John Montgomery thought as he sat out on a long hunters journey? Or perhaps you have always wanted to know how early settlers’ wives made a Fort into a home? Just how mysterious was that historic night when Dr. Hopson tended to the Bell Family and their spirit troubles?

On a moonlit Lantern tour of Historic Port Royal, you can find the answers to these questions and more, including a first hand account of the Cherokee traveling the Trail of Tears, what really happened during the Tobacco Wars, and the theories surrounding the end of the Silk Mill.

On Thursday, October 23, at  6 p.m., tours will step into Port Royal’s past, with groups leaving the Port Royal State Historic Park Interpretive Center every twenty minuets until 9 p.m. Each stop along the way will be 8-10 minutes long, for a total of an hour long tour. The tours are free and open to the public. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Events, News | 1 Comment »

APSU brings history to 21st century audiences

September 19, 2008 |

Austin Peay State University is proud to include portions of its Special Collections in the Volunteer Voices online database.

The Special Collections-stored, maintained and displayed at the APSU Felix G. Woodward Library-include the original manuscripts, journals and photographs of Dorothy Dix. Dix was the forerunner of today’s advice columnists and was America’s highest paid and most widely read female journalist at the time of her death.

The archives also include the Larson Drawing Collection and the Clarksville Photographs, which document the rich past of Clarksville and Montgomery County. Digital copies from these collections are now accessible through the Library’s digital collection located on APSU’s library Web site. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Education, News | No Comments

Native American culture, crafts, explored at Dunbar Cave

By Beth Britton | August 23, 2008 |

Ranger Dave Britton demonstrates the art of "Knapping"

If you missed it, last Saturday the 16th was a perfect day for an outing. There was a slight breeze that seemed to nod at the upcoming Autumn season. I don’t know about you, but days like that make me want to get out and see what’s going on in my area and the surrounding towns.

So I found myself at Dunbar Cave State park where they were hosting Early Native American Skills Day. Now when I hear the words Early Native American I tend to think of Pow-Wows, Cherokee Indians, Trail of Tears,and bearskins. This event however introduced me to the world of the original settlers the earliest “Americans” the Southeastern Prehistoric Native Americans. That’s right, we’re talking old. Very old. Way back. 6,000 BC

Some of the demonstrations by the staff of Dunbar Cave that I participated in were , demonstrated to me by Ranger Neblett. Atlatl throwing is where you take your spear, which in my case was over half of my height, place it inside of the Atlatl, which resembles a long pipe of sorts, then send it hurling across a distance toward the ‘prey’ that you would be having for dinner that night. Unfortunately all I killed was by chance an unlucky cricket passing by in the grass, for my spear did not ‘hurl’ very far. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News | No Comments

The price paid for the 4th of July!

By Turner McCullough Jr. | July 7, 2008 |

The premier holiday of the summer symbolizes more than a time for grilling, fireworks and road trips and just general fun stuff!

The 4th of July is widely acknowledged as “THE Summer Holiday” here in the United States. The traditional events of the day are well enshrined in our popular culture. People are planning big family cookouts, grilling, barbecuing, pool parties, sports events of all kinds- baseball, soccer, softball, badminton, volleyball, swimming, bicycling and small and super fireworks displays – all typical holiday celebration activities.

Yet there is far more to this holiday of holidays, this one uniquely American blowout. Sacrifices have been made that allow us to engage in these festivities. The lives which have been been laid down that allow us these exercises of indulgence also need to be acknowledged. There are so many individual sacrifices that have occurred in the course of our history that have received little, if any, recognition. What follows is a somewhat skewered collection of notable moments that have added to our American story.

«Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Education, Events, News, Politics | No Comments

Rubber-stamped travel: Corporate cloning of America’s landscape

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 26, 2008 |

On the Road in America is an occasional and serendipitous column about people, places and observations, with publishing predicated on the random availability of internet access or lack thereof.

Being On the Road in America can sometimes be a bore.

Oh, there’s a great deal of beauty to be seen, from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the rolling farmlands across Ohio, from the rugged Rockies and the dramatic coastline of California’s 17-mile drive. That’s not the issue.

As implied in Josh Neuman’s Lemmings (right) ,what is troubling is the growing lack of identity, of uniqueness, of individuality, as one moves from state to state. North, south, east or west makes not a whit of difference. Commerce in America is cloning itself at breakneck pace, mass-producing blueprints for hotels, motels, box stores, shopping malls and restaurants that increasingly lack a sense of their own identity and certainly have no ties to community heritage or culture.

I’m on the road again, as Willie Nelson would sing, and I am heading for one of the few bastions of non-traditional development — via the central midwest to the rural northeast, home of green mountains, clothing optional backwoods beaches, interstate bike paths, and those perpetual golden arches relegated to the outermost borders of some cities. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Business, Opinion | No Comments

Civil War encampment at Fort Defiance

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 8, 2008 |

Despite the hot muggy weather, Civil War re-enactors donned heavy Union and Confederate uniforms for a gathering and simulated battle at Fort Defiance Saturday; the event continues through Sunday afternoon. Although Clarksville history does not record such a battle, the re-enactors offered a glimpse of history, emulating battles fought in other parts of the south in the War Between the States.

Cannon fire [Photo by Mark Haynes]

A highlight of the day was cannon fire; In the heat of the afternoon, soldiers tamped the powder into the cannon and loaded it, pulling the trigger from a short distance away, flinching from the boom and the smoke as each shot was fired. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Events | No Comments

‘Cooling at the Cave’ draws crowd on a sultry summer day

By Debbie Boen | July 30, 2007 |

Though day was ghastly hot, well over 100 Clarksville residents came to “Cooling at the Cave” for that natural air conditioning to be found at the mouth of Dunbar Cave. Some tables had to be moved away from the cave entrance because guests were freezing there (due to the 58 degree air coming out of the cave!).

Many people began playing board games just as soon as they found a nice table to claim for their own for the day. They knew what they were doing because they’d done it before. People played games, listened to the band and socialized. The cookies were wonderful, the lemonade great and the helpers (Friends of Dunbar Cave) attentive, refilling my cup if I even looked like I was a bit thirsty.

It was a day of nostalgia for many folks; organizer Barbara Wilbur was right when she thought that this would attract a lot of people. I heard stories about how Dunbar Cave used to be. Many visitors remember the days when Roy Acuff owned Dunbar Cave and they came to the swimming pool, bowling alley, the lake with its paddle boats, and the sounds of music at the cave. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Events | 2 Comments

TAP Circle of Harmony House Concert/Salon with Roy Futureman Wooten of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

By Nell Levin | July 13, 2006 |

Tennessee Alliance for Progress and Interplay-TN are co-sponsoring a Circle of Harmony House Concert/Salon this Saturday night, July 15, from 6:00pm to 10:30 pm featuring Roy “Futureman” Wooten of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

This cutting-edge event melding art and activism will take place at Futureman’s studio in Bellevue. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Events | No Comments

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