Topic: Phyllis Smith

APSU faculty edits Diary that provides glimpse of Clarksville during Civil War

August 5, 2020 |

Clarksville, TN – In the mid-1980s, an old store ledger was found inside a local smokehouse. At first glance, it seemed like little more than trash, but then someone opened the yellowed, water-stained pages and read surreal accounts of Clarksville during the Civil War.

“Clarksville is almost depopulated,” the ledger recorded. “All the escaped soldiers have been ordered to the main army via Clarksville before the Yankees get in. I ripped the stripes off a young man’s coat over at Uncle W’m’s this evening that he might not be detected on his journey. Once I enjoyed sewing them, but now I take them off as willingly.”

Austin Peay State University professor of history Dr. Minoa Uffelman holds the Diary of Serepta Jordan. (APSU)

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Celebrating a Tennessee Triumph: New monument to honor Clarksville’s suffragists

August 16, 2019 |

Clarksville, TN – On a July afternoon in 1914, more than 75 people crowded into a house on Madison Street for a meeting of the newly established Clarksville Equal Suffrage League.

The women who joined the league that afternoon spent the next six years facing ridicule and threats of violence in the pursuit of their goal – earning women the right to vote.

A woman casts her first vote in this miniature replica of the statue. (APSU)

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Customs House Museum receives restored Civil War diary

June 29, 2017 |

Local Groups, Individuals provide funds to have Civil War Diary cleaned, restored, returned to Custom House Museum

Clarksville, TN – An important record of Clarksville’s past returned, cleaned and restored, this month to Customs House Museum and Cultural Center thanks to help from several local organizations and individuals.

Serepta Jordan’s diary from 1857 to 1864 in New Providence records murders, slave insurrections, the building of Fort Defiance (then known as Fort Sevier), mustering of troops, battles fought and lost during America’s Civil War, along with births, deaths, marriages, and details of daily 19th-century life.

Customs House Curator of Collections Kali Mason receives a $500.00 check from Jeff Harris, treasurer of the Montgomery County Historical Society, to help pay for restoration of the journal kept by New Providence resident Serepta Jordan from 1857 to 1864.

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APSU history professor Minoa Uffelman part of team to restore Civil War-era diary

February 28, 2017 |

Clarksville, TN – Military conflicts are not fought in isolation, and the American Civil War was no different. While civilians like Serepta Jordan never lifted a musket, Jordan and millions like her felt its impact, and it is precisely that neglected perspective that made the discovery of her diary by area historians so significant.

A working-class woman living in Clarksville during the war, Jordan was not a name remembered by history.

Minoa Uffelman holding the $3,000 Archive Development Grant check from the State of Tennessee.

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Clarksville’s Fort Defiance Civil War Park hosts “Period Toy Making” presentation Saturday, February 18th

February 13, 2017 |

Clarksville, TN – On Saturday, February 18th Phyllis Smith presents “Period Toy Making” as part of a new educational programming series, Life in the 1800’s at Clarksville’s Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center. The presentation will start at 1:00pm.

This new series is sponsored by The Friends of Fort Defiance.

Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, Clarksville TN.

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Clarksville’s Customs House Museum receives Tennessee Grant for Serepta Jordan Diary project

February 11, 2017 |

Serepta Jordan’s writings recorded Clarksville life from 1857-64

Clarksville, TN – A large measure of teamwork is going into the restoration and publication of the diary of Serepta Jordan, who recorded her life in Clarskville from 1857 to 1864 in crisp hardwriting in a repurposed leather-bound ledger book.

The diary is part of the collection of the Clarksville’s Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, which welcomed a $3,000 Archive Development Grant on Thursday delivered by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Kali Mason, Customs House Curator of Collections, carefully handles pages of the diary of Serepta Jordon as Mayor Kim McMillan, Millie Armstrong, Tenessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett and Customs House Executive Director Jim Zimmer look at the fragile document. Hargett delivered a $3,000 state grant check to the museum Thursday that will be used to continue the restoration of the historic diary.

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Fort Defiance Civil War Park to hold “A Soldier’s Burden” presentation Saturday

January 18, 2017 |

Clarksville, TN – Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center will host historical interpreter William Parker’s presentation of “A Soldier’s Burden” at 1:00pm Saturday, January 21st as part of a new educational programming series, Life in the 1800’s.

Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, Clarksville TN.

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Clarksville Parks and Recreation to hold “Period Toy Making” at Fort Defiance Civil War Park

November 15, 2016 |

Clarksville, TN – Join Clarksville Parks and Recreation at 1:00pm on Saturday, November 19th at Clarksville’s Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center when Phyllis Smith presents “Period Toy Making” as part of a new educational programming series, Life in the 1800’s.

This new series is sponsored by The Friends of Fort Defiance.

Fort Defiance Interpretive Center, Clarksville TN.

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Austin Peay State University Faculty win Duke Award for editing “The Diary of Nannie Haskins Williams”

October 28, 2015 |

Clarksville, TN – In 1862, the author of “The American Stud Book,” a breed registry for thoroughbred horses, became one of the least popular people in Montgomery County. His name was Col. Sanders Bruce, and as an officer in the Union Army, he oversaw the military occupation of Clarksville during the Civil War.

“Well upon Christmas day Colonel Bruce with his ‘whiskey jug’ and several regiments took possession of this place and here they have been ever since,” Nannie Haskins Williams, a 16-year-old Clarksville resident, wrote in her diary a year later. “And here I am too still writing in my journal about those detestable blue coats for whom I have such a disgust.”

Civil War diary edited by Austin Peay State University faculty wins Duke award

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Clarksville Writers’ Conference 2015: One Reader to Another

By Sue Freeman Culverhouse | June 1, 2015 |

Clarksville, TN – Here’s an open secret that you should know. The Clarksville Writers’ Conference at Austin Peay State University is not for writers alone. Avid readers are allowed too.

If you are addicted to mysteries like I am, you are probably familiar with the work of Sharyn McCrumb. In my humble opinion, her novel, She Walks These Hills, is one of the top ten best books I’ve ever read. It’s just one of the long list of great novels she has written.

Sharyn McCrumb going to be in Clarksville at the Authors’ Dinner on Thursday night (June 4th) at the new stadium and you can hear her for a mere $50.00 fee (you get to eat too!) If you hurry, you might just get a seat at the table. (Go to google and search “Clarksville Writers’ Conference 2015″ and sign up immediately!) Who knows when you’ll ever have this chance again?

Sharyn McCrumb to keynote 11th Annual Clarksville Writers Conference.

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