As published in the Murfreesboro Post, Erin Edgemon, May 18, 2011
Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center, 415 S. Academy St., is hosting events during February in observation of Black History Month.
A workshop designed to discuss African-American community building in the post-Civil War South will be held Tuesday, May 24, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center located at 415 S. Academy Street in Murfreesboro.
The event, formally titled the Cemetery Community Public Workshop, is free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Bradley Academy, MTSU’s Public History Program and Stones River National Battlefield, it will feature a new exhibit “A Nation Divided—The Quest for Freedom.”
Scholars from across the nation will bring their perspectives to the making of the national cemetery and the aftermath of the Civil War in Rutherford County among freedmen and women.
Speakers will include Allison Dorsey, a professor of history at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, Penn.; Carla Jones, owner of the Matt Gardner Homestead in Elkton, Tenn., who restored and transformed her homestead into a public museum; and Susan O’Donovan, a professor at the University of Memphis, author of Becoming Free in the Cotton South.
Morning speakers also will include Robert Sutton, chief historian for the National Park Service, and David Vela, director of the Southeast Region of the National Park Service, both of whom will discuss Park Service initiatives that highlight the African-American experience before, during and after the Civil War.
Afternoon discussions will include Rutherford county historians Leonora “Boe” Washington, Devora Butler, Anthony King and Katie Wilson. MTSU graduate students, directed by Drs. Rebecca Conard, Martha Norkunas and Carroll Van West, will make presentations.
Space is limited, and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. A box lunch will be provided. For more information and to register, contact Bradley Academy at 615-867-2633. Visit www.bradleymuseum.com.