March 6: MTSU sets Civil War symposium
Sponsored by Stones River National Battlefield, the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Eastern National, MTSU’s history department and the Teaching American History/Cumberland River Valley Consortium Project, the daylong symposium is open to the public. Registration is $10 per person and preregistration is strongly encouraged.
Lauren Batte of the TCWNHA says the educational event will begin at 8 a.m. March 6 at MTSU’s Alumni Center. After a lunch break, the symposium will resume with a 1:30 p.m. re-enactment at Fortress Rosecrans in Murfreesboro before moving to the Stones River Battlefield for tours.
Virginia native Charles Dew, who teaches at Williams College and authored the path-breaking book titled “Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War” (University Press of Virginia, 2001), will be the event’s featured speaker. Also, Gary Edwards of the University of Memphis will present his research on slavery in West Tennessee and discuss how slavery differed across the state.
“Slavery greatly influenced economic, cultural and political life in Tennessee during the antebellum period,” Batte said. “The role of slavery in leading Tennessee to secede from the Union and move toward Civil War, however, has stirred debate for generations of Tennesseans.”
In addition to presentations by Dew and Edwards during the upcoming event, Linda Wynn of the Tennessee Historical Commission and Fisk University will discuss what slavery was like for enslaved African-Americans, while Robert Gudmestad of Southwest Baptist University will present his research on the enterprise of slave trading.
Now in its second year as an annual event and its first year on the MTSU campus, “The Legacy of Stones River” symposium will give scholars, history professionals and history enthusiasts an opportunity to explore slavery and Civil War issues through the presentation of current research, open discussion, a demonstration by United States Colored Troops re-enactors and tours of two significant Murfreesboro Civil War sites, Bette said.
“Anyone interested in these issues will want to attend the one-day symposium on March 6,” she said.
To register for the event, please call Stones River National Battlefield at (615) 893-9501 or the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area at (615) 494-8910. For a brochure, please access one of the following Web sites, www.nps.gov/stri or http://histpres.mtsu.edu/tncivwar.
For more information regarding the symposium, please contact the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area at MTSU at (615) 898-2637.