Friends of the Library Lecture Series!

We are hosting a fund raising event for the Fayetteville Public Library's Genealogy Room! These talks will go from June 26-October 23rd and run from 6:30-7:30 PM. Admission is free, but the friends will be accepting donations from those who would like to give. The money raised will go toward purchasing supplies and equipment for the Genealogy Room, including items such as Sanborn Maps, and hopefully a new Microfilm reader and printer!!

Friends of the Fayetteville Library Fund Raiser

I am assisting the Friends of the Library organization in a fund raising event that will provide money for the library's genealogy room. The schedule is being firmed up right now, so I will have an official schedule up soon. As of now, we have talks confirmed for topics ranging from archaeology, local Civil War history, Native American cremation practices, and I will be speaking on my initial findings on my thesis research pertaining to the Mulberry Baptist Church and early slave relations.

The first speaker will hopefully be scheduled for June 26, and the series will run through the end of October with two speakers per month. We are aiming to end the series with a panel discussion on the relationship between Lincoln, Moore, and Madison Counties and Jack Daniel's whiskey. This is going to be an exciting series and I hope you will come out and learn a little local history!

St. John's Episcopal Church

Located between Columbia and Mt. Pleasant, TN, this church was built for religious services for both whites and blacks. Churches such as this are part of my upcoming thesis research.

Preservation Grants

In April, the state of Tennessee will open up the application process for funding of preservation projects. Until early September, community groups, local governments, and other non-profits will have the ability to apply for grant money for preservation and planning studies, and in some cases money to fund preservation/restoration of buildings.

So, if you are a group looking to create an historic district, expand a district, or attempt to place a building on the National Register of Historic Places, your time to apply is coming soon.

If you are interested in consulting help, you may email me for information. I work as a preservation consultant, and have other contacts that may be of service to you. email: jhistoryfinder@gmail.com

An interesting article from NPR about the public state of Preservation through a look at famous houses such as Graceland.

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/04/146210038/while-graceland-booms-other-historic-homes-rot

Historic Preservation Activity in Tennessee

For those interested in local historic preservation, this link shows the state of Tennessee's announcement of the projects that received funding for restoration and preservation projects for 2011-2012. New applications for next fiscal year will be due in September 2012!!

Follow this link!! http://news.tn.gov/node/7534

We Made It!!!

The Whitaker-Motlow House was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 2011. Recently, State Re. Pat Marsh visited the house to meet the owner and take a short tour.

In other notes, I have a preliminary topic for my Master's thesis research. Continuing with my work on the Whitaker family, I have decided to attempt to delve deeper into John Whitaker's religious activities. I believe John was actively present at the camp revivals held in Kentucky during the Second Great Awakenings. I hope to be able to prove that, but not sure if I will succeed. I plan to study the Awakenings and use John as a case study to bring the implications of these revivals to a local level. I also plan to more closely study early American migrations, again using those endured by the Whitakers as a primary case study. So, those of you following this blog that are Whitaker family descendents, I may be able to help shed yet more light onto your historic and intriguing family!