John Baker
Thursday, September 10, 4-6 pm Central:
Slavery at Wessyngton AND Tennessee’s Slave Trade
This is the photo that changed John Baker’s life.
Part 1 (Guest Presenter John Baker):
When he was a seventh grader, John Baker discovered that a former enslaved man, photographed in a history textbook, was his great-great grandfather.
That led Baker to eventually conduct more than 30 years of genealogical and historical research on all the people who were enslaved at Wessyngton, a massive tobacco plantation in Robertson County. Baker’s work resulted in an award-winning book called The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation. In this presentation, Baker summarizes some of what he learned about slavery, about Wessington, and about his family.
Part 2 (Presenter Bill Carey):
The author of the 2019 book Runaways, Coffles and Fancy Girls reveals many points about the slave trade in Tennessee. For instance: Slave traders operated from Elizabethton to Memphis. Banks were up to their necks in the trade. The most reliable and consistent slave traders were chancery court officials. The wealthiest slave trader in America was Sumner County resident Isaac Franklin, who bought more than 15,000 enslaved people in Maryland and Virginia and sold them in Mississippi and Louisiana.
In this presentation, Carey explains how the slave trade worked and goes over points you should make to your students.
Click here to register for the September 10 event “Slavery at Wessyngton AND Tennessee’s Slave Trade.”
Thursday, September 17, 4-6 pm Central:
First Hour: David Hatfield, park ranger at Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Stewart County, does a presentation about the Battle of Fort Donelson. Because of the fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862,, Nashville fell to the U.S. Army the next week and would never fly the Confederate flag again. Confederate forces prevailed on the first day of a multi-day battle and lost on either the second or third days — a pattern that would repeat several times during the following three years. The battle elevated Ulysses Grant to the rank of major general; made him nationally famous; and gave him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant. Finally, the fact that Confederate General Nathan Forrest was able to escape with hundreds of his cavalrymen would haunt the U.S. Army for the rest of the war.
Second Hour: Bill Carey on “Stories of the Civil War Written in Newspapers DURING the Civil War.”
Memphis Public Ledger; March 21, 1867
It might shock you to read stories about the Civil War published in Tennessee newspapers of that era. Abraham Lincoln was referred to as a “Big Gorilla;” the Methodist Church was publishing editorials claiming God was on the side of the Confederacy; Nashville’s most famous unionist was giving everyone the middle finger; Tennessee newspapers reported a “glorious victory” at Shiloh; after January 1, 1863, everyone was confused whether slavery existed or not; and in the years immediately following the war, there were stories all over the place about wild animals digging up dead bodies of soldiers.
Click here to register for the September 17 event “The Battle of Fort Donelson AND Newspaper Articles ABOUT the Civil War Written DURING the Civil War.”