Hello,

The December, 2007 meeting of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable will be held Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 7 PM in the cafe of Borders Books store in Governor's Square Mall. This is located on Wilma Rudolph Highway (US 79) just south of Exit 4 off I-24 in Clarksville, TN. The meeting is always open to interested members of the public and you do not need to be an expert to attend!. We meet the Third Wednesday of each month.

This month we welcome back NPS historian Jim Lewis, from Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN. Jim has been a previous Clarksville CWRT speaker and we are very happy to have him back for a visit. His program is “William Holland's Story.”

Visitors to Stones River National Battlefield often wonder about the two military graves located outside the Hazen Brigade Cemetery. Why are they not in the cemetery? Who were they?

The answers to those questions will be the topic of Jim’s program. It will look into the life changing journey of a young black man during the Civil War. In four short years, William Holland would transition from owned property to paid laborer, to a United States soldier, and finally to a free citizen. Holland's story will also shed light on the economic, social and cultural changes that shook the nation during four years of armed conflict, and in the end his experience during the Civil War will highlight one of the most significant outcomes of that conflict. We often overlook the small tales of the war and this program is a fine example of just such a tale.

Jim Lewis has been a Park Ranger with the National Park Service since 1991. He has been at Stones River National Battlefield since 1997 serving as ranger, curator and de-facto historian. He has presented dozens of programs at the park as well as to many CWRTs across the country and is the author of numerous interpretive publications for the NPS. A Vermont native and raised in New Jersey, Jim is a graduate of Cornell University (History BA) and has been a Civil War student and reenactor for years. He serves on the advisory board of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Trust. Jim, his wife Beth and their son James live in Murfreesboro where he co-founded the Middle TN CWRT of which he is an officer.

Please join us as Jim Lewis speaks on “William Holland’s Story” at the December 2007 Clarksville CWRT meeting.

Greg Biggs
Clarksville CWRT