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September 98
News Archives
Welcome to Tennessee Online's
News Archives
Just Click the Headline of interest to
go to the story.
Tennessee Chronicles has A New
Name and a New Look
Shiloh National Military Park
Proposed monument will finally honor Tennessee
dead
Chattanooga National Medal of Honor Museum
honored with legislation
Stones River Update
French Broad River loses White House designation
Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association
needs volunteers
Shop Talk
Tennessee Chronicles has
A New Name and a New Look.
Over the last two years, the web
site has grown into an Internet magazine relied on by thousands
of students, teachers, and people researching the state’s rich and
colorful past. While it was originally built as a support vehicle
for a planned documentary series, the site itself came into its
own as an Online Magazine about Tennessee’s growing historical community.
We would to thank Sycamore Shoals State Park for
the Copyright "Loan" of the photograph that served as
our former logo. The new Tennessee Online at www.tennesseehistory.com
will continue to bring you award winning monthly news and information
on the state’s efforts in preservation, archaeological excavations,
and other information Tennesseans across the world wide web have
requested. There will be a lot of remodeling in the near future
on the site. The Classroom section will be revamped for more efficient
use in the state’s Middle and High schools, we’ll add to the popular
Artifacts section, and redevelop the Reenactors’ Page that will
connect all eras of Tennessee’s Historical hobbyists and alert them
to changing developments in their respective fields.
Tennessee Online’s Ed Hooper has also had a busy
year. He now writes the weekly column “Looking Back” for the Tennessee
Star Journal, which has been honored numerous times this year for
its research and journalistic quality. He serves as a Trustee and
Museum Outreach Chairman for The National Medal of Honor Museum
of Military History, state spokesman for the Tennessee Division
of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, lectures school systems and
teachers on using Tennessee Online in the classroom, and finds time
to help others in the ongoing battles to preserve Tennessee’s historical
landmarks.
The folks at Tennessee Online would like to thank
all the people who have helped and supported us over the last two
years. It has made us a principal online source on the world wide
web for Tennessee historical information and news. We hope you will
like the new image and the changes on the state’s only online historical
magazine.
Shiloh National Military Park
on road to recovery
On Aug. 16, officials at Shiloh National Military
Battlefield Park held a special ceremony honoring Tennessee Online
creator Ed Hooper, Senators Bill Frist and Fred Thompson, Congressman
Van Hilleary, Congressional staffer Janice Bolin, and Jerry Lessenberry
for their efforts in helping to raise $15 million to repair the
battlefield causeway and the Mississippian Indian Mound destroyed
by the Tennessee River.
Rep. Van Hilleary unveiled a National Historical
Marker in the Mississippian region of the park and the Congressman
spoke on the importance of preserving the battlefield for future
generations. “If anyone doesn’t understand or has forgotten the
importance of Shiloh National Military Park or the Battle of Shiloh,”
said Rep. Hilleary, “then I would suggest they see the film ‘Saving
Private Ryan’. Its realistic portrayal of World War II and the death
and destruction are a good representation of war. Just as in the
film, the men who fought and died on the fields of Shiloh were men
of principal. This park is a monument to such men and should be
preserved for future generations.”
A new controversy over Shiloh began when Park
Superintendent Woody Harrell announced the National Park Service
has agreed to fund a $600,000 excavation of one of the mounds out
of the funds allocated to repair it. Native American activists are
gearing up to fight the excavation and protest it to the NPS office
in D.C. We will keep you up to date on the progress of their efforts
and those to repair the park.
Proposed monument will finally
honor Tennessee dead
In a related story, the John B. Ingram Camp Sons
of Confederate Veterans and its supporters are getting permission
to erect the only action-type monument on Shiloh’s grounds-finally
honoring the Tennessee Confederates who fought and died in the battle.
Of the five National Military Parks in Tennessee, not one has a
monument of merit commemorating the thousands of Tennesseans who
fought and died on their fields.
Pampa, Texas Sculptor G.L. Sanders has designed
a monument entitled: “A Passing Of Honor”. The Texas Sculptor is
regarded as one of America’s best modern artists and has done numerous
pieces on Western Americana and other themes. His work has been
displayed in Chatsworth Castle in England and in London’s American
Embassy. The monument is estimated to cost around $200,000 and the
John B. Ingram Camp is accepting donations to help off-set the costs.
If you want to part of this historic endeavor, you can send your
donations in care of: The John B. Ingram Camp, 461 Sanders Bluff
Road, Humboldt, TN 38343.
Chattanooga National Medal of Honor
Museum honored with legislation
In the past legislative session of the Tennessee
House, State Representative Tim Burchett and Senator Bud Gilbert
(R-Knoxville) secured passage of legislation honoring Tennessee”s
44 National Medal of Honor recipients and called on citizens of
the state to help the museum relocate to its new facility in Chattanooga.
Last year Tennessee's Ed Hooper discovered a number of Tennessee’s
recipients in graves that bore no mention of their military service.
He and Knoxville developer Buddy White have been working to correct
the problem.
Since passage of the legislation, the City of
Chattanooga has graciously donated the Saint Elmo School facility.
In addition, General Colin Powell, USA (ret.) and actor, NRA President
Charleton Heston have joined a growing number of celebrities who
have pitched in to help the museum reach its $9 million goal that
it will take to renovate the facility. The Jack Daniels Distillery
is also pitching in and helping to encourage others to help keep
this historic facility in Tennessee. Representatives Van Hilleary,
John Duncan, Jr., Bob Clement, Zach Wamp, and the rest of the state’s
federal delegation are also working on the project.
Over the years, the facility has become a principal
resource for information around the world on the 3,400 plus recipients
of the Nation’s highest military honor. Archivist Ann Moyers has
assisted military bases in America, Europe, and Asia to build Walls
of Valor honoring the recipients who gave their life for American
freedoms. This is an important project for Tennessee. The establishment
of the museum in Chattanooga where the first recipients are buried
is a unique oportunity for the state. It will provide a national
museum and a first-rate research facility for those studying military
history. For more information you can contact the museum at (423)
267-1737 or at their web site.
Stones River Update
The New Battle of Murfreesboro
continues in Middle Tennessee, but Park officials are remaining
quiet about the ongoing conflict between them and developers. The
NPS is wanting to preserve the adjoining traditional farmland, but
developer/owners want to have it rezoned for commercial use. A court
case filed against the NPS is pending in the matter.
Many are accusing the NPS of trying to buy the
land at less than market value. Sources at the NPS, however, say
the argument is ridiculous as they are required by federal policy
to meet real estate market values in any purchase requests. When
the Park was first created, only a small fraction of the battlefield-proper
was incorporated into its boundaries. Preservationists across America
are watching the story closely. Stones River National Military Park
is regarded as one of the 10 Most Endangered Parks in America.
French Broad River loses
White House designation
The French Broad River which flows
from North Carolina through Tennessee lost out on being named one
of America’s Ten Heritage Rivers due to worries over property rights
in the state. Many federal representatives and local citizens were
concerned over the wording of the Presidential designation and fought
against the proposal. Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC) led the fight against
the proposal and submitted his own plan as a compromise in the Tar
Heel state.
Tennessee Historian Wilma Dykeman was among those
leading the fight to get it named as a Heritage River and had gathered
support in Tennessee. While everything was seemingly going according
to plan, the White House rules said everyone in both states had
to be in agreement in order to get the designation as a Heritage
River. Without North Carolina’s support, the plan to name it as
such was killed. In Tennessee, the Sevier County Commission was
also unsupportive of the plan in East Tennessee and was joined by
many state and local agencies worried over property rights.
Tennessee Civil War Preservation
Association needs volunteers
Nashville- This year the Tennessee
Historical Commission led the way for citizens to actively take
a part in the preservation of Tennessee’s historic Civil War Battlefields.
Over 1,500 engagements between Union and Confederate forces took
place in Tennessee during the War Between The States and many are
falling to developers’ bulldozers. The organization is still in
the formation stages and will help preserve what is becoming a multi-million
dollar tourism attraction for Tennessee. The TCWPA needs people
in a variety of committee positions and functions. Heritage travel
is a relatively new field of tourism and is growing every year as
families opt for educational adventure travels. It is quickly filling
tourism coffers in Georgia and Virginia.
In the past legislative session, Sen. Steve McDaniel
authored legislation that added The War of 1812, The Mexican War,
and The French and Indian War to the agenda of the Tennessee Wars
Commission. It will allow the commission to start developing programs
formulating ideas to help Tennessee take advantage of these eras
of history.
Sen. McDaniel’s legislation was good timing. This
past year, it was reported that The Mexican War Monument in Gallatin
is eroding and starting to crumble. This is the only “official”
monument in the state to veterans of The Mexican War. The event
that gave Tennessee the “Volunteer” nickname. (We will keep you
up to date on the efforts to repair it.)
Shop Talk
Gatlinburg- The response to Tennessee
Online’s new format has been fantastic. The remodeling is continuing
and we have been swamped with e-mails in the last month covering
a wide variety of requests for information. If we haven’t responded
to them yet, please be patient. We will get to them all as soon
as possible.
The number one question asked is when new Artifacts
pages will be added. The answer is we will try to get two or three
posted in the next couple of months. We have been working collecting
photographs and other material for inclusion and have started the
process. We have, however, added a much requested link to the Tennessee
State Constitution. In addition, we will be adding a News
Archive where viewers can catch up on previous stories. To keep
it simple, it will be located on the News page.
In other news, it has been brought to our attention
that there are a couple of pirated locations on the Internet using
our old Tennessee Chronicles’ web site. While we can’t stop them
from doing it, short of a costly lawsuit, we do appreciate the heads-up
from those who have alerted us to them. For the record, however,
the South Foundation and our attorneys have asked us to tell you
that Tennessee Online and Ed Hooper are not responsible for the
content of any pirated site(s) - nor have we given anyone permission
to post the contents of, nor use of the name and / or logo(s) of
the old Tennessee Chronicles website nor the Tennessee Online website
as their own. A full copyright explanation is available on the Copyright
page.
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