Oaklands Historic House Museum
As the Civil War unfolded, Murfreesboro became hotly contested by Confederate and Union forces. Both sides occupied the town for significant periods, with power changing hands as the fighting raged. Punctuated by events like Nathan Bedford Forrest’s raid on Union forces in July 1862, Jefferson Davis’ visit and the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready, wartime Murfreesboro saw no shortage of drama. As combat escalated, the bloody Battle of Stones River and the Nashville Campaign brought more destruction. Yet at war’s end, the resilient locals remained and rebuilt their town from the rubble. Authors and Civil War historians Michael Bradley and Shirley Farris Jones track the tumult of the proceedings to recount this compelling story in Murfreesboro in the Civil War. The book launch will take place on March 29th at 7pm in Maney Hall at Oaklands Historic House Museum, 901 N. Maney Ave. in Murfreesboro, TN 37130.
Michael Bradley earned his PhD from Vanderbilt University and taught U.S. history for thirty-six years at Motlow State College in Tullahoma, Tennessee where he now remains as professor emeritus as well as an active author and speaker. Dr. Bradley is a life member of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and is the immediate past commander of the Tennessee Division of SCV.
Shirley Farris Jones, a lifelong resident of Murfreesboro and graduate of Knox Business College, she is a Civil War historian and community activist, retired from Middle Tennessee State University where she had been on staff for more than thirty years. An active author, Shirley is also a founder of the Middle Tennessee Civil War Round Table, former president of the Rutherford Historical Society, the Rutherford County Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield and the Martha Ready Morgan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Oaklands Historic House Museum, located at 900 North Maney Avenue in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is a nationally registered historic landmark that reflects a time of prosperity in the Old South, as well as the hardships suffered during the Civil War.
This event is free and open to the public. Copies of Murfreesboro in the Civil War are available in the Oaklands Museum Shop for $19.99. For more information, contact Oaklands Historic House Museum at (615) 893-0022 or email info@oaklandsmuseum.org.
