The War of 1812 brought Tennessee into the national spotlight for its military and political prowess and catapulted General Andrew Jackson to the presidency. A symposium examining the state’s important role will be presented on March 23 at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. It is one of a series of programs held across the state by the Tennessee War of 1812 Commission, with funding by the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. It is hosted locally by the East Tennessee Historical Society.
The symposium will feature three experts on the Creek War to present their research on the impact of the conflict’s on the region’s peoples under the theme, “Rethinking the Creek War,” a theme that reflects the title of a new book, Tohopeka: Rethinking the Creek War and the War of 1812, to which all three have contributed key essays. Some 600 Cherokees fought alongside General Andrew Jackson’s army against the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
“Revisiting the Creek War of 1813” Symposium, 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is advised. To register 865-215-8824 or email eths@eastTNhistory.org.
Speakers and topics:
9:00-9:30 a.m. Registration
9:30-10:15 a.m. “The Cherokees in the Creek War”
Dr. Susan Abram, West Carolina University
10:15-11 a.m. “Tennessee and the Creek War”
Dr. Tom Kanon, Tennessee State Library and Archives
11-11:45 a.m. “Rethinking the Significance of the Creek War within the War of 1812”
Dr. Kathryn Braund, Auburn University
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Roundtable Discussion
Moderated by Dr. Carroll Van West of the MTSU Center for Historic
Preservation
1:00 p.m. Discounted admission at several War of 1812-related historic sites in
and near Knoxville
The Knoxville programs are headquartered at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street.
- March 22, 2013 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.--War of 1812 Teachers Workshop, presented by Tennessee Teaching with Primary Sources across East Tennessee and the East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. To register, contact: Kira.Duke@mtsu.edu.
- March 23, 2013, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibition Becoming the Volunteer State: Tennessee in the War of 1812, atraveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum, on view at the Museum of East Tennessee History through May 19, 2013.
Symposium attendees will receive free admission to this exhibit, as well as the ETHS exhibit, Voices of the Land: The People of East Tennessee, featuring a journal kept during the war by Captain Jacob Hartsell of Washington County, and a powder horn carried on the Lewis and Clark expedition and then in the War of 1812 by members of the Shields family of Cocke County. Also featured is the handmade, silk-embroidered flag of Colonel John Williams’ 39th U.S. Regiment, as well as a portrait of Colonel Williams
Symposium Sponsors:
Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission
East Tennessee Historical Society
Tennessee State Museum
Middle Tennessee State University Center for Historic Preservation
Teaching with Primary Sources Across Tennessee