“Today we tend for them. We are called to our shared humanity with them, the enslaved African men and women and children, slaves no more. They were here. We are here. Lost in the shadows, previously buried in the weeds, they were forgotten. And yet we are called to remember, to witness, to cry out into this wilderness that they were here.”

The Battle of Franklin Trust is slated to hold its annual illumination ceremony at dusk on Nov. 30 to honor the casualties inflicted during the Battle of Franklin 155 years ago.

Luminaries will be displayed at dusk Saturday, Nov. 30, as a way for the Battle of Franklin Trust to honor the casualties inflicted during the Battle of Franklin 155 years ago. Additionally, the organization will be offering specialized battlefield tours earlier in the day.

Franklin’s Charge will host a powerful and uplifting ceremony on Nov. 9 at 1:30 p.m. to unveil a monument to the enslaved at the McGavock Cemetery at Historic Carnton. The entire community is welcome to attend the unveiling.

The unveiling of a bronze sculpture of the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry mascot known as Harvey will take place Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Carter House Visitor Center.

Those who led the way to create what has become known as the “fuller story” revealed a couple of fuller surprises Thursday morning during the unveiling of historic markers on the Franklin town square that commemorate the African American experience during the Civil War and the Battle of Franklin.

STAFF REPORTS The McLemore House Museum in Franklin will be staying open longer hours beginning Thursday as a result of the ongoing partnership between The Battle of Franklin Trust and the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County. The extended hours of the museum will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Thursday, Friday and …

STAFF REPORTS Wash 37135 is offering their premium car wash service for half price on Sunday with all proceeds to benefit the restoration of the historic Morton-Brittain House.  The premium car wash normally costs $20, but will be discounted to $10 per vehicle from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 912 Oldham Drive in Nolensville. …

STAFF REPORTS Nolensville’s Ebenezer United Methodist Church will celebrate its 150th Homecoming Anniversary on Sunday. The historic African American church will hold an 11 a.m. service with Pastor John D. Alexander followed by lunch. Pastor Derrick Jackson and the congregation of the First Baptist Church of Gallatin will attend as guests at 3 p.m. Ebenezer …

STAFF REPORTS The Battle of Franklin Trust will host a Teacher Appreciation Day Saturday for all current educators and school staff, giving teachers free admission to Carter House and Carnton Classic House tours. “Teacher Appreciation Days grants us the opportunity to thank our educators,” said Eric A. Jacobson, CEO of The Battle of Franklin Trust. …

STAFF REPORTS The Battle of Franklin Trust announced Monday that Williamson County’s William David Dozier donated a piece of the Franklin battlefield, according to a release. The small tract of land connects the Carriage Park neighborhood to the Eastern Flank Battlefield Park, and the trust says it will use the tract of land to allow …

STAFF REPORTS On Sunday, Aug. 11, the Franklin Civil War Round Table will meet to discuss Civil War Cmrd. Matthew Fontaine Maury, who lived in Franklin “during his formative years,” according to a release. He was the cousin of Abram Maury, Franklin’s founder. The release says at the start of the Civil War, Maury left …

Lotz House on Friday announced the release of Lift My Eyes, an imaginative biography authored by Magdalen Dugan that chronicles the life of renowned artist Matilda Lotz who grew up in the Lotz House on ground zero of the Battle of Franklin. “About two and a half years ago Magdalen took my guided tour of …

By JOHN McBRYDE Eric Jacobson came to Franklin in 2005, about the time the land around Carnton was converted from a golf course and protected from any future development. He started working for Carnton and the Carter House a year later, and has been CEO for the nonprofit Battle of Franklin Trust since 2014. Jacobson, …

American Battlefield Trust president James Lighthizer on Saturday recognized celebrated author and preservationist Robert Hicks of Franklin and three other preservation advocates during the annual gathering of the organization’s members in Lexington, Kentucky. “The fight to protect our nation’s hallowed grounds requires dedication, passion and hard work from individuals throughout the United States,” Lighthizer said. …

Lotz House, a house museum which as a residence stood on the front lines of the November 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin, has released a limited-edition Hatch Show Print to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the battle. The image features “Chip,” the unknown soldier statue residing in the center of the Public Square in downtown …

The Franklin Civil War Round Table will present Stephen “Sam” Hood on Sunday, April 14th at Carnton’s Fleming Center in Franklin. His presentation deals with the post war contributions of Southern officers in “Confederates Once, Americans Twice:  Former Confederates and the Building of Postwar America.” Hood, a descendant and vigorous defender of Army of Tennessee …

Two historical markers will be placed on the sidewalk circling the center of Franklin’s town square.  // Photo rendering submitted By JOHN McBRYDE Work continues on what has become known as the “fuller story,” and it’s possible the project’s historical markers won’t be placed in their designated spots in the town square area of Franklin …

AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST Volunteers throughout Tennessee are teaming up with the American Battlefield Trust to aid in the maintenance and restoration of 13 Volunteer State battlefields and historic sites as part of Park Day, an annual nationwide, hands-on preservation event scheduled this year for April 6. The Lotz House in Franklin, Shy’s Hill in Nashville, and …

PHOTO: Residents recreate the Battle of Thompson’s Station in 2013. // Photo courtesy of the town of Thompson’s Station BY ALEXANDER WILLIS The Battle of Thompson’s Station took place 156 years ago today, and is often overshadowed by its larger sister battles; the Battle of Spring Hill and the Battle of Franklin, which both took …

The Battle of Franklin Trust’s History Summer Camp registration is now open. Offered twice every summer, the camp runs from Tuesday, June 18 through Thursday, June 20 and Tuesday, July 16 through Thursday, July 18, 2019. At the Battle of Franklin Trust’s History Summer Camp, children will learn about soldier and civilian life through demonstrations, contests, trips …

PHOTO: The leaders of the fuller story initiative stand outside the Williamson County Courthouse during a ceremony on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. From left are Eric Jacobson, Hewitt Sawyers, Chris Williamson and Kevin Riggs. / Photo by John McBryde By JOHN McBRYDE Franklin Aldermen on Tuesday approved the placement of historical markers in …

PHOTO: The leaders of the fuller story initiative stand outside the Williamson County Courthouse during a ceremony on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January. From left are Eric Jacobson, Hewitt Sawyers, Chris Williamson and Kevin Riggs. / Photo by John McBryde By JOHN McBRYDE It’s been something of a bumpy ride at times, but the …

TENNESSEE WARS COMMISSION The Tennessee Historical Commission and Tennessee Wars Commission on Tuesday announced that they have awarded nearly $2.5 million dollars in grant funding to the American Battlefield Trust to preserve more than 180 acres of  Civil War battlefield land in five counties through the Tennessee Civil War Sites Preservation Fund (TCWSPF). This represents both the largest …

The Army of the Cumberland, trapped in Chattanooga for five harrowing weeks of near starvation in the fall of 1863, depended upon a single difficult road over mountainous terrain for survival. With new information from ground breaking research,  Phillip R. Kemmerly, PhD, will present at the Franklin Civil War Round Table on Sunday March 10, accounts …

ABOVE: A 2017 rendering of the future Carter House Visitors Center . // FILE TENNESSEE WARS COMMISSION The Tennessee Wars Commission and Tennessee Historical Commission have announced the approval of a $50,000 grant to assist the Battle of Franklin Trust in the design and purchase of museum exhibit displays for the new Carter House State Historic Site …

Photo rendering submitted By JOHN McBRYDE Organizers of the “fuller story” initiative presented a detailed proposal of where historical markers could be placed in downtown Franklin to a packed room Tuesday night during the Board of Mayor and Aldermen work session. And unlike the rather cool reception that Franklin Community Church Pastor Kevin Riggs and …

On Sunday, February 10th at 3 P.M., the Franklin Civil War Round Table will present Tennessee General Assembly member Steve McDanile to speak on “The Rise of the Parkers Crossroads Battlefield.” In 1993, the Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield Association was created under the leadership of McDaniel, and since that time has acquired 349 acres. The battlefield is …

United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), are continuing their efforts started during the last Congress to to expand the Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee by adding several sites that were significant to the bloody 1862 clash.  “Learning from the past helps us become better Americans in the future, and preserving …

Local pastors and a historian have advocated for putting historical makers in the Franklin town square where the Confederate statue known as “Chip” currently stands. // File photo By JOHN McBRYDE For Franklin Community Church Pastor Kevin Riggs and others who have been involved in what is known as the “fuller story” project, now is …

By JOHN McBRYDE Franklin author Tamera Alexander went to great lengths to make sure her facts were correct in her newest book set at Carnton during the aftermath of the Battle of Franklin, With This Pledge. And to a certain extent, she went to great depths as well. As part of her research for the …

Dr. E.C (Curt) Fields Jr. will be The Franklin Civil War Round Table’s featured January 13th speaker presenting, General U.S. Grant during Appomattox. Fields appeared at the Round Table in 2018 with a presentation about Grant’s during the war’s peak years. His lifelong interest in the American Civil War and admiration for General Ulysses Grant has led to …

The Mayor and the Brentwood City Commission, along with the Friends of the Brentwood Library, the Library Board and the Historic Commission presented two plaques on Thursday, Dec. 6 at the John P. Holt Brentwood Library. The plaques are to commemorate the $4.2 million donation to the library in 2017 from John and O’Delle Holt and the unnamed enslaved …