[212]CIVIL WAR BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP MEETS THURSDAYS IN JANUARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 24, 2008
CONTACT: Antoinette van Zelm, 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu

CIVIL WAR BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP MEETS THURSDAYS IN JANUARY
Author Sam Davis Elliott Set to Attend Jan. 29 Book Discussion for Q&A

(MURFREESBORO)—Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that will meet four Thursdays in January 2009.
During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure,” Gen. Alexander P. Stewart.
Stewart was Tennessee’s highest-ranking Confederate military officer and had a successful postwar career as an educator and preservationist. He taught at Cumberland University in Lebanon and was the chancellor of the University of Mississippi. He later served as the resident commissioner of the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park.
The group will meet at 7 o’clock Thursday evenings during the month of January beginning Jan. 8 at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro, with each week focusing on a different theme related to the book. The group’s schedule is as follows: Jan. 8: Gen. Stewart as Commander; Jan. 15: Gen. Stewart and the Politics of the Army of Tennessee; Jan. 22: Gen. Stewart’s Postwar Life and Reputation; and Jan. 29: Question-and-answer with the author, Sam Davis Elliott.
In addition to penning Gen. Stewart’s biography, Elliott has edited the book titled Doctor Quintard, Chaplain C.S.A. and Second Bishop of Tennessee: The Memoir and Civil War Diary of Charles Todd Quintard (Louisiana State University Press, 2003). A Chattanooga-based attorney, he is active in the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association and spoke at "Fighting for the Middle Tennessee Heartland: A Symposium Exploring the Stories of the Civil War in Middle Tennessee" last June in Franklin.
For more information on “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War,” please call (615) 217-8013 or send an e-mail to avanzelm@mtsu.edu.
The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. The group, which focuses on Civil War-related literature and biography, meets in January and June each year.
The Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area receives funding from the National Park Service and is administered by the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU.
Linebaugh Library, which sponsors several book groups, serves the citizens of Rutherford County through four branches. The Heritage Center is a joint venture between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Main Street: Murfreesboro/Rutherford County, the City of Murfreesboro and the CHP. Additional support comes from the Rutherford County government and State Farm Insurance.

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