MURFREESBORO — MTSU’s
Center for Historic Preservation will usher in the new year by documenting key
historic properties along the Trail of Tears.
For the fourth consecutive year, The National Park Service’s
National Trails Intermountain Region has awarded a grant to the center for the
completion of a number of projects along this historic route.
Between 1830 and 1850, various Native American tribes were
removed forcibly from their homes in the Southeast and relocated in the
Southwest. Along the way, more than 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokees
perished due to starvation, disease and exhaustion.
Cherokees referred to this tragedy as the “trail of tears.” The
“Trail of Tears National Historic Trail,” which was authorized by Congress in
1987, covers more than 2,200 miles over nine states.
The $35,000 grant will be used to:
- prepare a historic
structure report for the Newsom-Dunning House on the northern route in
Kentucky;
- prepare a report to
document the history and resources of Rockdale Plantation, the home of
Cherokee leader George Adair, in Georgia;
- survey road segments and
cultural landscapes related to the Trail of Tears in Alabama and
Tennessee; and
- continue maintenance on
and development of a public interface of the Trail of Tears Historic
Building Survey database.
“We also have the opportunity to take the survey model
developed for the Trail of Tears and apply it to historic resources associated
with the Santa Fe Trail, starting in Missouri,” said Carroll Van West, CHP director and Tennessee state historian.
In fact, the first major field work of the year is planned
for Jan. 19-24 to document buildings along the Santa Fe Trail.
“Throughout the year, we will also be out in the field in
Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee working on other projects,” said Amy Kostine, Trail of Tears project coordinator
and historian for the CHP.
Kostine said the group will draft two National Register of
Historic Places nominations for segments of the national trail in Kentucky and
Tennessee and create a preservation plan for the James Brown Cherokee
Plantation in Tennessee, a certified site on the national trail.
“Our graduate research assistants will join staff members on
field visits to sites,” said Kostine. “Students will gain essential experience
in their field of study and learn to work successfully with property owners and
local communities, all while strengthening their resumes by working on these
projects.”
For more information, contact Kostine at amy.kostine@mtsu.edu or the Center for
Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947 or http://www.mtsuhistpres.org.
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