[286] James E. Walker Library Lets Freedom Ring in Exhibit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 1, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

JAMES E. WALKER LIBRARY LETS FREEDOM RING IN EXHIBIT
Tennessee Slaves’ Transition to Citizens Chronicled for Black History Month

(MURFREESBORO) – “Free at Last! Emancipation and Reconstruction in Tennessee,” an exhibit created by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area (TCWNHA), is on display through the month of February at MTSU’s James E. Walker Library.
The exhibit, which is part of the library’s observance of Black History Month, is about how slaves helped bring about their freedom and the struggles and triumphs that ensued.
Reconstruction was a time in which scores of African American communities, school and churches were formed across Tennessee. The exhibit features some of the communities that are preserved, according to Antoinette van Zelm, historian for the TCWNHA.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will be available for viewing on the first floor of the library throughout February. In addition, books featuring African American authors will be on display and available for checkout.
For more information, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.


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Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. This fall, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.