APSU students join area historians in exploring Fort Defiance
October 5, 2016
Clarksville, TN – Located on a bluff some 200 feet above the meeting point of the Red River and the Cumberland River, Fort Defiance served a significant role in Clarksville’s participation in the Civil War.
Viewed by Confederates as an ideal site to defend the river approach to Clarksville, the fort eventually was captured by Union forces, who occupied the site for the remainder of the war.
Austin Peay Students learning about Fort Defiance from local historians.
Former commander of Task Force Pale Horse, author Jimmy Blackmon to speak at APSU on August 30th
August 16, 2016
Clarksville, TN – If a United States soldier flew on a helicopter during their time deployed as a part of the War in Afghanistan, there was a good chance it was flown by a member of Task Force Pale Horse.
The talented men and women of this elite force carried ground forces to the fight, removed the injured and flew countless missions with the intent of identifying – and often eliminating the enemy.
Retired Army Col. Jimmy Blackmon
APSU, Woodward Library host exhibition on Lincoln and American Civil War
September 6, 2015
Clarksville, TN – In honor of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Felix G. Woodward Library at Austin Peay State University is hosting an exhibition, titled “Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War.”
On display from September 4th through October 15th, the exhibition will celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, September 8th at 3:00pm in the Woodward Library. APSU President Dr. Alisa White and Woodward Library Director Joe Weber will perform the ribbon cutting ceremony. [Read more]
History lecture at APSU to examine state’s first governor, John Sevier
October 29, 2014
Clarksville, TN – In 1794, a man named Valentine Sevier sent an urgent letter from his home along the Cumberland River, in what is now Clarksville, to his brother John. In it, he described a recent attack by Native Americans on their small settlement.
The attackers, he wrote, “scalped my daughter Rebecca. I hope she still will recover.”
Exhibition at APSU showcases rare WWI photographs
September 16, 2014
Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University Department of Art and the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts are excited to present an exhibition of rare German photographs this fall to mark the centennial of the start of World War 1.
German soldier Fritz Einstein took the photographs on three separate fronts during the war. The photos were discovered and extensively restored by Einstein’s son and Nashville resident Frank Einstein.
APSU designated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat
January 30, 2013
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University campus isn’t simply a home for some 11,000 students. Squirrels, rabbits, birds and a few feral cats have also taken up residence in the bushes and trees surrounding the red brick, Georgian-style buildings.
They come here because of the abundance of food, water and shelter, but they stay because the campus offers these creatures a safe place to raise their young.
APSU painter Rickey Denton holds a ladder while APSU graduate student Deanna Carter hangs a birdhouse on campus. Dr. Dewey Browder, chair of the APSU Department of History and Philosophy, instructs her where to hang it. (Photo by Beth Liggett/APSU staff).
APSU history students tour World War II vessel
October 3, 2012
Clarksville, TN – In early 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is alleged to have said, “The destinies of two great empires…seemed to be tied up in some damned things called LSTs.”
He was referring to the amphibious vessels known as Landing Ship Tank that were used to transport tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and soldiers to major World War II invasion sites such as Sicily and Normandy. More than 1,000 ships were built, but Churchill complained that more were needed to win the war.
APSU faculty and history students stand on the deck of the World War II vessel the LST 325 with the ship’s captain, Robert D. Jornlin. (Photo by Charles Booth/APSU Staff).
APSU history professor Kristofer Ray to appear on Discovery Channel mini-series “How Booze Built America”
September 6, 2012
Clarksville, TN – In the early 1790s, about 13,000 federal soldiers marched into rural western Pennsylvania to put down a small uprising. The farmers in the area had turned violent, destroying each other’s property, attacking and kidnapping law enforcement officers and formulating plans for an assault on nearby Pittsburgh.
Then-President George Washington was not pleased, so he sent in the troops.
Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” recently talked with APSU associate professor of history Dr. Kristofer Ray for an upcoming Discovery Channel program “How Booze Built America.”
APSU Military History Alum earns prestigious fellowship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection
May 10, 2012
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN – Last year, Maj. Paul Witkowski of the United States Army was stationed on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, trying to keep enemy combatants and supplies from passing through the region. It was a tricky assignment, given the province’s mountainous terrain and the absence of a fence or other obstruction between the two countries.
Later this summer, he’ll take what he learned in that war zone to Washington, D.C., where he’ll spend a year with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency as part of an Interagency Exchange Program fellowship. [Read more]
APSU Professors’ Dream for Civil War Fort Comes True Three Decades Later
March 31, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In 1982, two young Austin Peay State University history professors – Dr. Howard Winn and Dr. Richard Gildrie – ventured up to the top of a forgotten hill overlooking the Cumberland River. What they found was a wild tangle of bushes and sapling trees, 10 to 12 feet tall, that blocked out the sun and made it nearly impossible to hike through without machetes and axes.
Judge Sam Boaz, who owned the land, had asked the two men to come take a look and see if it was historically important. Rumor had it an old Civil War fort was hidden somewhere in those weeds. The professors hacked their way into that dense mess until they found the old earthen walls and communication trenches of what was known in the early 1860s as Fort Defiance.
Austin Peay State University professors Richard Gildrie (retired), Phil Kemmerly, Howard Winn (retired) and David Snyder stand next to a monument with their names engraved on it at the city’s new Fort Defiance Interpretive Center. (Photo By Charles Booth/APSU Public Relations and Marketing)
