Customs House Museum receives restored Civil War diary
June 29, 2017
Local Groups, Individuals provide funds to have Civil War Diary cleaned, restored, returned to Custom House Museum
Clarksville, TN – An important record of Clarksville’s past returned, cleaned and restored, this month to Customs House Museum and Cultural Center thanks to help from several local organizations and individuals.
Serepta Jordan’s diary from 1857 to 1864 in New Providence records murders, slave insurrections, the building of Fort Defiance (then known as Fort Sevier), mustering of troops, battles fought and lost during America’s Civil War, along with births, deaths, marriages, and details of daily 19th-century life.
Customs House Curator of Collections Kali Mason receives a $500.00 check from Jeff Harris, treasurer of the Montgomery County Historical Society, to help pay for restoration of the journal kept by New Providence resident Serepta Jordan from 1857 to 1864.
Clarksville’s Customs House Museum May 2017 Exhibits and Activities
May 1, 2017
Clarksville, TN – The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is located in historic downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. Come explore an entire city block featuring large gallery spaces filled with fine art, science and history.
Some of the events in May at the Museum are: The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African American Art: Works on Paper, A Fine Note, Peggy Kretchmar Leland: Abstracted Surroundings, The Big Payback and Art & Lunch: Patrick Vincent.
Peggy Kretchmar Leland – Past and Present
Austin Peay State University history professor Minoa Uffelman part of team to restore Civil War-era diary
February 28, 2017
Clarksville, TN – Military conflicts are not fought in isolation, and the American Civil War was no different. While civilians like Serepta Jordan never lifted a musket, Jordan and millions like her felt its impact, and it is precisely that neglected perspective that made the discovery of her diary by area historians so significant.
A working-class woman living in Clarksville during the war, Jordan was not a name remembered by history.
Minoa Uffelman holding the $3,000 Archive Development Grant check from the State of Tennessee.
Customs House Museum becomes Clarksville-Montgomery County Green Certified
February 20, 2017
Montgomery County, TN – The Customs House Museum & Cultural Center is the first organization of 2017 to celebrate their Clarksville-Montgomery County Green Certification.
Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, City of Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan, Chamber of Commerce Director Melinda Shepard, several CMC Green Certification Steering Committee Members and several Museum Board Members attended their green ribbon cutting.
(L to R) Melinda Shepard, Randy Spurgeon (Customs House Staff): Sollie Fott (Customs House Board of Trustees); Terri Jordan (Customs House Staff); Colin McAlexander (Customs House Staff); JD Richardson; Mayor Durrett, Kali Mason (Customs House Staff); Mayor McMillan, Jim Zimmer; Eleanor Williams (Customs House Board of Trustees); William Wyatt (Customs House Chair, Board of Trustees); Tim Swaw (CMCGCP Steering Committee) and Daryl Pater (CMCGCP Steering Committee).
Clarksville’s Customs House Museum receives Tennessee Grant for Serepta Jordan Diary project
February 11, 2017
Serepta Jordan’s writings recorded Clarksville life from 1857-64
Clarksville, TN – A large measure of teamwork is going into the restoration and publication of the diary of Serepta Jordan, who recorded her life in Clarskville from 1857 to 1864 in crisp hardwriting in a repurposed leather-bound ledger book.
The diary is part of the collection of the Clarksville’s Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, which welcomed a $3,000 Archive Development Grant on Thursday delivered by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
Kali Mason, Customs House Curator of Collections, carefully handles pages of the diary of Serepta Jordon as Mayor Kim McMillan, Millie Armstrong, Tenessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett and Customs House Executive Director Jim Zimmer look at the fragile document. Hargett delivered a $3,000 state grant check to the museum Thursday that will be used to continue the restoration of the historic diary.
Customs House Museum and Cultural Center adds New Addition to Collection Part of ‘A Time of Mourning’ Exhibit
April 7, 2016
Clarksville, TN – The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is showcasing items from its collection with the exhibit A Time of Mourning, now on display.
The exhibit highlights how rigorous mourning etiquette affected women’s attire; the grieving process is explored through clothing, photographs, and a variety of other objects.
‘A Time of Mourning’ Exhibit on display at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center.
