MTSU Center for Historic Preservation

10/18/2026

Thank you to the Macon History Project for hosting the fall cemetery workshop this year! Community members and grad students had a great time cleaning tombstones in the fall weather today at Haysville Cemetery in Macon County.

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

Today is the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)! Since 1984, the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation has helped fulfill the act in Tennessee and beyond. As the U.S. Congress declared in 1966, “the historical and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people.” We heartily agree!

The NHPA has not just saved significant places, it has fostered community pride, economic revitalization, and heritage tourism in both rural and urban areas. The Center’s current and former graduate research assistants help bring the NHPA to life across the nation.

An important provision of the NHPA was the establishment of the National Register of Historic Places. The Center has successfully nominated numerous properties to the NR and maintained ongoing relationships with these vibrant historic places and their owners over the years. Pictured are a few examples.

10/07/2026

Mark your calendars!

Our next Lunch and Learn event on October 15 will be with Dr. Antoinette G. van Zelm, Assistant Director at MTSU Center for Historic Preservation. For "Heroines Aplenty: Portrayals of Revolutionary-Era Women in Tennessee over the Years," she will be exploring the ways that historians and other writers have depicted Revolutionary-era women who lived within the present-day borders of Tennessee between 1770 and 1810.

As early as the mid-nineteenth century, Revolutionary-era Tennessee women were being lauded as “patriotic mothers” and “unsung heroines,” two interpretations that continued well into the twentieth century. With the new social history of the 1960s and ‘70s, greater attention to Native and African American women expanded the image of early Tennessee women. Ultimately, the woman who has received the most sophisticated analysis is Nan-ye-hi, or Nancy Ward, known as the “Beloved Woman” or the “War Woman of Chota.” The talk will conclude with suggestions for future research on Revolutionary-era women in Tennessee.

Learn more and RSVP for this FREE event 🎟️: https://tnmuseum.org/calendar-of-events/event/6246156

10/06/2026

Public history alumna Tiffany Momon returns to campus as director of MTSU Center for Historic Preservation by Nancy DeGennaro 8 September 2026 Alumni News MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University alumna Tiffany Momon is returning to a role she once dreamed about — leading the univ...

10/02/2026

Our Fall 2026 Cemetery Preservation Workshop will be hosted by the Macon History Project on Saturday, October 17th. The morning presentations will be held in Lafayette while the afternoon hands-on cleaning will be closer to the KY line. Spaces are limited! Email [email protected] to register.

09/22/2026

So good to see so many former CHP graduate research assistants and MTSU Public History alums at the joint AASLH/NCPH Conference last week in Providence! (Thanks for organizing us, Ashleigh Oatts!)

09/21/2026

Last week, CHP staff members Stacey Graham and Amanda Smith, along with graduate research assistant John Barber, visited the Wickham Cemetery near Palmyra, TN, with Wickham descendants Cathey Marek, Kristy Nakamura, and Evan Kaiser. The E.T. Wickham tombstones and nearby statues are truly a gem of Tennessee folk art, even despite their deterioration. Hopefully we can help in the preservation of these important pieces of material culture.

09/09/2026

Curious about what we were up to this Summer? Back in May, our Research Professor Dr. Graham and our Graduate Research Assistant Aisha Karamustafic visited the East View Cemetery in DeKalb County with Kevin Overall from MTSU School of Concrete and Construction Management to set the concrete base for Lulie's headstone. This is the second reel in Lulie's headstone series. You can read more about Lulie's headstone at Dr. Graham's Southern Rambles blog post: https://chpblog.org/2025/10/29/bringing-lulies-tombstone-home-part-i/