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Sheryl and Don Jones

On Friday, October 24, Don and Sheryl Jones of Arvada, Colorado, visited the Gore Center, bringing with them a small 1860s-era album of nine photographs and one engraved political cartoon.  The images are of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and seem to date from between 1865 and 1870.  The photographs show vestiges of the Union encampment on the grounds of the Courthouse. Also visible are the well and several storefront signs bearing old Murfreesboro names such as Crichlow and Ransom. 

Sheryl Jones stumbled across the album in an antique store in Colorado in the early 1980s.  She bought it for a few dollars because she was fascinated by the political cartoon, which shows an African-American girl blowing bubbles.  (It turns out that the cartoon was originally published in Harper’s Weekly around 1862 and is titled “The Secession Bubble. It Must Burst.”)  In spring 2003, Sheryl rediscovered the album among some of her other collectibles.  Someone had long ago written “Murfreesburro, Tenn” on the album, so she began searching the Internet, which eventually led her to the History Department at MTSU.  Dr. Thaddeus Smith, chair of the History Department, put Sheryl in contact with the Gore Center.  The rest, as they say, is history!!

The Joneses donated the original album to the Gore Center.  Bradley Academy will display reproductions.  The Center for Historic Preservation will also include the images in a traveling exhibit that they are developing for the Tennessee Civil War Heritage Area.  Archival negatives will be retained by both the Gore Center and the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

To see the photographs, click here!

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