The Tennessee African American Historical Group

Committed to sharing the rich and varied history of Tennessee

Current Project!

2024: Exhibit Debut!

 

KING IRON:  The Untold Story of Enslaved Furnace Workers in Tennessee

 

Good news!  Members of TAAHG have received a grant from Tennesse Humanities to fund a traveling exhibit about Tennessee’s enslaved furnace workers.

The history of the iron industry has typically been shared from the perspective of ironmasters with their lives celebrated as successful entrepreneurs within the industrial antebellum South. This project will instead share the perspective of enslaved workers, the conditions of their daily lives, their attempts to find freedom, the talents of their skilled labor, and their subsequent lives after emancipation. 

The exhibit is scheduled to debut in Franklin, Tennessee in February of 2024 and is scheduled to be in Dickson County in the Spring and Montgomery County by the end of the summer.  Details will follow soon!  The President of TAAHG, Frederick Murphy, is a descendant of enslaved iron workers and has a personal connection to this history. He will be leading presentations along with other descendants at various exhibit venues. 

 

 
 
Please see the recent article in “Second and Commerce” 
“King Iron” article – Winter issue of “Second and Commerce”

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         

 

 

Please help us fund markers, research, and presentations for these important events in Tennessee’s African American history.    

Want to help with a donation? Please click here!