Tusculum College’s Library Director Myron J. “Jack” Smith will be speaking at the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable in Knoxville on Tuesday, Feb 10.
The Knoxville Civil War Roundtable is a registered non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the knowledge, commemoration and preservation of our American Civil War heritage.
Smith will be presenting six of the 980 profiles from his book, “Civil War Biographies from the Western Waters.” These profiles follow the lives of Confederate naval captains who served on the Mississippi River above Vicksburg from 1861 to the end of the war: Capt. Marsh Miller, Capt. Gus Fowler, Capt. John Julius Guthrie, Capt. Jonathan H. Carter, Capt. Isaac Newton Brown and Capt. A. D. Wharton.
Prior to coming to Tusculum College in 1990, Smith served as a library director and professor of library science and history at Salem College for 15 years. He has authored over 80 volumes of history and bibliography, such as “The Timberclads in the Civil War,” “The Tinclads in the Civil War” and “Fight for Yazoo, 1862-1864.” He has also written profiles on the ironclads USS “Carondelet” and CSS “Arkansas,” as well as a biography of the Union naval officer Lt. Cmdr. Le Roy Fitch.
Smith has been a professional librarian and historian since 1966. He has worked to improve library resources and access opportunities throughout the Tusculum community. A component of this approach centers mostly on cooperation and collaboration with other local libraries. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Ashland University and his master’s degree in history from Shippensburg University.
In 1993, he received the Nelson Ross Award. In addition, Smith is the only American who has received the Richard Franck Preis for the historical bibliography from the German Government.
By Corrine Absher, digital media major from Kingsport