Oops!: Reconciling Old Data and New Information

By Heather Adkins and Elinor Madeira

Image 29895 – “168150-Roll Call,” Souvenir Post Card Co., 1908, #WM213, Looking Back at Tennessee Photograph Collection, ca. 1890-1981.

We all make mistakes every now and then, and archivists are no exception. However, when history professionals make mistakes, the repercussions for future research are detrimental. Historians strive to provide correct information, but in a profession built around analysis of data, interpretations can vary widely. The following is an example of one such record that inspired different interpretations.

Image WM213 Image Card - “Roll Call” Slaves, 1908, #WM213, Looking Back at Tennessee Photograph Collection, ca. 1890-1981.

This image comes from the earliest trips of Looking Back at Tennessee in 1986. Much like today’s programs, archivists visited local communities to gather information on personal records and make duplicates to keep at the Library and Archives. Information gathered on these trips partly come from the owner of the record. So if the owner is misinformed, the archivist can subsequently record incorrect information. For instance, on the record sheet for this image, the archivist typed “’Roll Call’ Slaves;” however, the image itself does not have “slaves” written on it. The archivist also dated the image as 1908. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863, so it would be difficult to say that the subjects of the image were in fact enslaved.

Image Picture Card Splice – You can see the differing information based on the interpretations of the image-owner and the recording archivist.

To compound the issue, when the record was digitized and put on the online photograph database, the metadata writer added to the description of the photo to include, “People known as ‘Roll Call’ slaves.” The image was then picked up by different websites and digital collectors, like Google and Pinterest, where the written information of the image has become “fact” without much further consideration.

Image Photo database – The image is represented differently on the online photograph database than on the original.

Image Pinterest – Pinterest showing the user-posted image as a search result. Accessed May 10, 2018.

There are several ways this image could be interpreted. “Roll Call” could imply that the image is of a school, a church or even a form of community child care. The number of children could shift the interpretation easily in that direction. There are no visible agricultural tools, but it could also be families preparing to work in fields, considering the prevalence of tenant farming and sharecropping in Tennessee at that time. That interpretation is more fabrication. If you look closely at the building, a baby’s pram sits on the porch – small luxuries were most likely not available to enslaved persons. Whatever story could be spun about the image, to say that the subjects are slaves is a label not easily proven.

Image Baby Pram – “168150-Roll Call,” Souvenir Post Card Co., 1908, #WM213, Looking Back at Tennessee Photograph Collection, ca. 1890-1981.

As a rule, when processing photographs, archivists should not interpret an image. For purposes of cataloging and finding a photo, best practice is to describe the image (including any writing) and leave it to researchers how they want to use the image. For example, the “Roll Call” image is also in a collection held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (part of Yale University Library). Their metadata writer describes the image simply, talking briefly about the people in the image and the building (see below). It could be added to the description the number of children and adults, that some are sitting or standing and where, the separation of gender in their placement and the second building in the background.

Image Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library – “Guide to Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American Collection JWJ MSS 54, Series I. Visual Material. Online: bit.ly/2KdCDyt

So how do we reconcile when mistakes are made? First, we understand that new information becomes available all the time, and that is a good thing! Second, we compare the new and old data to see if information and analysis still align. Lastly, we admit when we are mistaken.

If you find something in our online material you think might be incorrect, please let us know. We will do our best to update our online information. Contact us here: https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/library-and-archives-ask-us-question.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Free Presentation to Highlight Love and War in the 1860s

Theirs was a love story without the scandal and treachery found in the novel, "Gone With the Wind." However, a collection of love letters between East Tennesseans Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rutledge King does provide valuable real-life insights into social and military history during the Civil War.

On May 6, the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) is hosting a free public presentation about that collection, which was donated to TSLA last year by siblings and King descendants Olivia King Inman and Judge Dennis H. Inman. The collection of letters chronicles the romance between Oliver King and Katherine Rutledge, which led to their marriage.

Letter from Oliver Caswell King to Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King, May 10, 1858.
Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King Papers, 1856-1893
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Because East Tennessee was a stronghold of Union support, the couple's pro-Confederacy views were somewhat unusual for people living in that region.

Oliver King, a student at Tusculum College, initially supported the Union cause, but later switched allegiances and enlisted in the Confederate Army. Catherine Rutledge, a student at the Masonic Female Institute in Blountville, was a staunch Confederate supporter who wrote to her beloved that "if my sweet heart hadn't to have went [to war] I don't believe I would claim him any longer."

After aligning himself with the Confederate cause in 1861, Oliver King wrote that "we'll just have to fight it out if it takes us a whole generation." He was gravely injured in a battle in Virginia in 1864 and taken as a prisoner of war.

The collection documents the couple's life during and after the war.

The May 6 presentation will be led by Susan Gordon, an archivist at TSLA, and Jess Holler, a graduate student at Western Kentucky University. The hourlong event will begin at noon that day in TSLA's auditorium.

TSLA's building is located at 403 Seventh Avenue North, directly west of the State Capitol building in downtown Nashville. A limited amount of free parking is available around the TSLA building.

TSLA will soon make the collection available online.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

State Library and Archives Receives Papers Detailing Civil War Love Story

He lovingly called her "Toad." She affectionately referred to him as "Oll." And although they shared political views that were out of step with many of their East Tennessee neighbors, Oliver Caswell King and his sweetheart Catherine Rebecca Rutledge managed to keep their romance alive through the hardships imposed by the Civil War.

Thanks to a generous donation by the Sullivan County couple’s descendants, Olivia King Inman and Judge Dennis H. Inman of Morristown, love letters between King and Rutledge will soon be available for public viewing at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The Inmans donated the papers during a brief ceremony at the State Library and Archives building Wednesday.

On hand to accept this generous donation are left to right: Assistant State Archivist Dr. Wayne Moore, State Sen. Steve Southerland, Olivia King Inman, Judge Dennis H. Inman, Archivist Susan Gordon, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

The letters between King and Rutledge, who eventually married, provide interesting insights into the social and military history of the time in which they lived. The letters were initially brought to one of the State Library and Archives' "Looking Back at the Civil War" events in Morristown so they could be digitally recorded. Archivist Susan Gordon worked closely with the Inmans, who decided to donate the letters to the State Library and Archives so they would be preserved and available for researchers.

Oliver King, a student at Tusculum College, stood with the Union early in the secession crisis, but joined a Confederate infantry regiment in the summer of 1861. "We'll just have to fight it out if it takes us a whole generation," Oliver wrote in one of his letters after joining the Confederate cause.

Rutledge was a student at the Masonic Female Institute in Blountville and a staunch supporter of the Confederacy. She wrote to King after his army enlistment: "If my sweet heart hadn't to have went [to war] I don't believe I would claim him any longer." She praised him for volunteering to defend their homes.

East Tennessee was a Union stronghold before and during the Civil War, so the King-Rutledge correspondence is unusual because it describes their Confederate sympathies.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is extremely grateful to the Inman family for making this donation available to scholars and the public.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

Looking Back: Stories from the Civil War in Tennessee

As communities throughout the state of Tennessee commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (2011-2015), the Tennessee State Library and Archives is sending teams of archivists and conservators to these communities across all 95 of Tennessee's counties in search of Civil War artifacts and memorabilia.

The goal of this program, "Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee," is to digitally document the history of Civil War related material held in private hands, and to provide guidance on proper conservation and preservation practices, so that those items will survive the ravages of time.

To date, hundreds of items such as letters, photographs, diaries, weapons, military passes and discharges, hand-drawn maps and sketches, uniforms, and other Civil War related material have been scanned, photographed, and digitally preserved for future reference and scholarship. More significantly, the stories that each item tells us bring to life the hardships and challenges of warfare, and bring families closer to a loved one who fought in the Civil War.

During a recent "Looking Back" event in Dandridge, Tennessee, archivists from TSLA interviewed three gentlemen, each with an interesting item and a fascinating story to tell...

From left to right: Robert Jarnagin, Jimmy O'Quinn, and Ernest Hedges proudly display their Civil War artifacts during a recent "Looking Back" event in Dandridge, Tennessee.

Robert Jarnagin came to us with a quite rare item -- a Confederate wooden canteen. Inscribed with the name of "A. M. Jarnigan Co. G. 43rd TN" this company with men from Mossy Creek in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and members of this unit fought at Bull's Gap and Morristown. The canteen has metal bands and a wooden stopper and spout. It's truly remarkable that this canteen has survived the test of time, but Mr. Jarnagin's family has treasured this artifact for generations, and we're grateful to him for sharing it with us in Dandridge, Tennessee.


Ernest Hedges beams with pride as he displays his Contract .58 caliber musket. Mr. Hedges relates this story of how he came into possession of this historic artifact:

"When I was 17 I was delivering groceries to one of my neighbors. We were living in Suitland, Maryland at the time. He was in his garage when I approached him with his groceries. He told me that he would have to go into his house to get his money for the groceries. While he was in the house I looked up into the rafters of his garage and saw this musket. When he returned I asked him if the musket was his and he said, 'yes.' I asked him if he would be willing to sell it and he said he would. I pulled out my wallet and all I had was $1.50 and he said he would let me have the musket for that amount. It is not really a collectors piece since his sons had cut off the stock and lost the ramrod. They had used the musket for hunting."

This contract musket was likely manufactured by Parkers' Snow & Company of Connecticut, and was likely manufactured sometime between 1863 and 1864 for use in the Civil War.


Jimmy O'Quinn brought in his .44 caliber Remington model 1858 pistol. The pistol has an inspector's cartouche, meaning that it was government-owned and used during the Civil War. While the Union Army preferred the Colt 1860 Army firearm, a fire at the Colt factory in 1864 led to an increase in the manufacture and use of the Remington revolver among Union soldiers. Large numbers of the Remington revolver like the one seen here were ordered by the U.S. government as a substitute for the Army Colt. It was a revolver known for its durability and ability to be quickly reloaded by switching to another pre-loaded cylinder. This model not only saw use during the Civil War, it was also used in the American West, and around the world.


In the state of Tennessee, reminders of the Civil War can be found throughout the landscape, and Civil War artifacts can be found in attics, closets, and display cases, passed on through many generations of Tennessee families. As Tennessee commemorates the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, we encourage you to consider bringing your Civil War heirloom to a "Looking Back" event near you. The next event is in Chattanooga during Tennessee's Civil War Signature Event there on Oct. 9-12. TSLA will be on site for the first two days of the Signature Event on Oct. 9-10. Persons interested in attending a scheduled event are encouraged to contact project staff by phone at (615) 741-1883 or email civilwar.tsla@tn.gov.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

February is African American History Month

African American History Month, also known as Black History Month, was created by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born in 1875 to parents who were former slaves, Dr. Woodson was disturbed to find that history books largely ignored the black American population—and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time.

In 1926, Woodson launched "Negro History Week" as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history. Woodson chose the second week of February for "Negro History Week" because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly impacted the American black population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. For these and many other efforts, Woodson has been acknowledged as the "father of black history."

Here in Tennessee, Gov. Frank Goad Clement signed a proclamation designating February 13-20 as "Negro History Week," and by 1976, the federal government expanded the celebration to include the entire month of February. Today, communities across this country recognize African American History Month as a time to reflect on the important and historically significant contributions African American citizens have made to our nation. At the Tennessee State Library and Archives, we honor their achievements through the historical records that we keep, preserve, and share with the public.

One tale of bravery found within the collections at TSLA is that of Sgt. Dick Johnson of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry (USCC). In his book, David Preston Sherfy: Kinsman and Cavalryman, George W. Holley recounts an incident that occurred on February 6, 1865, when Sgt. Johnson was assigned to care for David Preston Sherfy following an accident where Sherfy, also a Sergeant in the 3rd USCC, fell from his horse and broke his leg during an expedition to Southeast Arkansas and Northeast Louisiana.

This hand-colored carte de visite of African American Sgt. Dick Johnson,
3rd US Colored Cavalry (USCC), detailed to David Preston Sherfy
is part of the TSLA's "Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee" collection.
Digital image, Tennessee State Library & Archives.

During the raid into Confederate territory, swamps in the area were nearly impassible. Many of the horses mired down in the mud and had great difficulty getting through the swollen streams. As Sherfy's brigade waited for stragglers and the rest of the command to catch up, he fell from his horse while crossing a swollen stream.

After being rescued from the muddy banks, Sherfy was put on a horse and continued with his command. His leg was later set by a surgeon, but he refused to stay at a wayside house, fearing for his life if he were captured by Confederate forces. Sgt. Johnson was detailed to look after Sherfy. It was said of the men of the 3rd U.S. Colored Cavalry that they "ranked as one of the finest cavalry regiments in The Army of The Tennessee," and "displayed the highest degree of discipline, courage and aggressiveness in battle, while never violating the laws of honorable warfare."

Another story of inspiration can be found in the life lived by Sampson W. Keeble, who became the first African American legislator elected to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly. A barber, businessman, and civic leader, Sampson Keeble was elected to serve as Republican representative of Davidson County to the 38th Tennessee General Assembly, riding a political wave of popularity into office following President Ulysses S. Grant's victory in the Presidential Election of 1872.

This bust in the likeness of Sampson W. Keeble is located in a place of prominence within the Tennessee State Capitol Building in Nashville, Tennessee.
Digital image, Tennessee State Library & Archives.

During his term in the legislature, Keeble introduced bills to amend Nashville’s charter in order to allow blacks to operate businesses downtown, to provide protection for wage earners (several of the later black legislators followed his lead in this area, introducing related bills), and to appropriate state funds for the Tennessee Manual Labor University. Although none of Keeble's bills received enough votes to be considered by the General Assembly, his legacy and importance to Tennessee's history is not forgotten. A bust of Sampson W. Keeble is displayed prominently in the Tennessee State Capitol Building reminding us all of his life and achievements.

Sampson Keeble was among fourteen black men, most of them former slaves, who were elected to the Tennessee General Assembly following the passage of the Thirteenth (1865), Fourteenth (1868) and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments, giving African American men their freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. You can learn more about the achievements of these men on our online exhibit, "This Honorable Body: African American Legislators in 19th Century Tennessee," which includes biographies, timelines on African American History and Civil Rights, and a wealth of teaching resources for educators. An update to this site is in the works, so we encourage you to check back for updates to this important online resource.

As we pause to reflect on these and other important contributions by African Americans to our collective past, we also recognize that without the records and artifacts left behind by our ancestors, these stories may never be told or remembered. To learn more about the collections related to African American history held at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, we encourage you to visit the following links on our website, and make a trip to our facility to see these important records first hand.

• African American Collections of Note TSLA
• Guide to African American Genealogy-Related Documents Prior to 1865 in the Collections of TSLA
• Selected Bibliography of African American Genealogical Resources in TSLA
• TSLA Resource Guide 09. African American Genealogial Resources @ TSLA

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

“Looking Back” is coming to TSLA!

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Tennessee State Library and Archives has spent the last two years sending teams of professional archivists and conservators to communities across Tennessee in an effort to digitally preserve Civil War era manuscripts, artifacts, and photographs held in private hands.

Our next stop on this journey is right in our own backyard.

On Saturday, January 26th, TSLA will open its own doors to area residents who would like for us to document their Civil War era photographs, documents and other artifacts. Items will be scanned or photographed and returned to the owner within an hour. Participants will receive basic conservation supplies for their items, digital copies of the images, and the opportunity to have their Civil War memorabilia preserved, digitized, and shared online for future generations. Digital copies of these items, representing the rich Civil War heritage of Tennessee families, will become part of a virtual exhibit, “Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee” which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the war in Tennessee.

As part of the event, TSLA is also hosting a free workshop on Civil War photography by The Vacant Chair Studio from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. At this workshop, Vacant Chair will demonstrate how traveling studios used by itinerant photographers of the era looked. Vacant Chair will also discuss the history and role of photography during the Civil War time period, as well as offering a step-by-step explanation of how wet plate/collodian photographic images were produced.

Those wishing to participate in the “Looking Back” event and the workshop must contact TSLA to make reservations, as seating and parking is limited. To reserve a time for the “Looking Back” event, phone 615-253-3470 or email civilwar.tsla@tn.gov. Patrons can register for the workshop by telephone by calling 615-741-2764 or by email at workshop.tsla@tn.gov.

Among the most unique items that we encountered during our travels is the following tintype of Henry Jenks and an unidentified individual. Jenks and a friend escaped from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, and made it safely back to Union territory to rejoin their regiments. Accompanying the tintype is this pass signed by President Abraham Lincoln ordering the Secretary of War to permit Henry Jenks and his friend to rejoin their regiments. It is a fascinating story told through an image and a document that would have never been told without the foresight of one person who thought it should be shared with others through TSLA’s “Looking Back” project.

Tintype of Henry Jenks and an unidentified individual.
Digital image, Tennessee State Library & Archives.

Pass signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Digital image, Tennessee State Library & Archives.

If you have an interesting Civil War item that you would like to share, please consider a visit to the Tennessee State Library and Archives on Saturday, January 26th. Who knows, maybe your family can make Civil War history once again!

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.