In a recently finalized agreement reached between the Battle of Nashville Trust (BONT) and the Nashville Civil War Round Table, the two organizations have now merged, and the Round Table has become part of the Trust.
The move brings together two organizations which, among their other missions, seek to interpret and educate the public about the significance of Nashville in the Civil War. The NCWRT has also traditionally dealt with all events and aspects of the Civil War in addition to its Nashville programming.
Bobby Whitson, president of the Trust, welcomed the merger: “Everything that we do at the BONT is about protecting, preserving, and interpreting the Battle of Nashville and honoring all of those that served here; bringing the NCWRT into the BONT family is absolutely the right move to continue to support and advance our mission. Members will benefit from immediate inclusion in both the BONT and the NCWRT; one annual fee, one membership. The NCWRT has a passionate and engaged membership base, and we look forward to helping to increase that membership by combining our efforts to inform and to educate those that are interested in the Battle of Nashville, the Civil War, and Tennessee history in general.”
Details of how the Round Table will be absorbed into BONT are currently being worked out. The NCWRT’s current president, Howard Mann, along with Greg Biggs, Program Chairman, have been named members of the BONT Board of Directors. They join Philip Duer, a board member and former President of BONT who currently serves as NCWRT’s treasurer. Biggs was instrumental in helping to establish the Round Table in Nashville and has long been in charge of securing the Round Table’s speakers and working to establish its seminars. Mann will continue to write his monthly Civil War feature stories which previously appeared in the Round Table’s monthly newsletter.
For the foreseeable future, NCWRT meetings will continue to be organized by Greg Biggs, continuing his record of locating dozens of extremely knowledgeable speakers on a wide variety of topics pertaining to the Civil War in Middle Tennessee. Meetings will continue to be held on a monthly basis, beginning at 7:00 p.m. and will be free and open to the public. Updated announcements will give the location of the meetings.
Additional details about upcoming meetings, including time, place, and the names and topics of the speakers, will be announced on the Battle of Nashville Trust’s Facebook page and website. To access the NCWRT page, click HERE. In addition, the two previously-separate groups are working out details regarding membership, dues, and related matters.
