STAFF

Carroll is the director of both the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area and the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University, and oversees the Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources - MTSU program. He also serves as the governor-appointed Tennessee State Historian and serves as a member of the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks Committee as well as an board advisor for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

West's research interests lie in 19th and 20th century southern and western history as well as architecture and material culture. His books include A History of Tennessee Arts: Creating Traditions and Expanding Horizons:Trial and Triumph: Readings in Tennessee’s African-American Past; Tennessee’s New Deal Landscape; the edited anthology Tennessee History: The Land, The People, and The Culture (UT Press, 1998); Tennessee's Historic Landscapes; Capitalism on the Frontier: The Transformation of Billings and the Yellowstone Valley in the 19th Century; Images of Billings; Tennessee Agriculture: A Century Farms Perspective; and A Traveler's Companion to Montana History. He also served as the editor in chief for the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.

A professor in MTSU's history department, West teaches courses in architectural history, historic preservation, and state and local history and has directed numerous M.A. theses and PhD dissertations. A native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he holds a B.A. from MTSU, a master's degree in history from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate in history from the College of William & Mary.

Laura serves as the part-time Federal Liaison for the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. Ms. Holder received a B.A. from the University of Kansas and a M.A. in public history with emphasis in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University, completing her thesis on the establishment and preservation initiatives of Franklin's historic African American Natchez Street neighborhood. She served as manager for the Heritage Area for four years before moving to a part time role as Federal Liaison. In her current role, she manages daily operations, publications, and project administration. She has developed numerous heritage tourism initiatives for communities across the state, including driving tours and feasibility studies. She served on the Governor's Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission; the advisory boards of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, the Mississippi River Corridor-Tennessee, the Alliance of National Heritage Areas Heritage Development Institute, and the Battle of Franklin Trust marketing committee; and currently serves on the board of Franklin's Charge, Inc. and as Secretary for the Battle of Franklin Trust Board of Advisors. She has also contributed to the online edition of The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.

Antoinette is the Assistant Director for the Center for Historic Preservation and historian for the Heritage Area. She provides research, writing, and editing assistance to partnering organizations. Major projects she has worked on include a traveling exhibit on emancipation and Reconstruction in Tennessee, a book of Freedmen’s Bureau labor contracts, and exhibit panels for the General Longstreet Headquarters Museum. She also works on Civil War-related materials for the Teaching with Primary Sources Across Tennessee program.

Dr. van Zelm received her Ph.D. in American History from the College of William & Mary, completing her dissertation on the transition from slavery to freedom among women in Virginia during and after the Civil War. She is active in the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) and serves as book review editor for H-SAWH. She has written about the transition from slavery to freedom in both Tennessee and Virginia in several publications and is now researching Tennessee women's involvement in the Woman's Relief Corps, the women's auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Our dear friend and Heritage Area colleague of many years, Michael Thomas Gavin, passed away in 2013 after a lengthy illness. A native of New Jersey, Michael received his M.A. from MTSU and joined the Heritage Area staff in 2002. With over twenty-five years experience in rehabilitating historic buildings, Michael was largely responsible for the Heritage Area's exemplary record of community service and research excellence. He contributed to preservation and research projects across the state including the Iron Furnace Trail, the Tennessee Civil War Trail marker system, the Glen Leven Farm project in Nashville, Doe Creek School in Henderson County, and Promise Land school in Dickson. His publication Barns of Tennessee, essays in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture and A History of Tennessee Arts, and numerous articles, reviews, and reports, remain seminal works. Michael was a great friend and colleague, and we continue to miss his expertise, good spirits, and kindness.