The Tennessee State Library and Archives will use a $40,750 grant from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to develop an online database of the state’s Civil War battlefields that will be available for federal, state and local planning agencies as well as the general public.
This project will use Geographic Information Systems technology to create the database. The database will link information from the Civil War Sourcebook for Tennessee to Civil War maps and documents archived at TSLA. This enhanced resource will be available on TSLA’s section of the Tennessee Department of State web site.
GIS technology has become one of the tools used by planners who are trying to protect and preserve Civil War battlefields.
This project will convert a comprehensive Civil War database for Tennessee to a web-based application available to all communities, planners and preservationists. This project will integrate GIS technology with economic, demographic and transportation data to support planning and protection for the 38 most important battlefields in the state.
TSLA will provide public access to the Tennessee Civil War database as well as supplementary records and maps. The state’s Office of Information Resources will provide technical assistance to design and power the GIS applications.
The Tennessee Civil War database will serve as a robust, sustainable and long-range tool for Civil War research and battlefield preservation in the state for the future.