Don’t Miss This “Clarksville Conversations” Speaker!

Tara Dudley is a compelling speaker, an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and a nationally-known expert on African American craftspeople, builders, and architects and their contributions with a focus on the antebellum and Reconstruction eras in the U.S. South.

On Sunday, March 9 at the Haskell House (1705 Waterston Avenue) starting at 2PM, Dudley will talk about the Cumberland style of architecture, which typifies the kind of home Clarksville’s earliest residents built. The Hezikiah Haskell House is a prime example. She will also share information about the African American builders and craftsmen who helped build Clarksville and other freedom colonies in the Austin area. Her information is derived from the decades of community and archival research Dudley has conducted. She plans to consolidate her research into a book.

Dudley worked as a senior architectural historian for Austin-based preservation consulting firm HHM & Associates, Inc. for two decades and continues to lead and consult on preservation projects across the US. She is the author of the multiple award-winning book Building Antebellum New Orleans: Free People of Color and Their Influence (University of Texas Press, February 2021).