The CCDC has many ways to “get the word out” — it’s newsletter, email, social media, videos and podcasts. A sharp contrast to the formerly enslaved men and women who settled Clarksville because most slave owners, viewing literacy as a threat, denied the people they enslaved the opportunity to learn how to read and write. Those who did were often punished if discovered, and punishment could be harsh, including beatings, and even amputations of fingers and toes sometimes. And anyone teaching enslaved individuals to read and write risked being fined, whipped, or imprisoned.

With emancipation, literacy became a priority for the formerly enslaved. The above photo is of formerly enslaved Clarksville adults sharing a classroom with young school children – either at Sweet Home or the Clarksville Colored School.

Hezikiah Haskell House