Jason Lynn Pate, a Civil War photography collector and subscriber to MI, teaches history to seventh and eighth graders at Lake Road Elementary School in Union City, Tenn. A few months ago at the urging of Senior Editor Rick Brown, Jason contacted me with an idea. He planned to teach the students about the Civil War by having them research Civil War soldiers. And he wanted to weave Military Images into his teaching plans by placing copies of the magazine into the hands of his kids.
“If my ambition comes to life, I’d love to have them read the articles, use books and places like Fold3 for research, and then write small summaries,” he explained.
To achieve Jason’s dream, he needed 10 subscriptions to the magazine. Moved by his request and confident in the knowledge that you would help fund it, I asked for help on the episode of Military Images Live that aired August 19.
Within minutes, five viewers/subscribers stepped up to help: Kevin Canberg, Rich Jahn, Bobby McCoy, Joe Watkins and Rick Wolfe. Their generosity and enthusiasm represent the goodness of the photo collecting community. Each man deserves a tip of the kepi for his efforts to, as Jason stated, “connect a new generation to the knowledge of the conflict.” I owe them a debt of gratitude for their support and passion.
The timing of Jason’s request could not have been better. The central theme of this issue is Tennessee. Look for the caption on page 34 that accompanies the portrait of William Franklin Henry of the 6th Tennessee Infantry. Jason’s students researched and wrote it. Henry sat for this portrait in Union City, the hometown of the students. The portrait is part of the Mike Hunt Collection. Mike deserves a tip of the kepi for his enthusiasm and support for this project.
One more tip of the kepi to Daniel Taylor. We connected back in 2016 at the Franklin Show, during which he shared part of his collection of Tennesseans. A significant number of photographs in the gallery are his, and I am indebted to him for his efforts.
Ronald S. Coddington
Editor & Publisher
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