[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 111 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5097-H5098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING WALTER DURHAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Black) for 5 minutes.

[[Page H5098]]

  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Walter Thomas Durham, 
a man who did great things for Tennessee and for the future generations 
of Tennesseans.
  Tennessee has one of the great histories of our United States. 
Tennesseans fought and tipped the balance of the Revolutionary War at 
the Battle of Kings Mountain. Tennessee produced three of the first 17 
Presidents. Tennessee had more Civil War battles than any other State, 
except Virginia.
  Tennessee is proud of its history, and Walter Durham is a giant in 
the world of Tennessee history. Like so many brave members of his 
generation, Mr. Durham served in the U.S. Army in World War II, seeing 
action in north Africa and Italy with the U.S. Army Air Corps. He went 
to Vanderbilt University and, after he graduated, started a building 
supply company in Gallatin called Durham Building Supply. He went on to 
launch another business, Gallatin Aluminum Products Company, which he 
and his partners later sold.
  Then, in the early 1970s, he was encouraged by his doctor to 
establish a hobby that would reduce his stress. So, at the suggestion 
of a friend, Mr. Durham started a book on the history of Sumner County. 
As Sumner County's history goes, the county has a pretty amazing one. 
Some of middle Tennessee's early forts and settlements were in Sumner 
County. Sumner County had characters such as Kasper Mansker and Thomas 
``Big Foot'' Spencer, a man of legendary size and strength who once 
spent a cold winter alone, living in a hollow sycamore tree. Sumner 
County was a place where there were violent raids made on early forts 
and cabins by Creek and Chickamaugan Indians. In fact, his book on 
Sumner County's history would be the first of 24 that he wrote on the 
local and State history.
  He wrote books about the history of thoroughbred racing in Tennessee; 
Tennessee Governor William Trousdale, who fought in the War of 1812; 
James Winchester, another veteran of the War of 1812 and a man who 
cofounded the city of Memphis with Andrew Jackson; and a book about 
General Daniel Smith, a U.S. Senator and the surveyor who created the 
first map of Tennessee. He wrote a very detailed two-volume history of 
Nashville during the Civil War, and these two books were the ones he 
later said he was the most proud of. He also wrote a book called 
``Volunteer Forty-Niners,'' about people who left Tennessee to take 
part in the California Gold Rush. In fact, Tennesseans were some of the 
first people to hold public office in California.
  In short, Walter Durham created an entire shelf of books that people 
interested in Tennessee's history should have in their libraries, and 
he generously gave the book rights and proceeds to various entities 
across the State.
  In addition to writing, he was a longtime member of the Tennessee 
Historical Society and served as its President from 1973 to 1975. He 
was also the chairman of the Tennessee Historical Commission and the 
founding president of the Tennessee Historical Alliance, now known as 
the Tennessee Preservation Trust.
  In 2002, Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist appointed him to the 
official post of the Tennessee State Historian. He was appointed by 
Governor Phil Bredesen in 2008 to continue to hold his title until his 
death.
  Two years ago, he was awarded the honorary doctorate from Tusculum 
College to commemorate his work on behalf of Tennessee's historical 
significance.
  Mr. Durham also took time to encourage others. Ten years ago, a young 
man in Tennessee decided to start an organization to help public 
schoolteachers teach Tennessee history and civics using the Internet. 
His very first endorsement letter was from Walter Durham, a man who 
handwrote every one of his books in pencil. These handwritten 
manuscripts now reside at the Vanderbilt Library Archives.
  He was also a devoted Sunday school teacher at the First United 
Methodist Church in Gallatin.
  Mr. Durham passed away on May 24, 2013. He is survived by Anna 
Armstrong Coile Durham, his wife of 64 years, and his four children and 
four grandchildren. Tennessee and the Durham family will miss this 
great man.

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