In "Echoes and Footprints," discover the stories of West Tennessee history, stretching from pioneer days to more recent times. Listen for echoes of long ago. Look for footprints of those who walked before us. Historic figures include soldiers, Native Americans, presidents and politicians, inventors, entertainers and musicians, authors, criminals, baseball players, entrepreneurs, football coaches and Santa Claus. Meet Ellis Kinder from Jackson, called "Old Folks," who played for the Boston Red Sox. In 1949, he was the American League Pitcher of the Year at an age when most players were retired. He liked to party, but his pitch didn't wobble. Discover Norbert Putnam who played bass with Elvis Presley for six years and produced Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville," among many others. Stand beside Colonel Ernest Frankland at the Battle of Mortain as he pulled a .45 caliber revolver and shot a German tank crew dead to save his men. March in front of the White House in the bitter February 1919 cold with Sue Shelton White, Tennessee suffragist, and rejoice with her as Tennessee ratified the Nineteenth Amendment in August 1920, establishing the right to vote for all American women. Read the story of Pat Hitchcock who spent four years as a Japanese prisoner of war, and years later, met one of his former guards. Meet Leander Stillwell who came to Jackson as a Union soldier or follow Frank Armstrong's Confederate cavalry as they ride to fight at the Battle of Britton Lane. Feel the excitement when Ringling Brothers came to town or meet Colonel Sanders whose fried chicken recipe lifted him from poverty. Make a trip to the bank with Miss Ollie, Jackson's famous madam, whose house of ill-repute made an Army commander threaten to close her down because of his AWOL soldiers. These true characters laughed, cried, went to war or into business and shaped the history of West Tennessee, the South, and in some instances, the nation and the world. Take a journey through time in the pages of "Echoes and Footprints," stories of our West Tennessee history. It's all around us if you only look.
