 Anne-Leslie Owens, manager at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University, serves as a liaison with other heritage organizations, oversees student hiring and scheduling, manages projects, and coordinates web and print publications. She also serves as the contract monitor for the partnership projects of the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area.
Assisting in the formation of the statewide non-profit preservation organization, the Tennessee Preservation Trust, Owens helped to create the first board of directors, chaired the statewide preservation conference in 2001 (Columbia) and 2009 (Murfreesboro), and has served as secretary and board development chair. Her research interests are in architectural history, decorative arts, and African-American history. She has over thirty published entries on these and other topics in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture web site (University of Tennessee Press) and has contributed to A History of Tennessee Arts: Creating Traditions and Expanding Horizons (University of Tennessee Press, 2004), Border States, the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, and the Tennessee Conservationist. Before coming to the Center, Owens worked for the Metropolitan Nashville Historical Commission and the Tennessee Historical Society, coordinating the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded "Eden of the West" reading and discussion series and serving as assistant editor for The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture (Tennessee Historical Society, 1998). |