TUSCUMBIA-The Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation (CCHLF) will host its quarterly meeting on Sunday, March 30, at the Helen Keller Public Library in Tuscumbia with a program by Kurt Vetters, who will unveil the new MSNHA’s Civil War Trail’s painting of “The Engagement at Little Bear Creek.” The painting is a project of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area (MSNHA).
The meeting will begin at 2 pm.
Kurt Vetters
The program was originally scheduled for February, but was postponed in the aftermath of a tornado that struck downtown Tuscumbia the night before.
“The art work for the MSNHA’s Civil War Trail will help fully tell the story of those terrible four years while the Shoals area struggled through the Civil War,” Vetters said. “A picture is worth a thousand words, and coupled with the detailed research of our local historians, it will explain the unique experience of the war in the Tennessee Valley.”
Vetters is a former U.S. Army Cavalry Captain and Civil War reenactor. He is an author and painter with an emphasis on historical subjects. A graduate of the University of Alabama, Vetters served as Executive Officer of Delta Company, 1st Battalion 40th Armor and was awarded two Army Commendation Medals. He is currently the Vice President of a medical supply company and is a former American Legion Post Commander.
Vetters has always had a passion for military history and has written for The Greenfield, Indiana Daily Reporter and Studio Magazine in the Shoals. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public History at the University of North Alabama and has contributed works to The Byler Road Project, Historic Tuscaloosa, the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area and the Florence Alabama Arts and Museums Department.
“We have an amazing team of local historians who have fleshed out the events of the Civil War in our community,” Vetter said. “My job is to put their research into art that helps them tell the story. The MSNHA has been working on this project for years. While my artwork is a tangible sign of progress, the heavy lifting has been done by the MSNHA staff and their dedicated team of local historians.”
Vetter said all five of the completed Civil War Trail paintings will be on display at the unveiling on March 30.
“I will do a presentation on the details of the 1863 battle that took place just west of Tuscumbia,” he said.
Vetters is from Sheffield, Alabama, grew up in Birmingham, lived for many years in Indiana, and now resides in Florence.
