The Nashville Way: Racial Etiquette and the Struggle for Social Justice in a Southern City, by Benjamin Houston, is the winner of the 2012 Tennessee History Book Award, presented annually by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Historical Commission.
Published by the University of Georgia Press, the well-written history gives a new perspective on race relations in Nashville during the civil rights movement, a city in which a screen of etiquette denied the reality of life under Jim Crow. Through the experiences and viewpoints of both blacks and whites, Dr. Houston provides a thorough and engaging account of the historical drama that unfolded in Nashville.
Dr. Houston is a lecturer in modern U.S. history at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.
The committee also presented a special award to Paul Clements for the Chronicles of the Cumberland Settlements, 1779-1796. With more than 2,000 historical accounts, the 785-page work is a valuable contribution to understanding of the frontier history of Middle Tennessee.
Both awards were presented at the 2013 annual Tennessee Library Conference in Chattanooga.