Evelyn Morrison

"I had two things in mind" in creating the book, Morrison says."I like showing people my postcards, and this was a way to do that.For younger readers, I hoped it would somehow instill an interest in them either in the postcards or in the history of the area itself."

Morrison has been a lifelong Tennessean and lived in Clarksville 30 of those years, and he feels a great attachment to this city, its people and its past.

Morrison was born in Jasper, Tenn. in 1940.He worked for the Jasper Journal throughout his high school years, then served in the U.S. Navy 1958 - 1977.After getting his teaching certification and working briefly as a teacher in the local public school system, he embarked on a new career as a civilian accident investigator for the Department of the Army.He retired in 2001 and he and his wife, Evelyn Morrison, returned to their beloved home in Clarksville for good.

Morrison's father, who was killed in an attempted robbery in 1979, told Morrison everyone should have a collection.Morrison had always liked postcards and had a lot lying around, so he started to look at his cards in a new way.

Now, he is a postcard connoisseur, thrilled to find particularly rare or unexpected postcards.Morrison says new cards have none of the artistry, attention to detail and historical fascination he treasures in his enormous collection.He has put the best of the best, 240 views of Clarksville's people and places, in his book for all to see.

"If I'd only had 250 postcards, it wouldn't have been a problem" to choose the best ones, Morrison says.

In the book, cards are accompanied by quirky bits of information that people from these parts will find irresistible.The cards, which were made between 1891 and 2004, reveal an inside view of a Clarksville tobacco warehouse as well as an extremely rare picture of the Night Riders, who protested tobacco's starvation prices.Then there is a quartet of views of Franklin Street over the last hundred years, each more energizing than the last.

Morrison says he would love to see your own Clarksville postcards.