Our Board

2017-2018 Officers and Board of Directors

OFFICERS:

Mike Liles, President:

Mike Liles is a 1973 graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, a former business owner, and retired from the State of Tennessee OSHA compliance division (TOSHA).  Mike served as a commissioner for Rutherford County 20th District, served in the Tennessee House of Representatives and owns property adjacent to the current boundary of Stones River National Battlefield.

Frank Caperton, Vice President:

Frank Caperton has an intense interest of our local history, serving on the Friends of the Stones River Battlefield board and the president of the Rutherford County Historical Society.

Frank was born in Louisville, Kentucky but raised in the Panhandle of Texas and the hills of Santa Fe, Tennessee.  Frank attended Middle Tennessee State University and immediately became interested in the history of Rutherford County, Tennessee.  Frank’s passion for historic preservation and sharing stories blend well with the Friends of the Stones River Battlefield.

Michael Warfield, Secretary:

Michael is a native Tennessean, having also lived in Texas, St. Louis, Chicago and Philadelphia.  Michael is an alumnus of Middle Tennessee State University (B.S.) and began his professional career as a high school history teacher and a varsity football and baseball coach.  Later in his tenure, he served as a Social Studies Department Chair and assistant athletic director.  After five years at the Secondary Level, Michael taught four more years as an Adjunct Private College Instructor.

Michael has over 20 years of combined experience in various management positions in business development and training for educational companies, business corporations, and non-profit organizations.  In the educational services arena, Michael has held regional and national positions with Britannica Educational Corporation, University of Virginia CaseNEX, ACT, Inc. and ScholarCentric.

Michael is the President of the Middle Tennessee Civil War Round Table.  His interests include historical preservation and Civil War Living History Programs.  Michael has over 1,000 hours of Volunteer Service at Stones River National Battlefield.

Rebecca Conard, Treasurer:

Rebecca Conard teaches history at MTSU and directs the graduate program in Public History.  Under her direction, several classes of public history students have conducted research on Cemetery Community, and two students have written master’s thesis on Rutherford County’s Freedman’s community.  For several years she served on the Legacy of Stones River Symposium planning committee and now serves on its successor, the Heritage Month committee.

Eddie Macon, Board Member:

Eddie is a native of Winchester, Tennessee and has been a resident of Murfreesboro area for over 25 years.  Formally educated in Industrial Management and Technology (M.S., Middle Tennessee State University) and as a Certified Quality Engineer with emphasis in electro-mechanical manufacturing, Eddie has held professional positions as Quality Engineer, Quality Manager, Project Manager and Director of Operations; retiring in 2010.

Eddie’s hobby is studying 1800’s American history with a special interest the Civil War, period firearms, literature, and music.  Eddie has been a member of the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield since 1998 and has served four terms as president and two terms as secretary-treasurer. Eddie chaired the Friends’ committee that facilitated the first-ever descendant’s reunion held in December 2002 and the second reunion held in June 2005.

Ed Arning, Board Member:

Ed Arning is a native middle Tennessean, having grown up in Nashville before moving to Murfreesboro 40 years ago.  His family has even deeper roots in the region.  His interest in Stones River Battlefield is quite personal.  His great-grandfather, Marcus Woodcock, was one of a few middle Tennesseans who walked across the Kentucky state line north of Red Boiling Springs to enlist in the Union army in the Civil War.  He served with the U.S. 9th KY that fought at Stones River on its march to Atlanta.  Another branch of the Arning family tree is the Buford family from Pulaski, Tennessee.  Members of that family fought with the CSA’s 3rd TN.  Woodcock’s story is detailed in the book Southern Boy in Blue, the # 1 selling book in the UT Press series Voices of the Civil War.  Arning led the family’s efforts to donate several Woodcock artifacts to Stones River Battlefield, including his uniform.

Gary Burke, Board Member: