On April 27, 1865, the Sultana, a 260-foot, wooden-hulled steamboat, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee. More than 1,800 men died.
Jerry Potter graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a degree in history. He received his law degree from Memphis State University in 1975. He has pursued careers in both history and law and, through his writing, found ways to combine the two. After researching the Sultana tragedy for over thirteen years, during which he used many original government documents from the National Archives, Potter is now considered a top scholar on the topic. He is often requested for interviews and speeches relating to the Sultana tragedy.