CHAUTAUQUA LECTURE SERIES
“Our Lighthouse History Illuminated: From Founding Fathers to Island Keepers”
In celebration of the Society’s 50th Anniversary, the 2015 Chautauqua series of four lectures will explore the world of American lighthouses, with special emphasis on the St. Simons Light. Experts will present programs on our own lighthouse keepers and their island home; French inventor Augustin Fresnel and the struggle to bring his revolutionary lens to America; Charles Cluskey and the competition to design a new U.S. Capitol under the threat of Civil War; and Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who created the Federal lighthouse system.
The 2015 Chautauqua Lecture Series is sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors. Lectures will take place on Thursday evenings, August 13, 20, 27, and September 3, at 6 p.m. at the A.W. Jones Heritage Center as part of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s educational programming. The cost for the series is $30 for members and $75 for non-members. Registration is required for all attendees. To register, call 912-634-7099, or visit saintsimonslighthouse.org.
On August 13, Tyler E. Bagwell will kick off the series with “Keeping the Light: Stories from St. Simons Lighthouse.” His focus will be our local keepers and life on St. Simons before construction of the Causeway. Bagwell is an assistant professor of communication at the College of Coastal Georgia and has spent nearly twenty years researching and writing about the history of the Golden Isles. He has authored two books, The Jekyll Island Club and Jekyll Island: A State Park, and numerous magazine articles about the region.
Dr. Theresa Levitt will present "Why did the Yankees want the St. Simons Lens?: The Invention and Turbulent History of Fresnel's Lighthouse Lens” on August 20. As in her recent book, A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Invention of the Modern Lighthouse,Levitt will weave together technology and personal drama to tell the tale of Fresnel and his famous lens. Her lecture will also examine the fate of lighthouses along the southern coast, including the St. Simons Light, during the Civil War. Dr. Levitt is an associate professor of history at the University of Mississippi. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has a M.A. in history from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
On August 27, Guy Gugliotta will present “Freedom’s Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War.” His 2012 book by the same title tells the dramatic story of the Capitol Building expansion, in which Charles Cluskey, the builder of our Lighthouse, was involved. Gugliotta was national reporter for The Washington Post for 16 years, covering the Gulf War, the impeachment of President Clinton, and the Columbia space shuttle tragedy. Before joining The Post, he was a foreign correspondent for The Miami Herald, and covered Colombia’s drug wars and the Iran hostage crisis. Since going free-lance in 2006, Gugliotta has written for, among other publications, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, Discover, and The New York Times. He holds a B.A. from Columbia College and an M.A. from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs. He served in the U.S. Navy as a watch officer on a destroyer before commanding a swift boat in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War.
David O. Stewart will conclude the series on September 3 with the lecture, “James Madison and Alexander Hamilton: A Nation-building Partnership.” Based Stewart’s 2015 book, Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America, the lecture will include the founding fathers’ role in establishing the lighthouse system. After practicing law for many years, Stewart published The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, which was a Washington Post bestseller in 2007. This was followed by Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy and American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America, an examination of Burr’s Western expedition. Stewart has also written an historical mystery, The Lincoln Deception, based on the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy. He graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School and served as law clerk to Associate Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
