Save the dates for upcoming lectures from spectacular speakers presented by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, Ph.D. will present the Society’s Winter Program on Sunday, January 14 at 4:00 p.m. Discussion will focus on his latest book, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, with an emphasis on Coastal Georgia’s role in the story of the environmental movement.
The book chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the long sixties. It tells the story of an indomitable generation who worked to save the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. Doris Kearns Goodwin praised the book as “not only a majestic work of history; it is an urgent call for our time.”
Dr. Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University. He serves as the CNN Presidential Historian and as U.S. Presidential Historian for the New York Historical Society. The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “America’s New Past Master.” Other books by the award-winning author include American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race and Cronkite. He received the Robert F. Kennedy Book award for The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, two Grammy Awards for Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom, and Fandango at the Wall, and he was awarded the Arthur S. Link-Warren F. Kuehl Prize for The Nixon Tapes.
Heather D Moran Heather Moran
20180920 Bernard Powers
Bernard Powers
In February, the Historical Society’s Journeys program will honor Black History Month and welcome Bernard Powers, Ph.D. as the speaker on Thursday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m. Dr. Powers will discuss African American history in the Lowcountry and will examine ongoing research at the Center for the Study of Slavery at the College of Charleston. Included in his discussion will be the 2023 findings of graduate student, Lauren Davila, who uncovered what is now the largest known U.S. auction of enslaved people, which took place in Charleston in 1835 and involved the sale of 600 people. This sale surpasses the “Weeping Time” sale held in Savannah in March 1859 of 436 people from plantations owned by Pierce Mease Butler on St. Simons Island and Butler Island, which was previously acknowledged to have this infamous designation. The related Journeys field trip on March 5 will visit Butler’s former plantation sites and examine more closely the lives and legacies of enslaved people in Coastal Georgia, including those involved in the Weeping Time.
Dr. Powers is Professor Emeritus of History at the College of Charleston, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Slavery, and the lead academic liaison for the College’s work with the Universities Studying Slavery consortium. He earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American History at Northwestern University. He is the author of Black Charlestonians: A Social History 1822 – 1885 and a co-author of We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel. Dr. Powers is past president of the South Carolina Historical Association and the Advisory Board of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. Most recently, Dr. Powers served as interim CEO of the recently opened Bernard Powers, Ph.D. International African American Museum.
Both lectures will be held at St. Simons Presbyterian Church and live streaming will be available. The Winter program is free of charge for CGHS members and $25 for non-members, while Dr. Powers’ lecture is free of charge for all. Registration is required for all lecture attendees, so reserve your seat by visiting coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
