Georgia Historical Society

Dear Colleague,

Welcome to Savannah – a city rich in history, charm, and southern hospitality!  The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) invites you to join us for a week of scholarly study and exchange as we explore two centuries of African-American life and culture in Savannah and Georgia’s coastal islands. GHS’s “African-American History & Culture in the Georgia Lowcountry: Savannah & The Coastal Islands, 1750 – 1950” was selected as a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for Community College Faculty program for Summer 2008. GHS will offer two week-long workshop sessions: the first from July 13 – 18, 2008 and the second from July 20 – 25, 2008. 

Workshop Content, Scope, and Approach
GHS’s Landmarks workshops are designed to offer a place-based immersion experience that encompasses scholarly and sensory exploration of African-

American history, life, and culture in both urban and rural environments.  Through a combination of course readings, scholarly lectures, landmark site visits, community presentations, guided tours, and research at GHS’s Library and Archives, you will be engaged in a scholarly dialogue focused on examining the centrality of place in the African-American experience in Georgia’s Lowcountry and the larger Atlantic world. 

The streets, squares, and structures of Savannah’s Historic Landmark District, including the Telfair’s Owens-Thomas House and the Beach Institute neighborhood, will be used to illustrate the social, economic, cultural, and religious life of African-Americans in an urban setting. Additional landmark site visits to Ossabaw Island and Sapelo Island, including Sapelo’s Hog Hammock community, will focus on the lives and distinct cultures that developed in the plantation island communities of Georgia’s Lowcountry. Together these experiences will illuminate the impact of geography, environment, and economies on the sustainability of African-American family life; gender roles; the interaction of place and culture; the creation of early African-American churches; the role of informal slave economies; Reconstruction on the barrier islands; and the enduring influence of the Gullah-Geechee culture in the twentieth century and beyond.

Scholars and Speakers 
Distinguished scholars, museum professionals, and local history experts will share insights with us and help to guide our group dialogue surrounding African-American life and culture in the Georgia Lowcountry. 

Dr. Erskine Clarke, noted author and expert on religion and slavery in the American South, will help set the stage for our in-depth, week-long exploration.  Dr. Clarke is Professor of American Religious History and Director of the Program in Presbyterian and Reformed History and Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.  Dr. Clarke is the author, most recently, of Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic.  This book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in history, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and won the prestigious Bancroft Prize in 2006, awarded annually by Columbia University in New York to a work of exceptional merit in American history.

Dr. David Goldfield, noted expert in American urban history and the history of southern race relations, will help us to understand urban slavery and the ways in which the urban South created a unique environment for the creation of African-American life and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries.  Dr. Goldfield is Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  He is the author of many books on the American South, two of which, Cotton Fields & Skyscrapers and Black, White, and Southern, were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.  His book Still Fighting the Civil War: The American South and Southern History received the Jules and Frances Landry Prize from the Southern Historical Association and was named by Choice as an Outstanding Non-Fiction Book.  Dr. Goldfield’s lecture will be reinforced by our visits to the Telfair’s Owens-Thomas House and a walking tour of Savannah’s Beach Institute neighborhood. 

In efforts to juxtapose the experiences of urban and rural African-Americans in the Georgia Lowcountry, Dr. John Michael Vlach, nationally recognized specialist in African-American folklife and culture, will explore the rural experience of slaves living in a plantation system, their sustaining socio-cultural imprint in the region, and the economic, social and political relationship of slaves and plantation systems in the larger Atlantic world.  Dr. Vlach is Professor of American Studies and Anthropology, Director of the Folklife Program, and Director of Graduate Studies at George Washington University.  Dr. Vlach has concentrated his scholarship on aspects of the African Diaspora by conducting field research in Africa, the Caribbean, and across the American South.  He is the author of ten books, including Back of the Big House: The Architecture of Plantation Slavery. 

Each of the ideas presented in scholarly lectures will be further developed by key museum professionals and local historians from within Savannah and the coastal island communities during each Landmark site visit. Vaughnette Goode-Walker, Interpretive Project Director for the Telfair’s Owens-Thomas House, will provide insights into the lives of the people associated with the house—both free and enslaved—focusing primarily on the story and experiences of Andrew C. Marshall, a man who purchased his freedom from the Richardson family and went on to be the minister of a local black congregation located in Savannah’s Beach Institute neighborhood. Island excursions will prove expressly unique as we will hear from Cornelia Walker Bailey, a Sapelo Island native and resident of the historic Hog Hammock community, as well as a resident of Ossabaw Island’s Pin Point community whose ancestors once lived and worked on the island.  Ms. Bailey is considered the keeper of the island's culture and history and the sage of Sapelo.  She is the author of the cultural memoir God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man and is a direct descendant of Bilalie, the most famous and powerful enslaved African to inhabit the island.

Eligibility and Application Procedures
GHS’s Landmarks workshop is designed to address broad themes of race and slavery in American history; however the workshop content will help to facilitate classroom discussions not only on general topics such as American slavery, antebellum American history, early American and nineteenth-century economies, religion, art, and music, but will also help faculty to understand and share with students more site-specific subjects such as the impact of geography, environment, time and place on the development of community values and cultures.  As such, we are seeking to promote a cross-disciplinary learning environment and welcome full-time and part-time faculty from American community colleges in history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religion, English, political science, government, architectural history, and a variety of other humanities- related disciplines to apply.

 

Adjunct faculty are eligible to participate as well and are encouraged to apply.
An applicant need not have an advanced degree in order to qualify.  Candidates for degrees are only eligible to apply if they are employed by an institution other than the one at which they are degree candidates and if their participation is intended to enhance their teaching of American undergraduates.  Degree candidates cannot use their participation in an NEH Landmarks project to meet a degree requirement, including work on masters’ theses or doctoral dissertations.  Applicants must be United States citizens, residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been resident in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.  Foreign nationals teaching abroad are not eligible to apply. Individuals may not apply to study with a director of a Landmarks project who is a current colleague or a family member.

Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet and provide all of the information and application components requested to be considered eligible.  Perhaps the most important part of the completed application is an essay of one to two double-spaced pages.  This essay should include information about your professional background and interest in the subject of the Workshop; your special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the Workshop; and how the experience would enhance your teaching and/or research.  Additionally, a letter of recommendation from your department/division chair or alternate professional reference (such as a colleague or dissertation advisor) is required.  Completed application must be postmarked no later than March 17, 2008 and mailed to:

Georgia Historical Society
501 Whitaker Street
Savannah, GA 31401
Attn: Landmarks of American History Workshop

Workshop Institution and Staff
 Chartered by the Georgia General Assembly in 1839, the Georgia Historical Society is the private, non-profit historical society for the state of Georgia. The oldest cultural institution in the state, and one of the oldest historical societies in the country, GHS fulfills its mission to collect, preserve and share Georgia’s history by presenting a variety of educational programs, authoring publications on Georgia and American history, and by operating a library and archives at its headquarters, Hodgson Hall , a National Historic Landmark building in Savannah. The Georgia Historical Society is a major research center and home to the oldest and most outstanding collection of Georgia history in the world.  The Society’s collection includes four million manuscripts, 100,000 photographs, 30,000 architectural drawings, 15,000 rare and non-rare books, and thousands of maps, portraits and artifacts, representing the collective memory of the state of Georgia and relating the stories of the state’s diverse people.

I will serve as Project Director and will be assisted by Dr. W. Todd Groce, the President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. Together we have nearly thirty years' experience in developing historical programming for the public. 

Stan Deaton, Project Director, is Vice President for Programs and Scholarship at the Georgia Historical Society and will serve as principal faculty for the program.  He is also the Managing Editor and Book Review Editor of The Georgia Historical Quarterly, the Society's scholarly journal. He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Florida

W. Todd Groce will serve as faculty for the program. He serves as President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society  and is the author and editor of several books on the Civil War era.  He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.   

Participant Expectations
GHS’s Landmarks of American History workshop will unquestionably demand a great deal of each individual participant.  To fulfill the workshop goals and ensure a dynamic professional development experience for all attendees we expect 100% commitment and involvement from each participant.  A robust pre-workshop reading schedule will be assigned, and we ask that all required readings be completed prior to the opening workshop session.  These readings are intended to serve as a foundation upon which our presenting scholars, landmark site visits, meaningful group dialogue, and invested research and study will be built as we explore and better understand the complex themes and experiences relating to the life and culture of African-Americans in Georgia’s Lowcountry. 

Blocks of time have been set aside for participants to meet with me and Dr. Groce to discuss the selection of a primary theme and topic for each individual’s research project as well as for you to conduct research in GHS’s Library and Archives.  All workshop participants will be expected to present their individual projects on the final day of the workshop; further work may be completed on individual projects if desired, but final versions must be submitted no later than one month after the conclusion of the workshop. Final projects will be posted on GHS’s Landmarks of American History Web site.  Each evening will be left unscheduled for you to work further on your individual research projects at your discretion.

While lectures and research will be conducted indoors, the workshops' urban walking tours and island excursions will take place in the heat of Savannah’s summer.  You can reasonably expect warm days, potentially rainy afternoons, and flying insects of various kinds when we visit the islands. You'll want to dress accordingly for both environments. Even in summer, however, Savannah remains one of the most visited tourist attractions in the country, and the city is overflowing with charm, great food, beautiful architecture, and unique historic sites and cultural attractions. We think you'll find it a wonderful place to visit, and we invite you to take advantage of all that it has to offer.    

Academic Resources
In addition to lectures, site visits, and the required and suggested readings from books written on our themes of study, you will be given the opportunity to conduct research in GHS’s extensive library and archives collection.  The GHS library currently provides access to paper-based and electronic catalogs, collection finding aids, serial publications, books, microfilm, and archival material.  Technologies in place in the reading room include three public-access microfilm reader/printers, one public-access microfiche reader, two public-access computer terminals, one staff-only computer terminal, and one staff-only photocopier.  Normal business hours for GHS’s Reading Room are Tuesday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our library will be opened at special times for use by workshop participants, and GHS staff archivists and historians will be available to assist you in your research.

Participants are encouraged to bring laptop computers with them as public access computers are limited.  GHS has arranged for four computer terminals networked to a single printer to be made available at Pulaski House for use by program participants.  Additionally, Pulaski House has wireless internet capability throughout the building, allowing for connectivity by those who bring personal laptops.  We will request that research projects, including drafts requesting prior review, be submitted in an electronic format and preferably by e-mail to reduce unnecessary printing.  Of course, the printer in the lobby of Pulaski House will be available for all participants who need it—a flash drive is highly recommended to those who foresee the need to work on shared computers and/or print pages using this set-up.  Although personal computers are welcomed in lecture sessions, they are discouraged for on-site visits. Use your discretion here. We will make necessary accommodations to safely store personal computers at Hodgson Hall before leaving for a site visit. 

Description of Housing
The Georgia Historical Society is located in the heart of Savannah’s Historic Landmark District.  The history, charm, and beauty of Savannah lure over 6.35 million visitors throughout each year.  As such, there is an abundance of housing options—from intimate bed & breakfast inns to larger hotel chains—but be forewarned that demand for rooms in the Historic District is at a peak in the summer months.  It is the responsibility of each participant to arrange for their preferred housing.  However, as we seek to build and strengthen the sense of our scholarly community we encourage participants to stay in pre-arranged program housing.

We have reserved a block of dormitory apartment units at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) Pulaski House, located less than a half mile from Hodgson Hall. Pulaski House is a historic structure located on Pulaski Square.  The house includes both single floor apartments (for two to three people) to loft-style apartments with spiral staircases (for up to four people); one to two bathrooms per unit; and a common living area with sink, stovetop, microwave, and full-size refrigerator.  The building has a lounge equipped with cable television and DVD player, drink and snack vending machines and coffee maker.  Pulaski House has wireless internet access, and four Mac computers and a networked printer will be made available to participants in the lobby of the building.  Pulaski Square has metered on-street parking or you may park in one of the SCAD parking lots one block away for free.  Each unit will include two flat sheets, a blanket, a pillow and pillow case, two bath towels, two hand towels and a washcloth.  The price per person will range from $42.50 - $95 nightly depending on the number of occupants in a room.  Please see the housing registration form for more details. Participants are encouraged to share units with roommate(s) to reduce the cost to each individual and ensure sufficient housing for all participants.  Participants interested in staying at Pulaski House will book directly with SCAD’s Conference Department.  

For those wishing to bring family members with them, please note that family members may not participate in formal Workshop sessions and alternate living arrangements must be made as we are unable to accommodate them at Pulaski House.  Workshop participants who elect to arrange alternate housing are still welcome to come to Pulaski House common areas to relax, socialize, and to access computers and laundry facilities.

Participant Stipend
Each workshop participant will receive a $500 stipend to assist with housing, meals, and incidental expenses.  Additionally, a travel supplement will be made available on a case-by-case basis, to be allocated to each participant in accordance with a formula devised by GHS and approved by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Please note, the participant is solely responsible for costs incurred while attending the program and participant stipends and any travel supplements are not to be considered as reimbursements of participant expenses.  Stipends and supplements will be paid at the close of each residential workshop session; participants are required to attend 100% of the program to receive the full stipend.  Those that do not attend all workshop sessions, including opening and closing sessions, will have their stipend prorated based on a daily rate formula.  Participant stipends and travel supplements are taxable income.

Cultural and Recreational Resources
Savannah is truly a national treasure!  The site of the founding of Britain's thirteenth and final colony and one of the nation's first planned cities, Savannah and its rich history are matched only by its unsurpassable beauty and charm.  Boasting eight nationally recognized historic districts and 35 nationally recognized historic structures (eight of which are historic landmarks), Savannah’s sites and storytelling locals invite visitors to enjoy the city’s friendly, relaxing southern style.  In addition to stunning squares, historic sites, and local haunts (as Savannah has been deemed one of the most haunted cities in America), Savannah is home to countless artists and inspired chefs who delight the senses in galleries and restaurants throughout the city.  Please visit  www.savcvb.com for more information.

Please remember  your completed application should be postmarked no later than March 17, 2008. Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by April 16, 2008, and will have until April 23, 2008 to accept or decline the offer.

Thank you for your interest. Please do not hesitate to contact us at csnyder@georgiahistory.com or (912) 651-2125 if you have any questions or need additional information. I look forward to receiving your application and to seeing you in Savannah!

Sincerely,

Stan Deaton
Project Director