Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

Funding provided by:

Atlanta History Center

Atlanta History Center, founded in 1926 as the Atlanta Historical Society, includes permanent and traveling exhibitions in the Atlanta History Museum, two historic houses (Tullie Smith Farm and Swan House mansion), archives/special libraries, and 33 acres of beautiful gardens and wooded trails. The Atlanta History Center offers historical experiences for all ages, integrating history, education and life enrichment programs.

http://www.AtlantaHistoryCenter.com

John Burrison: From Mud to Jug

Sat, Jun 12, 2010

John Burrison, professor of English and the director of the folklore curriculum at Georgia State University, discusses his new book *From Mud to Jug*. The focus of this sequel to *Brothers in Clay* is on northeast Georgia, which has maintained a continuous tradition of pottery making since the early 19th century. Through interviews, a census of active potters, and more than 100 color photographs of pots, potters, and their work spaces, Burrison captures the living tradition of one of the last areas of the United States where Euro-American folk pottery is still being made.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Seth Grahame-Smith: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Wed, Mar 17, 2010

Seth Grahame-Smith discusses his book, *Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter*. While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for reuniting the North with the South and abolishing slavery from our country, no one has ever known about his valiant fight against the forces of the undead. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the bestselling novel *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies*, stumbled upon *The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln*, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years. Using the journal as his guide, Grahame-Smith has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time - all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War, and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Jonathan Alter: President Obama, Year One

Wed, May 26, 2010

Jonathan Alter, senior editor at Newsweek, discusses his new book, *The Promise: President Obama, Year One*. He provides a fast-paced inside account of the breakneck speed with which Barack Obama began making critical decisions and assuming the burdens of office amid the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. With dozens of exclusive details about everything from the selection of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state to the president’s personal secrets for running a good meeting, Alter paints a portrait of a highly disciplined and self-aware president and his team.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
John Stauffer: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

Thu, Sep 30, 2010

John Stauffer, Harvard professor of English discusses his book, *Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln*. Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were the self made men of their time. One man was a former slave and a radical reformer who became one of the nation’s most brilliant writers and speakers. The other was an outsider, born dirt-poor, who became one of America’s greatest presidents. While the Civil War raged, the two titans—Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln—formed an unlikely friendship that changed the nation’s course. Stauffer traces how each man used the other—and how their political game ultimately led to mutual admiration and respect.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
James Cothran: Gardens of Historic Charleston

Wed, Oct 13, 2010

Landscape architect and garden historian, James Cothran discusses his new book, *Gardens of Historic Charleston*. This volume provides a fascinating account of the life and career of renowned landscape architect Loutrel Briggs, the individual most directly responsible for the development of the distinctive Charleston garden style.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Clinging to Mammy: Our Relationship with Slavery

Sun, Oct 21, 2007

Micki McElya, professor of American studies at the University of Alabama examines why we cling to the notion of "mammy." She argues that the figure of the loyal slave has played a powerful role in modern American politics and culture. Stories of faithful slaves expose the power and reach of the myth, not only in popular advertising, films, and literature about the South, but also in national monument proposals, child custody cases, New Negro activism, anti-lynching campaigns, and the civil rights movement. If we are to reckon with the continuing legacy of slavery in the United States, McElya argues, we must confront the depths of our desire for mammy and recognize its full racial implications.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800

Sun, Nov 11, 2007

Edward J. Larson discusses his book, *A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign*, which tells the fascinating story behind the fierce election battle between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the first true campaign for the presidency and one that almost broke the back of our democracy. The election of 1800 ushered in the party system, drawing the lines of partisan battle that would reshape our politics, while also preserving the institution of democracy. Edward J. Larson holds the Darling chair in law at Pepperdine University and is the Russell professor of American history at the University of Georgia. He is the recipient of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in history for his book *Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion*.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies

Tue, Nov 11, 2008

Peter W. Galbraith describes the storm our next president will inherit in his latest book, *Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies*. As former US ambassador to Croatia and one of Washington’s leading authorities on Iraq, Galbraith’s analysis carries much weight in DC and in the media. The Iraq war was intended to make the US more secure, bring democracy to the Middle East, intimidate Iran and Syria, help win the war on terror, consolidate American world leadership, and entrench the Republican party for decades.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power

Wed, Jun 20, 2007

Robert Dallek discusses his new book *Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power*. This epic biography is about two unlikely leaders who came together to dominate American and world affairs. Tapping into recently disclosed documents and tapes, Robert Dallek uncovers fascinating details about Nixon and Kissinger's tumultuous personal relationship, their collaboration and rivalry, and the extent to which they struggled to outdo each other in the reach of foreign policy achievements. *Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power* gives us a new understanding of just how important and consequential these two men were in affecting world history.

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center
Almost a Miracle: America's War of Independence

Tue, Aug 7, 2007

John Ferling discusses this chronicle of America's struggle for independence, an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle."

Forum Network

Partner:

Atlanta History Center