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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

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.

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Atlanta History Center
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.

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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.

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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.

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Atlanta History Center
Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Became Mark Twain

Tue, Apr 13, 2010

Roy Morris, Jr. discusses his new book, *Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Became Mark Twain*. Mark Twain is arguably the most famous and influential writer in American history. His legacy is defined by *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* and *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*. Little is known, however, about the crucial years during which Samuel Clemens transformed himself into the beloved American writer we celebrate today as Mark Twain. Samuel Clemens traveled by stagecoach to the Wild West in 1861 as an ex-Confederate guerilla and unemployed riverboat pilot, and returned six years later as Mark Twain. *Lighting Out for the Territory* tells how Samuel Clemens reinvented himself, while evading Indians and gunslingers, failing as a miner, dodging duels, surfing in Hawaii, and more trouble along the way. Backed by solid scholarship, this is the first full-length study of Twain's life-changing time in the American West, where he began his writing career and shaped himself into an American favorite.

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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*.

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Atlanta History Center
History of the CIA

Wed, May 28, 2008

Tim Weiner discusses his new book, *Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA*. The agency's failures have handed us, in the words of President Eisenhower “a legacy of ashes.” *Legacy of Ashes* is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including 10 Directors of Central Intelligence. Tim Weiner is a reporter for *The New York Times*. He has written on American intelligence for 20 years, and won the Pulitzer Prize for his work on secret national security programs. He has traveled to Afghanistan and other nations to investigate CIA covert operations firsthand. This is his third book.

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Atlanta History Center
Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America

Tue, Oct 14, 2008

Fredrick Douglas Opie, associate professor of history and director of the African Diaspora Studies Program at Marist College, discusses his book, *Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America*. Opie’s culinary history is a portrait of the social and religious relationship between African Americans and their cuisine. It begins with the Atlantic slave trade and concludes with the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Food and Wellness

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Atlanta History Center
The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

Tue, Sep 9, 2008

Jonathan Mahler describes his new book, *The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power*. It is the authorized account of a landmark court case on presidential power and the rule of law in the history of the Supreme Court. After confessing to being Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan was transferred to Guantánamo Bay and he was designated by President Bush for trial before a special military tribunal. Mahler explores the stories of Hamdan's attorney Lt. Commander Charles Swift and his assistant Neal Katyal, a young constitutional law professor at Georgetown University. Mahler is a writer for *The New York Times Magazine* and the author of *Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning*.

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Atlanta History Center
The Irregulars: Baker Street Spies in Wartime Washington

Thu, Sep 11, 2008

Jennet Conant discusses her new book, *The Irregulars: The Baker Street Spies in Wartime Washington*. It is an account of deceit, double dealing, and moral ambiguity; all in the name of victory. Conant's narrative is based on never-before-seen wartime letters, diaries, and interviews. **Jennet Conant** is the author of the 2002 *New York Times* bestseller *Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon* and *The Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II*. A former journalist, she has written for *Vanity Fair*, *Esquire*, *GQ*, and *Newsweek*. She lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.

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Atlanta History Center