Sidney's Salon Series

Sidney's Salon Series: October 2011–March 2012

"Civil War to Civil Rights: A History Seeks its People"

The Lanier Center for Literary Arts Sidney's Salon series, “Civil War to Civil Rights: A History Seeks its People,” will include five programs. The series will take place in the Sidney Lanier Cottage at 935 High St., unless otherwise noted below. All salons will include refreshments at 5:30 p.m. before the sessions begin at 6 p.m. Admission is free for Historic Macon members, $5 for non-members and $3 for students.

Upcoming Salons

freedom

Tuesday, March 13, 5:30 p.m.

Albany Freedom Singers
The Douglass Theatre, 355 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd

The Civil War to Civil Rights Salon series will conclude with a performance by the Albany Freedom Singers. Led by original SNCC Freedom Singer Rutha Harris, the singers engage visitors through an oral history presentation filled with dynamic testimony of Albany Movement marches and arrests and narrate the stories with emotionally-charged performances of Freedom Songs. Refreshments will be served. Co-sponsored by The Douglass Theatre.

Past Salons in this Series

Tuesday, October 11
Dr. Sarah E. Gardner
"The Pivotal Role of Women in the War Effort"
Dr. Sarah Gardner, professor of history and director of the Southern Studies Program at Mercer University, studies the intellectual and cultural history of the American South. She is the author of “Blood and Irony: Southern White Women’s Narratives of the Civil War, 1861–1937” and co-editor of “Voices of the American South.” She is currently working on a book titled "Reviewing the South: Readers, Writers, Critics and the Ideas of the South, 1925–1950." Dr. Gardner will discuss the important role of women in the Civil War.

Tuesday, November 8
Conie Mac Darnell
"Stories and Artifacts: Macon's Contributions in a Time of War"
Conie Mac Darnell, principal of Center City Investments, has worked in the commercial real estate business for more than 30 years and is best known for overseeing the expansion of the Macon Mall. He was president of NewTown Macon from 1999 to 2004. Several of his articles have been published in periodicals and newspapers, and he wrote a short history of Macon for the "Macon Sketchbook." He will discuss stories collected for his latest project, a Civil War and Emancipation Era guide to Macon, entitled “Walking Back to Georgia.”

Tuesday, December 13
Dr. Lee W. Formwalt
"Two Centuries of Struggle: From Civil War to Civil Rights"
Dr. Lee. Formwalt was a professor of history at Albany State University from 1977 to 1999. He was editor and founder of the Journal of Southwest History. In 2009, Formwalt became executive director of the Albany Civil Rights Institute, where he tripled membership, doubled the number of visitors and created a lecture series featuring prominent historians and Civil Rights Movement participants. He will discuss our country's struggle to transition from post-Civil War to the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Tuesday, January 10

Matt Jennings & Andrew Manis

"Macon and the Movement: The Freedom Struggle in Middle Georgia"

Matt Jennings has taught history at Macon State College since 2007. His first book, New Worlds of Violence, treated violence in the early American Southeast, and he is currently working on a new transcription of William Bartram’s writings on Southeastern Native Americans and a history of the Native American presence at Ocmulgee National Monument. Matt has taught courses in African American and Native American history, colonialism, abolitionism, and other fields.

Dr. Andrew Manis is a nationally recognized, award-winning historian whose research focuses on the role of religion in American life, with particular attention placed on the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Manis recently received the Lillian Smith Book Award from the Southern Regional Council for his book, A Fire You Can't Put Out. Dr. Manis is also the author of several other books on the intersection of politics, religion and race in American life.

Jennings and Manis will lead a panel discussion on the civil rights movement, emphasizing events in Macon.

Special Event

Historic Macon Foundation & The History Matters Foundation brought in Steve Berry, Mercer Law School graduate and New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Jefferson Key, The Emperor’s Tomb and The Paris Vendetta, with 12 million books in print translated into 40 languages in 51 countries. Historic Macon hosted two events during Steve Berry's visit.

Friday, February 3, 2012, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Two Gentlemen of Georgia: Steve Berry Salutes Sidney Lanier
Armory Ballroom, 484 1st Street

Join us for a celebration of Sidney Lanier's 170th birthday as thriller master and historic preservation advocate Steve Berry salutes the Muse of Macon at a reception followed by an exciting presentation in true Steve Berry-style including a Q&A and book signing.

Saturday, February 4, 2012, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Steve Berry Writers' Workshop: Lessons from a Bestseller
Sidney Lanier Cottage, 935 High Street

Steve will teach the craft of writing, including story structure, effective dialog, point of view and his 11 Rules of Writing. The workshop includes a talk on the Business of Writing by International Thriller Writers’ Executive Director Elizabeth Berry.