1945
Mondays, October 6 - November 10 | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm. Series Price: $50 for members/$100 for visitors
In this series, historian Byron Boyd follows the dramatic final year of World War II month by month. From the Yalta Conference, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and the liberation of Nazi death camps to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, each lecture examines the pivotal events, political upheavals, and human stories that shaped the war’s end. The series concludes with the Nuremberg Trials and the emergence of a new world order.
Southerners Abroad
Mondays, October 6 - November 10 | 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm Series Price: $50 for members/$100 for visitors
This six-week series, presented by various lecturers, explores Southerners whose time overseas shaped culture and history. From Thomas Jefferson’s years in France and the Telfair sisters’ travels in Europe to Alexander Lawton’s diplomacy in Vienna, Eugene Bullard’s jazz career in Paris, Mary Haskell Minis’ literary influence in Britain, and the Greene family’s post–Civil War life in France, these stories reveal how travel broadened perspectives and left enduring legacies
The Blues: Tracing the Roots of the Legendary Musical Form
Mondays, October 6 - November 10 | 3:30 - 4:30pm Series Price: $50 for members/$100 for visitors
Sally Rountree Klein explores the history of the Blues, from its origins in hardship to its rise as one of America’s most enduring and expressive musical traditions, with engaging lectures and memorable musical selections.
Gilded Age Entrepreneur: The Curious Life of Albert Pullman
Monday, October 6 | 5:30 - 6:30pm
$15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
Historian Simon Cordery shares the fascinating story of Albert Pullman, the inventive yet unconventional older brother of George Pullman, who designed luxury railroad cars and marketed them to America’s elite during the Gilded Age.
The Ashurst Sisters and Their Times
Monday, October 13 | 5:30 - 6:30 pm $15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
Georgia Southern professor Allison Belzer introduces the Ashurst sisters of Victorian England—Eliza, Caroline, Matilda, and Emilie—fearless women whose activism spanned causes from Italian unification to abolition.
The Okefenokee: Wild Heart of Georgia
Monday, October 20 | 5:30 - 6:30 pm $15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
Eric Swanson of Georgia’s non-profit 100 Miles delves deeply into the Okefenokee Swamp, exploring its name, history, wildlife, and people to reveal why it’s known as the “wild heart of Georgia.”
Rasputin: The Man Who Would Not Die
Monday, October 27 | 5:30 - 6:30 pm $15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
Retired Georgetown University adjunct professor Ralph Nurnberger unravels the unbelievable rise of Rasputin, the semi-literate mystic who gained influence in the final years of Czarist Russia, and the astounding, controversial truth behind his death.
Flannery O’Connor, Artist,
Monday, November 4 | 5:30 - 6:30 pm $15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
Antique and art appraiser David Levy explores Flannery O’Connor’s lesser-known talents as a cartoonist and painter, including a newly discovered cache of her artwork, and shares his appraisals for the O’Connor Charitable Trust.
Melodies of the Musical Comedy
Monday, November 10 | 5:30 - 6:30 pm $15 for members pre-registration/$20 for all at door
In this exclusive Learning Center concert, pianist Ray La Rovere—who has performed with legends like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.—plays selections from Academy Award-winning musical comedies and the American songbook, featuring medleys by Gershwin and Porter.