Thursday, February 26, 2009

This Weekend in Georgia

It's the last weekend in February, the national Black History Month. If you haven't taken advantage of some of the great ways in Georgia to explore African American heritage this month, you have only a few days left. Here are some exhibits that might catch your interest:

Black Civil War Soldiers Exhibit
through Saturday, February 28
at the Jefferson Davis Memorial State Historic Site in Fitzgerald, GA
Each February, this exhibit has artifacts added and the new display is available all month. The exhibit highlights the role of African-Americans during the Civil War. The exhibit is open from 9 AM - 5 PM daily. For more information, call 229-831-2335 or visit the website.


The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories
through Saturday, February 28
at the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville
Showcasing the work of 16 contemporary African American artists, this exhibition sheds new light on the important role blacks played in developing the West. In addition to the stories of black cowboys and buffalo soldiers, works of art will also feature black lawmen, explorers, rodeo stars and women. Participating artists include: Bernard Williams, Ed Dwight, Burl Washington, Eddie Dixon, Bobb Vann, Michael Godfrey and many others. For more information, check our their website. You can watch the Georgia Traveler segment about the Booth Western Art Museum by clicking here.

Waitin' on Roosevelt: the New Deal in the South
Thursday, February 26 and Friday, February 27
at Hickory Hill in Thomson, Georgia
Seventy-five years ago, President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address to the American people. In the speech he laid out plans for economic recovery and creating jobs for the masses of skilled Americans now out of work. Those plans were called the first New Deal, and would be followed by successive programs until the advent of World War II made them irrelevant. The South did not embrace the New Deal, despite the incredible hardships suffered by Southerners during the Depression. Roosevelt brought his New Deal directly to Georgia with whistle stops in Gainesville and other towns hit hard by the economic depression. Today, we still live with remnants of the New Deal – Social Security, the AFL-CIO, and the REA. In recognition of the monumental public aid program, Hickory Hill presents the exhibit – Waitin’ on Roosevelt: the New Deal in the South. The exhibit and related programs align with the Georgia Performance Standards in Social Studies. For more information, check out this website.
And those are just a few of the great ways to explore Georgia this weekend. For more information, check out the Explore Georgia website operated by Georgia Traveler's production partners at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

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