Red Clay, White Water and Blues

Learn more about Chattahoochee Valley local history in a series of programs to run from October 2007 through May 2008. The “Red Clay, White Water, and Blues” programs are free and open to the public. Lectures will be held on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm in locations around Columbus. Each program will feature speakers for an hour, then questions from the audience, followed by a reception. On the following Saturday local historians will lead related tours, also free and open to the public.

This program is supported by the Georgia Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities and through appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly. Additional support is provided by the Columbus State University Foundation, the Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Association, the Phenix City-Russell County Chamber of Commerce, the Historic Columbus Foundation, Friends of Libraries, and the McCullers Center for Artists and Musicians.

Click here for information on each month's program and tour:

• October 2007 "Creeks and Yuchis in the Chattahoochee Valley"
• November 2007 "The Civil War"
• December 2007 "The Tuskegee Airmen in World War II"
• February 2008 "The Civil Rights Movement in Columbus"
• March 2008 "Literary Columbus"
• April 2008 "An Environmental History of the Chattahoochee River"
• May 2008 "Phenix City: Fact and Fiction"

For additional information, contact program director Dr. Virginia Causey in the CSU HIstory Department at causey_virginia@colstate.edu or 706-565-3633.

Additional Partners: Columbus State University History Department, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, the Columbus Museum, Port Columbus Civil War Naval Museum, the Columbus Public Library, the Liberty Theatre, Phenix City Parks & Recreation, the W.C. Bradley Company, and Wynnton Elementary School

Program and tour schedule for 2007-2008

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2007
"Creeks and Yuchis in the Chattahoochee Valley"
Wynnton Elementary School
2303 Wynnton Road
7:00 pm

Come hear Dr. Richard Grounds speak on Creek and Yuchi Indians in the Chattahoochee Valley. Dr. Grounds, a Yuchi-Seminole scholar, is director of the Yuchi Language Project, an effort to preserve the language by having elders teach Yuchi to other adults and to children.

Directions to Wynnton Elementary School: Take exit 6 Macon Road off I-185 and go west toward downtown Columbus. Wynnton School will be on your right after about a mile, across from Rite-Aid Pharmacy.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2007
Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center at Fort Mitchell, Alabama
11am until 4 pm

Join us for a day-long program featuring a variety of speakers on the history of the Chattahoochee Valley's Indians. Dr. John Cottier, Auburn University archaeologist, will talk about the fort at Fort Mitchell. Stephen Barber of the CSU History Department will discuss the Methodist mission among the Creeks and Yuchis. Dr. Becky Matthews of the CSU History Department will speak on Creek Removal from the Chattahoochee Valley. Local historian Billy Winn will lead a nature walk and discuss Indian uses of native plants. We'll have face-painting and games for kids. You can also eat a lunch of traditional Indian foods, $6 for adults and $4 for children under 12--or bring your own picnic.

Directions to the Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center: Take Veterans Parkway to 13th Street. Turn west into downtown Columbus, go over the Chattahoochee bridge, and turn left on Broad Street in Phenix City. Stay on this road for several miles--it becomes Hwy 431 after crossing under an overpass bridge. Turn left on Hwy 165 (look for a brown "Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center" sign). Go about four miles and turn left into the Indian Heritage Center just after the military cemetery. Turn right at the Visitors Center, go up the hill, turn left, and park in the lot.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2007
(the second Thursday) "The Civil War"
Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum
1002 Victory Drive
7:00 pm

Dr. Anne Bailey, professor of history at Georgia College & State University and author of War and Ruin: William T. Sherman and the Atlanta Campaign, will speak on Sherman's March through Georgia. Dr. Virginia Causey of the CSU history department will discuss "Wilson's Raid and Historical Memory."

Directions to Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum: Take Veterans Parkway to its T-intersection with Victory drive in front of the Columbus Civic Center. Turn left on Victory Drive and go about half a mile to Lumpkin Boulevard. Turn right. The Museum will be on your left.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2007
Meet at the Columbus Public Library
on Macon Road
10 am until noon

Dr. Virginia Causey will lead a bus tour of Columbus Civil War sites. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. The 45-passenger bus will fill on a first-come, first-seated basis for those without reservations. Call the CSU history department to reserve a seat--706-568-2263.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2007
"The Tuskegee Airmen in World War II"
The Columbus Museum
1251 Wynnton Road
7:00 pm

Deanna Mitchell, director of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, will speak on the role of the Airmen during World War II. Lt. Col. Herbert Carter will share his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman in the segregated U.S. Army during the second World War.

Directions to the Columbus Museum: Take exit 6 Macon Road off I-185 and go west toward downtown Columbus. Continue about a quarter-mile after the intersection with Buena Vista Road and the Museum will be on your right.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2007
Meet at the Columbus Public Library
on Macon Road
9:00 am until 1:00 pm

Join us for a tour of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and other sites of interest in Tuskegee. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. The 45-passenger bus will fill on a first-come, first-seated basis for those without reservations. Call the CSU history department to reserve a seat--706-568-2263.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008
"The Civil Rights Movement in Columbus"
The Liberty Theatre
813 8th Avenue
7:00 pm

Dr. Gary Sprayberry of the CSU history department will discuss the people and events important in the civil rights movement in Columbus. Local participants in the movement will share their experiences.

Directions to the Liberty Theatre: Take Veterans Parkway to 8th Street and turn east. Go to 8th Avenue and turn left. The Theatre will be on your left.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2008
Meet at the Columbus Public Library
on Macon Road
10:00 am until noon

Gary Sprayberry will lead a bus tour of sites related to the civil rights movement in Columbus. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. The 45-passenger bus will fill on a first-come, first-seated basis for those without reservations. Call the CSU history department to reserve a seat--706-568-2263.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008
"Literary Columbus"
The Columbus Public Library
3000 Macon Road
7:00 pm

Dr. Virginia Causey of the CSU history department will talk about Augusta Evans, the author of St Elmo, one of the most popular novels of the 19th century. Dr. Philip Schley will present a “biography” of his 1833 house St. Elmo, the setting for Evans’s novel. Cathy Fussell, director of the McCullers Center for Artists and Musicians, will discuss Columbus’s most renowned author Carson McCullers’s relationship with the Army and how that influenced her writing.

Directions to the Columbus Public Library: Take exit 6 Macon Road off I-185 and go west toward uptown Columbus. The library will be on your left after about a quarter-mile.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2008
Meet at the Columbus Public Library
on Macon Road
10:00 am until noon

Cathy Fussell will lead a bus tour of sites connected to Carson McCullers and her writing. Dr. Philip Schley will welcome us for a tour of his home St. Elmo. Reservations are not required, but are recommended. The 45-passenger bus will fill on a first-come, first-seated basis for those without reservations. Call the CSU history department to reserve a seat--706-568-2263.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 2008
"An Environmental History of the Chattahoochee River"
The W.C. Bradley Company
1017 Front Avenue
7:00 pm

Dr. Roger Brown of the CSU Environmental Science department will present an environmental history of the river. Dr. Brown is a specialist in paleoenvironmental analysis using charcoal and pollen.

Directions to the W.C. Bradley Company: Take Veterans Parkway and turn west toward downtown Columbus on 12th Street. Go to Front Avenue and turn left. Go two blocks and the Bradley Company will be on your right.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2008
Meet behind the Iron Works Trade and Convention Center on Front Avenue (across from the Marriott)
10:00 am until noon

Join us for a historical and environmental tour of the Chattahoochee.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
"The Phenix City Story"
Columbus Public Library
3000 Macon Road
7:00 pm

The Columbus Museum, Columbus State University, and the Columbus Public Library invite you to attend a week-long series of free programs investigating the myths and realities about Phenix City’s turbulent past.

TUESDAY, APRIL 29 through SUNDAY, MAY 4, 2008
The Columbus Museum will host a special display of artifacts, some never before on public view, connected with 1954 murder of Albert Patterson and the ensuing cleanup of Phenix City.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
The Columbus Library, 6:30 pm
Author Ace Atkins will read from and sign Wicked City, his new novel based on Phenix City’s history.
A showing of the 1955 film The Phenix Story

Broad Street Blues Bar & Grill, 9:00 pm (corner of Broad Street and Dillingham Street in Phenix City) Ace Atkins will read from Wicked City, his new novel based on Phenix City’s history. Enjoy live blues music.

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THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008
"Phenix City: Fact and Fiction"
The Phenix City Amphitheatre
on the Chattahoochee
7:00 pm

Mystery writer Ace Atkins, author of Wicked City, a fictionalized account of Phenix City’s gangster days, will talk about the process of turning historical facts about Phenix City's colorful history into fiction. Local speakers will share their experiences from that era.

Directions to the Phenix City Amphitheatre: Take Veterans Parkway to 13th Street. Turn west into uptown Columbus, go over the Chattahoochee bridge, and turn left on Broad Street in Phenix City. Turn left on Dillingham Street, then left into the parking lot for the amphitheatre just before crossing the Dillingham Street bridge over the river.

FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008
The Columbus Museum
Book-signings
12:00-1:00 p.m. Nobody But the People by Warren Trest
5:00-6:00 p.m. Patterson for Alabama by Gene Howard

Reception: 5:00-6:30
Film screening
At 6:30 view “In the Wake of Assassins,” an hour-long biography of John Patterson. Former Governor John Patterson will introduce the film.

Directions to the Columbus Museum: Take exit 6 Macon Road off I-185 and go west toward wntown Columbus. Continue about a quarter-mile after the intersection with Buena Vista Road and the Museum will be on your right.

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