This program features a variety of perspectives, including those who went to Vietnam because they thought it was their patriotic duty, and those who resisted the draft on moral grounds. Moderator Dr James D. Marshall is a retired Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia. The program is one of a series of events co-sponsored by BoomAthens Magazine and Reflecting, Sharing, Learning.
The Cobb Brothers in Athens
Milton Leathers and Sam Thomas
T.R.R. Cobb House • 175 Hill Street • Athens, Georgia
Sponsored by Athens-Clarke County Library • 706 613 3650 x343
Wednesday, June 27, 6:00 pm
Come to the T.R.R. Cobb House on Wednesday, June 27 at 6:00 pm for a walking tour of one of Athens’ most distinctive homes, with talks by curator Sam Thomas and Cobb descendant Milton Leathers.
Thomas and Howell Cobb, sons of Athens settlers John and Sarah Cobb, were among the most illustrious citizens Athens produced in the Civil War era. Thomas was a stoic, aloof and religious man, who was a co-founder of the University of Georgia School of Law, and distinguished himself as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He married Marion Lumpkin, daughter of Joseph Henry Lumpkin, first Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, who gave them the house as a wedding gift.
His older brother Howell was a gregarious man, who loved life and spending time with his friends and family. He was Governor of Georgia, and served as US Secretary of the Treasury and Speaker of the House of Representatives. He and his brother were both ardent secessionists, and Howell was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.
Despite their differences, the brothers maintained a great affection for one another. This program will tell the story of Thomas and Howell Cobb and their relationship with Athens, and the “Pink Lady” house.
Milton Leathers is a seventh-generation Athenian, and is the great-great-grandson of Howell Cobb. Milton and his wife Kammy raised their four children in the Hill Street home built by Howell Cobb. Milton has been a Russian translator in the US Army; a high school teacher on Oahu; President of LM Leathers & Sons and Erwin & Co, Inc; and an English Teacher in China. He is past President of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation and a former board member of the Athens Historical Society. Milton loves to entertain with stories of his hometown and its denizens, many learned from his grandmother, Camilla McWhorter Erwin.
Sam Thomas has been Curator of the TRR Cobb House for the Watson-Brown Foundation since 2006, and before that he was the Curator for the Culture and Heritage Museums in York County, South Carolina for fifteen years. He has been the Vice-President of the South Carolina Historical Association; Vice-Chairman of the Confederation of South Carolina, Local Historical Societies; Executive Board member of the Scotch-Irish Society of the USA; and the newly-elected President of the Athens Historical Society. Sam served as a technical advisor on the film The Patriot, and is the author of many scholarly articles and books, including “The Legion's Fighting Bulldog" with Coach Vince Dooley. Both Sam and Milton contributed to the massive volume, “The Tangible Past in Athens Georgia.”
Georgia Libraries for Accessible Statewide Services (GLASS) has brought its first touring, photography-based art exhibition to Athens. “Just Kids” will be on view at the Athens-Clarke County Library's Quiet Gallery through Sunday, July 8.
“Just Kids” is the brainchild of photographer Ryan Johnson, a former community support specialist at the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University. Through his work with CLD, Johnson discovered his love for telling life stories through photography, mixing a documentary and portraiture style to give viewers a front-row seat to stories of families and their loved ones who have an intellectual or developmental disability. Among the 16 portraits included in “Just Kids” are those depicting a handful of families that are members of the Chattahoochee Valley Down Syndrome Association.
Kilauea: Earth’s Most Active Volcano
Dr David Dallmeyer, UGA Geology Professor Emeritus
Athens-Clarke County Library • Appleton Auditorium
2025 Baxter Street • Athens, Georgia • 706 613 3650 x343
Thursday, June 7, 1:30 pm
Kilauea is one of five large shield volcanoes that comprise the island of Hawai’i. The Island is part of a chain of Pacific volcanic islands and seamounts that extend more than 3,700 miles to the Aleutian peninsula. Kilauea has been continuously active since 1983, erupting lava sourced from a permanently sited, deep-mantle magma hot spot. The recent 2018 volcanic activity has been spewing clouds of ash and smoke over the Puna area.
This program will describe the origin of the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, and take a look at the history of volcanic activity in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Eruptive styles and lava flow characters will be illustrated with video and a representative suite of Kilauea volcanic rocks on display for examination.
David Dallmeyer is Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Georgia, and a member of the Environmental Ethics Faculty. His teaching and research have focused on the processes and chronology of mountain building and plate tectonics with fieldwork on all continents. He organized several research expeditions in cooperation with the U.S. Antarctic Research Program and also has directed research programs in the British Isles, West Africa, China, Greenland, Svalbard, Norway and the Andes of Chile and Peru. David served as director of a United Nations (UNESCO) project that included organization of research excursions to Norway, Spain, Mauritania, France and Japan. He is a frequent presenter for The Osher Lifelong Learning Program at the University of Georgia (OLLI@UGA).
The program is one of a series of events co-sponsored by OLLI@UGA and Reflecting, Sharing, Learning. The program is free and open to the public.
Here's a bouquet of new videos for you from past programming: A December musical smorgabord in Join Together; a host of creepy librarians telling tales in Listening in The Dark IV; Horticulturalist Dr Allan Armitage regales with stories from his book Of Naked Ladies and Forget-Me-Nots; Athens community organizer and poet Life The Griot onstage; A discussion on Dementia's effect on families co-sponsored by BoomAthens Magazine; Dr. Subodh Agrawal on increasing your health and quality of life as you grow older; and a quick look at Athens artist Gunnar Tarsa in the act of creation. Live long and prosper!
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