Coastal Heritage Society invites the public to virtually attend this year’s Revolutionary Perspectives Lecture Series on Sept. 22^nd, Sept. 29^th and Oct. 27^th. The annual free event series will focus on a wide variety of topics unique to the American Revolution era. Due to health and safety concerns, lectures will now be hosted on Facebook Live on the Coastal Heritage Society Facebook page. Each lecture will be from 7-7:45 pm with a 15 minute question and answer session ending at 8 pm.

"We're excited to try a virtual series this year and thrilled to welcome Dr. Howard Keeley and Dr. Julia Gaffield as our guest speakers” said Emily Beck, Director of Interpretation for Coastal Heritage Society. “We'll be exploring Irish immigration in Savannah neighborhoods like Frogtown as well as the fascinating history of the Haitian Revolution and its connections to the earlier American Revolution. I'll be taking a look at some of our most interesting Historic Object Collections items and speaking about some of the many stories we tell here at Coastal Heritage Society historic sites and museums. We hope this year's virtual format will reach a large audience, especially people who may be unfamiliar with Coastal Heritage Society's work." 

The first lecture, on Sept. 22nd, will be presented by Dr. Howard Keeley, Director of the Center for Irish Research and Teaching, Assistant Professor at Georgia Southern University. His lecture titled, “Neighborhood Histories: Becoming Irish in Savannah,” will discuss 19^th century Irish immigration in Savannah and how the Irish became part of Savannah’s community fabric in multicultural neighborhoods like Frogtown, Yamacraw and others. Dr. Keeley will also speak about new research by Georgia Southern’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching which connects Savannah’s Irish directly back to Ireland.

The second lecture, on Sept. 29^th, will be presented by Emily Beck, Director of Interpretation at Coastal Heritage Society.  Ms. Beck’s lecture, “Small Things Forgotten: Stories from Coastal Heritage Society Historic Object Collections,” will use some of our smallest historic objects from our Historic Object Collections to tell much larger stories that are part of the fabric of Coastal Heritage Society's historic sites and museums - Georgia State Railroad Museum, Old Fort Jackson, Pin Point Heritage Museum, Harper-Fowlkes House, Savannah History Museum, Frogtown Tenements and Savannah Children's Museum. Using these items, Ms. Beck will emphasize the importance of museums and museum work during these challenging times of COVID-19, shut-downs, layoffs and closings.

Our final lecture on, Oct. 27^th, will be presented by Dr. Julia Gaffield, Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University. Dr. Gaffield’s lecture, “American Connections: The Chasseurs Volontaires and the Haitian Revolution,” will discuss the Battle of Savannah and the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue, a French regiment made up of men of color, who fought alongside Americans in an allied attack on the British defenses surrounding Savannah. Although the allied French and Americans lost this battle, it is today memorialized on Battlefield Park and featured as part of Coastal Heritage Society's Loyalists & Liberty Battlefield Tours. In this talk, Dr. Julia Gaffield will discuss her extensive research and work on the nation of Haiti and its fascinating history. Dr. Gaffield will discuss the Chasseurs themselves and the impact of the American Revolution on the Haitian Revolution just a few decades later.

This project is supported by Georgia Humanities, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, through funding from the Georgia General Assembly.