Oakland Lecture Series
2010 Lecture Schedule
The Historic Oakland Foundation presents our Lecture Series from April through September at the Bell Tower. Wine and beer will be served along with small plates, provided by The Shed at Glenwood, at 5:00 p.m. Our guest speaker will begin at 5:30. A selection of tours will follow each lecture at 6:30. The entire evening is free for current members of Historic Oakland Foundation. For non-members the cost is $15. Reservations are necessary. Seating is limited. RSVP to mwoodlan@oaklandcemetery.com.
Schedule:
April 17- Ten People Who Shaped Atlanta profiled 10 individuals, spanning nearly 200 years of history, who were influential in some way in how Atlanta came to be and how it developed as a regional and international city. Ren and Helen Davis guided attendees on a fascinating journey through time during this sold out lecture. Ren and Helen enjoyed long careers in the healthcare and education fields. In addition, they regularly provide historical presentations/lectures throughout the state of Georgia and have co-authored two popular guidebooks: Atlanta Walks: A Guide to Walking, Running, and Bicycling Scenic and Historic Atlanta and Georgia Walks: Discovery Hikes Through the Peach State’s Natural and Human History.
May 22- Brooks Garcia- Planting the Past: Recreating the Gardens at Oakland Cemetery
The Victorian founders of Oakland envisioned a heaven on Earth of sorts -- a place of quiet repose and serene beauty filled with sentimental reminders of loved ones and metaphorical representations of the process of grief and of living beyond loss. During his lecture, Brooks discussed the restoration of the gardens at Oakland, a challenging task involving weaving historical accounts, photographic documentation, and imagination. Attendees learned about the efforts that went into the beauty you see today and what is in store for the future.
Brooks is an Oakland Board member and Landscape Committee member. He has been gardening for almost 35 years and is a native of Atlanta. After completing a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia, Brooks traveled to Europe to study classical garden design. He is the principal designer of Fine Gardens, an award-winning garden design firm established in 1989 that specializes in custom residential gardens.
June 12- Dog Days of Oakland: An Historic“Tail” of the Atlanta Humane Society
Deborah Marshall, the Atlanta Humane Society’s Director of Major and Planned Gifts, shared the story of how the oldest private charitable organization in Atlanta was created in 1873 and through a rich history, evolved to its current mission of preventing neglect, abuse, cruelty and exploitation of animals. This lecture took place outdoors with several leashed, well-behaved dogs attending.
Before joining the Atlanta Humane Society (AHS) staff as the Director of Major and Planned Gifts, Deborah served on the AHS board from 2003 to 2009, most recently in the role of Chairman of the Board. Prior to joining the AHS, Deborah worked in the financial services industry for 26 years in various positions, including: commercial banker, private banker, and wealth management advisor. She is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Atlanta.
July 24- John W. Brinsfield, Jr.- The Spirit Divided, Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains
John W. Brinsfield, Jr., Ph.D., presented an overview of the service and legacies of more than 3,600 ministers, priests and rabbis who served as chaplains during the Civil War. These men, and one woman provided the pattern for ministry to soldiers of many denominations which continues in the modern U.S. Army around the world.
Chaplain (Colonel) John Wesley Brinsfield, Retired, is the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps Historian at the Army Chaplain School, Ft. Jackson, S.C. and the Secretary of the Army Chaplain Regimental Museum Association.
Brinsfield is a native of Atlanta and a member of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church. He graduated from Georgia Military Academy, Vanderbilt University, Yale Divinity School, and has a Ph.D. in Church History from Emory University, and a D.Min. in Ethics from Drew University. From 1972-73 he did post-graduate study at Mansfield College, Oxford, and at Wesley House, Cambridge University. Chaplain Brinsfield is the author or co-author of seven books.
August 21- Richard Waterhouse- Sacred Symbols of Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery
The lecture will be presented by Richard Waterhouse, a symbologist and volunteer tour guide at Oakland Cemetery from 1989 until his move to Cape Cod, MA in 2010. During his many hours of conducting tours at the cemetery, Richard became fascinated by the symbols in the cemetery. In 2000, he put together a Victorian Symbolism Tour that is offered the first Saturday of each month from April through October at 6:30 p.m. as part of Oakland's Twilight Tours. Richard will discuss the many botanical, secular, and religious symbols at Oakland and interpret their meaning. Following the lecture, he will sign copies of his new book, Sacred Symbols of Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery andthen lead a symbolism tour of the grounds.
Richard has enjoyed a career in arts administration and has worked at the Okefenokee Heritage Center in Waycross, GA, Southern Arts Federation, High Museum of Art, Georgia Council for the Arts, and Southeastern Museums Conference, all in Atlanta. Currently, Richard is the director of the Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit, MA (Cape Cod).
Richard received a B.A. in Art History from Centre College in Danville, KY and is a practicing ceramic artist. His ceramic work, which deals with symbolism, has been shown at the Cairo Egypt Ceramics Biennale, Atlanta's Swan Coach House Gallery, and two festivals: Inman Park and Virginia Highlands.
September 11- Oraien Catledge- The Picture Man of Cabbagetown
The lecture will be presented by Oraien Catledge who will speak candidly about the upcoming celebration of his life's work in fine art photography, through the University Press of Mississippi publication, Oraien Catledge: Photographs. Catledge's most notable work chronicles the insular working-class residents of the Cabbagetown neighborhood in stark black-and-white. Cabbagetown is situated immediately adjacent to Oakland Cemetery and the neighborhood anchored by the former Fulton County Cotton Mill shares a rich connective history with Oakland Cemetery.
Oraien Catledge was born in Sumner, Mississippi in 1928. He began taking photographs near the end of a long career as a state of Mississippi social worker and as an advocate for the blind throughout the South. Although principally a photographer of people, Catledge's sensuous, fastidious black and white work documents the landscapes and cityscapes of Mississippi and New Orleans, as well as imagining and recording the insular, working-class lives of the Cabbagetown neighborhood in center-city Atlanta -- the single achievement upon which his considerable reputation rests. Oraien Catledge: Photographs will be released in August 2010.
Many thanks to our 2010 Lecture Series sponsor!
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