Jennifer Brooks

THOMASVILLE- The Thomasville History Center is pleased to invite the general public to attend a lecture by Professor Jennifer Brooks titled “Black Veterans of the ‘Good War’ Come Home to Georgia.” on Thursday July 27, 2023 at the First Baptist Missionary Church. This event is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at 7:00 p.m., a reception and book signing will follow the lecture. First Missionary Baptist Church is located at 110 West Calhoun Street in Thomasville.

Brooks is a Professor of History at Auburn University and author of “Defining the Peace: World War II Veterans, Race, and the Remaking of the Southern Political Tradition” (University of North Carolina Press, 2004) and “Resident Strangers: Immigrant Laborers in New South Alabama” (LSU Press, 2022). In this presentation, she will highlight the impact of military service in World War II on black veterans and the political activism on voting rights that it prompted.

This lecture has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): Democracy demands wisdom. K-12 educators from across the nation will be attending this lecture as part of a one-week funded NEH Landmarks in American History workshop The Quest for Freedom examining the Long Civil rights movement. As part of the workshop, teachers will engage in place-based learning and will visit sites such as the Thomasville History Center, Tall Timbers, the Jack Hadley Black History Museum, Pebble Hill Plantation and Museum and the First Missionary Baptist Church

The Thomasville History Center was formed in 1952 and opened a museum within the Flowers-Roberts House in 1972. Since 1972, the Thomasville History Center’s collections have grown to include more than 500,000 artifacts and archival materials and eight historic structures. The History Center, in partnership with the state of Georgia, also operates the historic Lapham-Patterson House. Their board, staff, and growing membership invites everyone to join them in their dedication to ensuring that the appreciation of Thomasville’s unique history remains an intrinsic and unbroken thread connecting the past and future through settings that advance the city’s story.

For more information, please call 229-226-7664 or visit www.thomasvillehistory.org.