Sumter Historic Trust to host lectures, porch tours

AMERICUS — The Sumter Historic Trust here has a number of events on its plate, including the beginning of a lecture series and a porch tour on Taylor Street.

Leila Case, a board member for the trust, said the first installment in the “Seizing Freedom in Sumter County Georgia” series will be conducted from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Lee Council House on Thursday.

The speaker will be Evan Kutzler, associate professor of history at Georgia Southwestern State University, who is expected to discuss the transition in southwest Georgia during the later part of the 19th century.

“Southwest Georgia underwent a rapid transformation in the Civil War era,” Case said.

Kutzler said that much is known of the history of southwest Georgia during the 19th century, but little of it centers around African-American history.

“More than half of the population in Sumter County was African-American and enslaved,” he said. “That is the predominant history I am hoping to explore.”

Kutzler said the discussion will include how southwest Georgia played a role in cotton expansion. In his research, he said he found a wealth of information in ledgers and available biographies — allowing him to trace many individuals as well as information on migration.

Much of the information, the professor said, has been hiding in plain sight — largely because the right questions have not been asked. The main takeaway from the lecture series, he said, may be that the path to freedom for African-Americans, even after they had legally obtained it, was not an easy one.

“A lot of that has been understudied,” Kutzler said.

Kutzler said if he has time he will go into the Andersonville National Historic Site and its transformation from a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp to the grounds of an African-American school to a national cemetery.

“One way that the Sumter Historic Trust serves the community is by providing interesting lectures throughout the year on a variety of topics related to local and regional history,” Lee Kinnamon, AP U.S. History teacher at Americus-Sumter High School, archivist and historian with the Sumter Historic Trust, said. “The people we have scheduled to speak during this year’s lecture series will bring to life voices and perspectives that often go unheard in the traditional narratives many of us know.

“In our first installment, noted Civil War historian Dr. Evan Kutzler will tell the fascinating stories of former slaves who struggled to create new lives for themselves immediately following emancipation. I’m sure people will be amazed when they hear the stories Dr. Kutzler has uncovered in his recent and extensive research for the National Park Service. Attendees will no doubt leave with a more nuanced understanding of this significant period in our community’s and our nation’s history.”

The Lee Council House, headquarters for the Historic Trust, is located at 308 E. Church St. Refreshments will be served. The lecture, which begins at 7 p.m., will be held at no charge.

The second installment, Case said, is scheduled in May.

The porch tour will be held from 2-5 p.m. on March 25. The tour will begin at 201 Taylor St., the home of Mike and Andrea Powell, and continue to the John Edgemon Sr. home at 129 Taylor, the home of Charles Crisp at 139 Taylor, the John and Whitney Crisp home at 155 Taylor and the home of former state Sen. George Hooks at 145 Taylor.

“In the past, the trust has had a lecture series and porch tours, and both have been successful,” Case said. “They are both fun and entertaining events. (The lecture) will bring us information we have not heard before. It will be provocative, but certainly educational.

“Each one of these homes (on the porch tour) is a historic structure.”

Tickets for the tour, which includes light refreshments, can be purchased before the event for $20 from any board member of the trust as well as from The Look Salon at 117 N. Jackson St. in Americus. Tickets purchased day of the event are $25 at the Powell home.

Tickets for the tour may be exchanged at the Powell home for a souvenir fan. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Sumter Historic Trust Revolving Fund.

Jennifer Parks