I'm thrilled to be presenting about I Am The Mountain next Thursday, August 13th at 7pm at one of Atlanta's finest, Manuel’s Tavern, as part of Atlanta Studies' quarterly meet-up! C'mon out!
Also presenting that evening will be Ruth Dusseault, who will discuss a helluva fun sounding project, "Unpacking Manuel's Tavern!
PRESENTATIONS:
Shannon Byrne / The World Comes to Stone Mountain, Summit of a New South
Fifty-two years after Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed, “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia,” a diverse community of hikers frequents Stone Mountain, a mountain still considered emblematic of Old South racism by many, especially as its Confederate memorial carving and the Confederate flags flying at its base have been the subject of recent controversy and renewed debate. A year ago, East Atlanta resident, and Stone Mountain native, Shannon Byrne began a website called I Am The Mountain, which offers a virtual experience of Stone Mountain's inspiring multicultural transformation and humbly attempts to illustrate freedom ringing at long last and to celebrate many of the new faces that are reclaiming the mountain today, 100 years after the KKK declared Stone Mountain its 20th Century rebirth place on November 25, 1915.
Byrne hopes that one day a more comprehensive history of the mountain itself will be made available to parkgoers which will better reflect other cultures' symbols and historical ties to the mountain itself before, during, and after the Civil War era being memorialized, such as those of black Americans and Native Americans, and including the direct connection between the Jewish factory manager, Leo Frank, who was lynched 100 years ago this August 17 in Marietta, by many of the same men that started the Second Era KKK at the mountain. "As long as only an entertainment company such as Herschend Family Entertainment and old-guard Confederacy sympathizers are in charge of the storytelling at the park, and history is treated as an attraction, complete with a Ride the Ducks tour, it may be a distant dream," said Byrne.
Ruth Dusseault / Unpacking Manuel's Tavern
Students of history, political science, urban planning, sociology, film, architecture, computing and other disciplines will work independently or in the classroom to "unpack" the organic archive that has accumulated over 60 years on the walls of Manuel's Tavern. GSU and Emory's ECDS will create a gigapixel map of the tavern walls. Students can then choose images they wish to research and compose content for pop-out metadata pages including text, video, interviews and links to other sources from local, national and international archives.
ATLANTA STUDIES:
"Atlanta Studies brings together research, resources, and information about the Atlanta metro region to inspire new scholarship. Whether examining Atlanta’s political culture, public space, or social policy, our contributors provide thoughtful analysis of metropolitan life past and present. As an open access, digital publication, the Atlanta Studies website seeks new ways to communicate and collaborate, to study and to learn."
For more information, please visit www.atlantastudies.org.
