Now You Know
Northeast Georgia History Center
2016 History Center
Board of Directors
President: Jeff Whalen
Vice President/President Elect:
Cathy Herdener
Secretary: Cleda Locey
Treasurer: Dick Childers
Jay Andrews
Dr. Andrea Birch
Juli Clay
Jack Frost
Jim Grogan
Martha Jacobs
LaMerle Loveland
Jeff Pierce
Dr. Jim Southerland
Cheryl Vandiver
Scott Ballard
Dr. Patricia Burd
Debbie Lawson Davis
Dr. Dee Gillespie
Carolyn Jacobs
Tom LeFevre
Carolyn Mahar
Connie Propes
Matt Thomas
Sandra Williams
Not yet a member?
September
2016
Family DayTreaty of New Echota:
Prelude to the Trail of Tears
The Treaty of New Echota, ratified by the US Senate in 1836,
sealed the fate of the Cherokee in Georgia – enabling the process
that began with the Removal Act and that ended with the infamous
Trail of Tears. Though recognized by the United States the Treaty
was negotiated and signed by a minority faction of Cherokee leadership – leading to internal conflict among the Cherokee themselves
which only made the Trail of Tears more bitter.
Come experience both Cherokee and Georgia “Pioneer” culture and
daily life in coexistence and conflict, with Museum Theatre performances, hands-on activities, living history interpretation, and
demonstrations.
This Family Day’s Museum Theatre performances will feature Colonial Williamsburg’s Alex Morse as John Ridge, Cherokee National
Council signatory to the Treaty of New Echota, and the History
Center’s Curator of Education Ken Johnston as Samuel Worcester,
defender of the Cherokee's sovereignty in the Supreme Court case
Worcester v. Georgia.
Need to renew?
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John Ridge
Samuel Worcester
Ken Johnston
www.negahc.org
Sunday, September 11
1:00 –4:00 pm
Free Admission for all!
Page 2
Pictures from Our August Events
“Harriet Tubman”
The New Gainesville Chautauqua
Getting “Q’d” up with the Quinlan Arts Center
Forum
For fifty four years, the Tallulah Falls Railroad ran fifty
eight miles from Cornelia to Franklin, North Carolina. The
History Center is proud to be a sponsor of a great documentary about this amazing piece of northeast Georgia history, which will be shown in it's entirety for our September
Forum. Emory Jones and David Greear, the driving forces
behind the video, will be present to answer any questions. The documentary itself runs 56 minutes, so please
be prepared to stay just a LITTLE bit long than our usual
one hour.
Tuesday, September 13th 7:00 p.m.
Admission: $3.00
Members get in FREE!
Page 3
Remembering Ed Parks– 1931-2016
(The following article was
adapted from our volunteer spotlight in February 2014.)
Ed Parks was a good man to
know, whether you’re interested
in the history of Hall County—
he’d lived here all his life—in the
Korean War, in auto racing … or
whatever.
And if you needed someone who
has pull with Richard Petty, the
famous race car driver, E.T. “Ed”
Parks III was your man. Richard
and Ed were friends for many
years.
When Ed approached Richard
about speaking at the 2013 Taste
of History fundraiser on the history of auto racing, ‘The King’
said “Yes, I’ll do it for you, Ed,
and for the History Center.” And
author and columnist Ronda
Rich, another friend, agreed to
emcee the event. More than 480
people—the largest Taste of History crowd yet—packed the banquet hall at Gainesville’s First
Baptist Church that August to
hear Richard talk racing with
Ronda.
Ed goes back a long way with the
History Center—back to its
fledgling days at the old city fire
station in downtown Gainesville.
“There wasn’t a lot there to start
with,” he said. “But I’m very impressed with it now.”
Even Richard Petty was impressed with the History Center.
“He mentions it to me every time
I see him now,” Ed said, “so it’s
made me even happier with what
we’ve got. He says it’s one of the
nicest history centers he’s ever
been in, and he said he had such a
good time here.”
Ed was also instrumental in setting up two forums on auto racing several years ago. Among the
racing notables he persuaded to
attend was Raymond Parks, the
daddy of stock car racing as we
know it today.
Ed, a former board member, was
involved in a number of other
activities at the history center.
For three years, he was one of the
veterans who talk to students
about serving in the military. Ed
served in the U.S. Army for three
years—18 months of that time in
Korea. The Korean War was still
going on his first year in the
country.
“What we try to do,” he said, “is
to teach them (the students)
about patriotism. This country
has forgotten the patriotism that
we need … and how much we
ought to love this country.”
For that Korean War-era Jeep
you see at the History Center,
incidentally, you can thank W.J.
“Bill” Reed for donating it and Ed
Parks for suggesting it was a good
idea.
Ed and his wife, Randy, were
regulars at the History Center
forums. In fact, it was Randy who
encouraged a group of friends to
meet for dinner at Longstreet
Café on the second Tuesday of
the month and then attend the
forum. “We ought to have more
interest in this,” she said, and she
did something about it.
The Parks have two children,
Doug Parks and Edna Haywood;
three grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren. They attended First United Methodist
Church,
Ed and his wife Randy were not
only a central part of the History
Center but of the entire community. He will be sorely missed,
but we are forever grateful that
we were blessed and privileged to
be a part of his life.
Northeast Georgia History Center
322 Academy Street NE
Gainesville, GA 30501
Phone: 770-297-5900
www.negahc.org
Calendar of Events
The Northeast Georgia History Center is
a not-for-profit institution dedicated to
preserving and sharing the history of the
region. By maintaining a unique collection
of historical items, presenting exhibits,
conducting programs, enabling research,
and partnering with other institutions in
the region, the History Center strives to
promote a greater understanding of the
cultural, social, economical, and political
history of Northeast Georgia.
September 11 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Family Day-The Treaty of
New Echota
September 13 7:00 p.m.
Forum– Memories of a
Mountain Shortline
October 9
Family Day-Medieval Times
1:00-4:00 p.m.
October 11 7:00 p.m.
Forum-Hall County inWWII
Items of Interest
Save the Date!
New Members
Doug & Laura Acker
Carol Hershey
Thursday November 3, 2016
Northeast Georgia History Center
Evelyn Gainous
will honor
Jack & JoAlice Halsell
Dr. Patricia Burd
Victor Dupe