To kick off its 2011 “Becoming Alabama: Who, What, When, Where and Why” public symposium, Auburn University College of Liberal Arts announces a pre-conference on state resources for media and newspaper archives. Free and open to all interested, the pre-conference will be held 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.
The pre-conference will include talks by Auburn University professor emeritus of history and one of the state’s foremost archival experts Dr. Allen Jones, as well as Dana Chandler, archivist at Tuskegee University, Laura Anderson, archivist at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Montgomery, and Meredith McLemore, archivist at the Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery. Dr. Jeff Jakeman, professor of History at Auburn and editor of the online Encyclopedia of Alabama, will moderate.
Speakers will focus on how state history is captured and interpreted through the media, especially newspapers. “Newspapers can offer surprising insight and background on historical events and perspectives, not at all always what we expect to find,” notes Jay Lamar, director of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts. “In addition, the pre-conference speakers are dynamic, and the stories from the holdings they describe will be fascinating even to those not actively researching newspapers or other media.”
The pre-conference opens “Becoming Alabama: Who, What, When, Where and Why,” a public symposium that will take place on January 21-22 at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. It will feature scholars and professionals exploring the role of the press and media from the 1814 massacre at Fort Mims, a galvanizing event in Alabama and U.S. history, through the Gulf oil spill.
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Rick Bragg will join syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson in offering perspectives on writing and media representations of the state. Tony Barnhart, Mr. College Football and CBS Sports journalist, will talk about the state’s fascination with sports. Debbie Elliott will address NPR’s coverage of the oil spill.
Prominent scholars of history and media from Auburn University, as well as other institutions, will also present on topics ranging from how early newspapers supported an emerging literary culture in the state to how a handful of remarkable editors shaped both Alabama’s opinion and its image.
Registration for the conference is $25. Registration for meals, which will feature keynote speakers, is separate. Students may register at no cost. For a schedule and a list of presenters, please visit www.auburn.edu/cah or call 334-844-4946.
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