Things New and Strange \;chro nicles a research quest undertaken by G. Wayne Clough\, the first secretar y of the Smithsonian Institution born in the South. Soon after retiring fr om the Smithsonian\, Clough decided to see what the Smithsonian collection s could tell him about South Georgia\, where he had spent most of his chil dhood in the 1940s and 1950s. The investigations that followed\, which beg an as something of a quixotic scavenger hunt\, expanded as Clough discover ed that the collections had many more objects and documents from South Geo rgia than he had imagined. These objects illustrate important aspects of s outhern culture and history and also inspire reflections about how South G eorgia has changed over time. Clough&rsquo\;s discoveries&mdash\;animal\, plant\, fossil\, and rock specimens\, along with cultural artifacts and wo rks of art&mdash\;not only serve as a springboard for reflections about th e region and its history\, they also bring Clough&rsquo\;s own memories of his boyhood in Douglas\, Georgia\, back to life. Clough interweaves memor ies of his own experiences\, such as hair-raising escapes from poisonous s nakes and selling boiled peanuts for a nickel a bag at the annual auction of the tobacco crop\, with anecdotes from family lore\, which launches an exploration of his forebears and their place in South Georgia history. In following his engaging and personal narrative\, we learn how nonspecialist s can use museum archives and how family\, community\, and natural history are intertwined.
\nhttps://dekalb.libnet.info/event/3072728 URL;VALUE=URI:https://dekalb.libnet.info/event/3072728 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/dekalb/2018-DBF-Emory-Logo -hz.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR