Cashin Memorial Wilson Symposium Explores Augusta's Revolutionary History

Historians and scholars will gather at the Morris Museum of Art on Nov. 13-14 to examine the complex Revolutionary history of Augusta, according to a news release from Historic Augusta.

The annual Edward J. Cashin Memorial Woodrow Wilson Symposium, also referred to as the Cashin Memorial Wilson Symposium, serves as a forum for exploring the city’s foundational era and its lasting impact on the region. The event is free to the public.

Augusta Good News reported that the symposium’s programming begins Friday evening from 6–9 p.m. The opening session features a keynote presentation by Dr. Alice Taylor-Colbert titled “Trade, Treaties, and Tumult: Native Peoples and Revolutionary Augusta,” followed by a reception.

Saturday morning continues the academic inquiry with a series of scheduled talks and refreshments. The morning sessions focus on specific factions and legacies within the Georgia backcountry and how the Revolutionary period affected the region.

The Saturday schedule includes the following presentations:

9:30 a.m.: Thomas Heard Robertson Jr. will present “Loyalists in Backcountry Georgia.”
10:30 a.m.: Melissa DeVelvis, an assistant professor of history at Augusta University, will discuss “The Revolutionary Legacy and ‘Spirit of ’76’ during Secession.”
11:30 a.m.: Bobby Donaldson, an Augusta native and associate professor of history at the University of South Carolina, is scheduled to speak.

The symposium represents a collaborative effort among several local cultural and academic institutions. Sponsors for the event include the Augusta University Center for the Study of Georgia History, Historic Augusta, Inc., the Morris Museum of Art, the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, and the Augusta Historical Society.

By bringing together perspectives on Native American relations, Loyalist activity, and the transition into the secession era, the symposium attempts to map the continuity of Augusta’s political and social identity.