As part of the 2026-2027 Georgia History Festival, Dr. Stan Deaton, who holds the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian position at the Georgia Historical Society, recently spoke with several public officials in Georgia to ask about the meaning of civic engagement and its importance in our history in a series of interviews we are calling Civil Conversations. 

The following are interviews with: Roger Moss, President of the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Public Education; Tim Walmsley, retired Chatham County Superior Court Judge; Anne Allen Westbrook, State Representative for Georgia House District 163; Nick Palumbo, 4th District Alderman for the City of Savannah; and Michael Thurmond, former Chief Executive Officer of Dekalb County and former Georgia Labor Commissioner.