Careers Behind the Archive: Senior Historian

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Video and Audio

Careers Behind the Archive: Senior Historian

senior-historian

What can you do with a passion for history? Careers Behind the Archive, a new GHS online audio series, explores how skills developed through historical and archival work—research, critical thinking, communication, problem-solving, and storytelling—can translate into careers well beyond the history field. Our first conversation features Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, who shares insights from his career and the skills that have shaped his work.

Discover how history builds transferable skills for today’s workforce. Listen to the interview with Dr. Stan Deaton and hear his career story firsthand.

An Evening with Alan Taylor – 2026 Dooley Distinguished Fellow

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Video and Audio

An Evening with Alan Taylor – 2026 Dooley Distinguished Fellow

On September 10, 2026, the Georgia Historical Society inducted Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Alan Taylor as the 2026 Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow. Following the induction, Dr. Taylor discussed his career, groundbreaking scholarly work, and publications.

Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellows are national leaders in the field of history as both writers and educators whose research has enhanced or changed the way the public understands the past.

In addition to their outstanding scholarship, Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellows have served the Georgia Historical Society as faculty in teacher training seminars, as lecturers, as consultants, or in a similar capacity, advancing the mission of the institution. Being designated as a Dooley Distinguished Fellow recognizes and formalizes the relationship forged through this service.

Learn more about the Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Fellows Program.

Major program support by

Delta

A United States but a Divided America: How We have Celebrated the Nation’s Birthday During Turbulent Times

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Video and Audio

A United States but a Divided America: How We have Celebrated the Nation’s Birthday During Turbulent Times

On February 26, 2026, the Georgia Historical Society presented "A United States but a Divided America: How We have Celebrated the Nation’s Birthday During Turbulent Times," a discussion with historians Dr. William Hitchcock, James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia and expert on the Cold War, and Dr. Elizabeth Varon, Professor of History and Associate Director of the Nau Center for Civil War History at UVA, about past national commemorations.

The United States will commemorate its 250th anniversary during one of the most partisan periods in American history. Once again, our national commemoration will take place during a divisive era—much like the centennial of 1876 followed the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the bicentennial of 1976 followed the tumultuous 1960s, Vietnam, and Watergate, all in the midst of the Cold War. How did those two earlier critical and pivotal events—the Civil War and the Cold War—shape those commemorations and what can we learn from the leadership of those who steered the American ship of state through the political, social, and economic upheaval and vicious partisanship of those divisive eras?

Presented by:

 

whitchcock
About William Hitchcock

William I. Hitchcock is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning teacher who has published numerous books relating to World War II, including The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a winner of the George Louis Beer Prize from the American Historical Association. He is also the author of The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s. He received his B.A. degree from Kenyon College and his Ph.D. from Yale University. He has been a Fulbright scholar, a fellow of the Nobel Institute in Oslo, the holder of the Henry Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, and Berlin Prize fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. He is now the James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

evaron
About Elizabeth Varon

Elizabeth R. Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia and a member of the executive council of UVA’s John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History. She is the author of six books, including Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War, which won the 2020 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. Her most recent book Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South (Simon & Schuster, 2023) was reviewed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. The book won the inaugural American Battlefield Trust Prize, the Georgia Historical Society’s Malcolm Bell, Jr. and Muriel Barrow Bell Award, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times biography prize, among other honors. Varon’s current project is a biography of humanitarian Clara Barton.

An Evening with Rick Atkinson

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Video and Audio

An Evening with Rick Atkinson

The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) welcomed acclaimed historian and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson to Savannah on Thursday, October 9, 2025, as the keynote presentation of the 2025–2026 Georgia History Festival and part of GHS’s statewide US250 commemoration. The evening program explored the Revolutionary War’s pivotal middle years and their lasting impact on the fight for American independence. In conversation with Dr. Stan Deaton, the Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at GHS, Atkinson discussed his latest work, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777–1780.

Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton: “A Nation of Laws”

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Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton

"A Nation of Laws"

A resource for the 2025-2026 Georgia History Festival, A Nation of Laws: Courts and the Foundation of Freedom.

Read the questions below and click the sound files to hear the responses.

Teachers:
View the Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton Discussion Guide.

Soundbite 1 –

What does "A Nation of Laws" mean?

Soundbite 2 –

What is an Independent Judiciary?

Soundbite 3 –

Where did the idea for the Supreme Court come from?

Soundbite 4 –

How was the Constitution written to change and reflect the people of America?

Soundbite 5 –

Why do the Supreme Court justices serve life terms?

Soundbite 6 –

Why are there nine Supreme Court justices? Were there always nine?

Soundbite 7 –

Why does the Supreme Court reverse decisions? What happens when a decision is reversed?

Soundbite 8 –

What are the Landmark Court Cases and how have they remained relevant?

Soundbite 9 –

What are some notable Georgia court cases that have reached the US Supreme Court?

Soundbite 10 –

How does the Supreme Court enforce their decisions?

Pictured: U.S. Supreme Court Crowds, July 8, 1974. Library of Congress.

The Georgia Colony’s Founding and Early Development

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Video and Audio

The Georgia Colony’s Founding and Early Development

In recognition of the anniversary of Georgia’s founding, this short online program is a visual exploration of the colony’s founding and early development.

Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton: “Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

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Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton

“Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

A resource for the 2024-2025 Georgia History Festival, “The Reality of Our Liberty”: The First Amendment and Freedom of the Press.

Read the questions below and click the sound files to hear the responses.

Teachers:
View the Soundbites with Dr. Stan Deaton Discussion Guide.

Soundbite 1 –

The context for the phrase “the reality of our liberty.”

Welcome to our conversation with Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian and Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, at the Georgia Historical Society. The Festival title was inspired by a quote by President Thomas Jefferson.

Dr. Deaton, would you give some background for this statement?

Soundbite 2 –

Why was freedom of the press important to the Founders?

 As Americans, we often take freedom of the press for granted. Would you give us some context around why the Founders considered this so vital for the new nation?

Soundbite 3 –

The context for “Hear it now; see it tonight; read about it tomorrow.”

We’re discussing the phrase, “Hear it now, see it tonight, read about it tomorrow.” Would you provide context around this statement?

Soundbite 4 –

The impact of radio news.

In the age of radio, what are some significant stories, to Georgians and Americans?

Soundbite 5 –

Hearing news in the 21st century.

 How has consuming our information through hearing changed over time?

Soundbite 6 –

The impact of television news.

What is the context of “see it tonight”?

Soundbite 7 –

From 30 minutes to 24 hours.

How has the evolution from three basic television stations to several 24-hour networks affected the news?

Soundbite 8 –

Georgia stories on television.

What are some Georgia stories that have impacted us through television?

Soundbite 9 –

The impact of newspapers across the centuries.

Currently, we can read all day long about the events of the day on the internet. However, “read about it tomorrow” refers to an earlier time. What has the role of newspapers been in our history?

Soundbite 10 –

Editorializing vs. Newsgathering

When did our newspapers start to shift from partisan toward the neutrality of “just the facts”?

Soundbite 11 –

Investigative journalism and the safeguarding of liberty.

Joseph Pulitzer, owner of The New York World, and founder of The Pulitzer Prize for journalism, said:

“[I]t’s my duty to see that they get the truth; but that’s not enough, I’ve got to put it before them briefly so that they will read it, clearly so that they will understand it, forcibly so that they will appreciate it, picturesquely so that they will remember it, and, above all, accurately so that they may be wisely guided by its light.”

Under Pulitzer’s leadership investigative journalism, and the career of Nellie Bly was launched. This brings us back to the Founders and their idea that a press free from government control has the responsibility to inform and educate the public about the actions of elected officials and business leaders so they can be held accountable to the American people.

For further investigation:

Select a news story from the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s and find the coverage across the newspaper, radio, and television. Make sure to find the same date or within a couple of days of each other. Compare and contrast how each outlet presented the story.

Pictured: Family watching television. Photo by Evert F. Baumgardner, ca. 1958. National Archives and Records Administration.

Reconstruction in Georgia

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Video and Audio

Reconstruction in Georgia

This online program is an expansion of the 2023 Georgia Day video and includes a more in-depth exploration of the 2022-2023 Georgia History Festival theme, “The Promise of a More Perfect Union: Reconstruction and the Gilded Age.” In it we examine the economic, political, and social changes that Georgians faced in the tumultuous period of the half century following the Civil War and feature some of the most significant themes, events, and individuals associated with this pivotal period of American history.

An Evening With Annette Gordon-Reed

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Video and Audio

An Evening With Annette Gordon-Reed

Join the Georgia Historical Society as author and historian Annette Gordon-Reed is inducted as the newest Vincent J. Dooley Distinguished Teaching Fellow. Following the induction, enjoy a lively conversation with this award-winning author about her groundbreaking work and its impact on modern scholarship.

The Georgia Trustees

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Video and Audio

The Georgia Trustees

Learn about Georgia Historical Society's Georgia Trustees.