America in the Twentieth Century

Join author Lisa M. Russell on a tour through these icons of Georgia backroads.  At one time, Georgia had over 250 covered bridges. By 1955, that number had shrunk to 75. By the 1970s, only 25 remained. But thanks to preservationists and Georgia's Department of Transportation, sixteen historic bridges have endured. Meet the bridge builders—including an enslaved apprentice who out-built his “master,” and travel back in time underneath the elegance of these simple yet masterfully crafted structures.

Author Lee Lancaster retraces the movement of a remarkable time in our nation’s agricultural history.  In 1976, America sent a peanut farmer from Plains to Washington, D.C. Farmers throughout the nation, especially in Georgia, had high hopes for President Jimmy Carter, but those dreams vanished when he seemingly disregarded their problems—historic drought and embarrassing commodity prices. Peach State farmers took to the streets, slow rolling a tractorcade on I-75 toward Atlanta. The result was the largest ever farmer-led demonstration in the United States. The farmers pledged not to sell, plant or buy anything until “100% parity” was obtained. The farmers eventually steered their tractorcade to D.C., trying to prevent the foreclosure of dozens of farms with help from an armed group in Middle Georgia and a real estate tycoon from New York who would become the forty-fifth president.

Explore the daily lives and the history of German and Italian POWs in WWII in camps in Georgia and their impact on the Peach State.

During World War II, many Georgians witnessed the enemy in their backyards. More than twelve thousand German and Italian prisoners captured in far-off battlefields were sent to POW camps in Georgia. With large base camps located from Camp Wheeler in Macon and Camp Stewart in Savannah to smaller camps throughout the state, prisoner re-education and work programs evoked different reactions to the enemy. There was even a POW work detail of forty German soldiers at Augusta National Golf Course, which was changed from a temporary cow pasture to the splendid golf course we know today. Join author and historian Dr. Kathryn Roe Coker and coauthor Jason Wetzel as they explore the daily lives of POWs in Georgia and the lasting impact they had on the Peach State.

Author Tim Hollis celebrates classic Peach State signage. Many Georgians have never stopped to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers or tourists to patronize businesses, many such signs remained in place for so long that they became landmarks in their own right. From a bevy of signage for Georgia’s own Coca-Cola to tourist attractions from Okefenokee Swamp Park in the south to Tallulah Point in the mountains, revisit the signs that have wormed their way into the collective memory.

“Cold Case” Clay Bryant unravels a 20-year old cold-case murder. After a daring escape from certain death in a North Vietnamese prison, followed by years in a refugee camp in Thailand, Savang Phovixay and his family sought safety and a better life in the United States. That dream was shattered when their daughter Vieng disappeared in October 1987. In spite of substantial leads, she remained missing until 1989 when her skeletonized remains were found bound to a tree in rural West Georgia. The crime remained an unsolved tragedy for nearly two decades until Bryant took on the case in search of justice for Vieng and her family. 

Author Phillip Andrew Gibbs guides readers on a tour of Macon’s seedy underbelly. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Macon was coming of age. Numerous industries, banks and retail businesses dotted the city’s landscape, and magnificent Greek Revival and Victorian homes graced the tree-lined streets of its affluent neighborhoods. For those who enjoyed the arts, there was the Grand Opera House which hosted operatic and theatre productions. The city was also home to two institutions of higher learning. To residents and visitors alike, Macon seemed to be a flourishing, sophisticated city well grounded in strong spiritual and moral principles. But there were flies in the ointment. Much to the dismay of the city’s ministers and educators there was a vibrant sporting life in Macon. Pool halls, gambling houses, and saloons operated well within sight of the front steps of the city’s churches. Worse yet, the city council had established in the early 1900s a red-light district known as Tybee that operated freely without interference from local authorities.

Author Lee Lancaster unearths the delectable history and classic recipes of the Peach State’s top vegetable.  The Vidalia onion may be small, but it’s as sweet as an onion can be, and it means big business for Georgia, too. Officially christened the Georgia State Vegetable in 1990, it can only be grown in Southeast Georgia. Once sold mostly off a truck tailgate, Vidalia onions now produce an annual crop worth $150 million. And after years of perfecting and fighting off posers and pirates, Vidalia onions are presented as gifts to presidents, governors, close friends and relatives. They are hand planted and handpicked but worth all the trouble to produce the King of the Onion Rings. They are so good, they have their own Vidalia Onion Museum, mascot named Yumion, and a Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame. Vidalia, there’s just something about that name.

Nearly two decades after the fact, tragedy meets justice.

One day in 1987, Fred Wilkerson up and vanished in Troup County, Georgia. It was a mystery beset with suspicious circumstances, but the evidence never led anywhere, and the case went cold, Wilkerson’s whereabouts unknown. That is, until a remarkable set of circumstances allowed author and investigator Clay Bryant to breathe life back into the case nearly two decades later. Diving into what had previously been overlooked, Bryant was able to locate and recover Wilkerson’s remains and successfully prosecute the killer, who’d crafted a calculating plot to take everything the victim had and murder him in order to keep it. The story concludes with the Wilkerson Family finally getting closure and the killer getting sentenced to life in prison. Join Byrant as he unravels this West Georgia cold case.

Settle in for a juicy bushel of Peach State bafflement.

Turn a metaphorical shovel of red Georgia clay to find a world teeming with inexplicable, head-scratching mystery. The legends here predate the state’s founding by hundreds of years, when Native people settled in and began grappling with the land. Now treasure hunters ply Civil War sites for the Confederacy’s lost treasure, with spectral soldiers galloping nearby. Hairy beasts lope through dark woods, while the night sky above bustles with disconcerting activity, like the UFO once spotted by Jimmy Carter. In this Georgia, psychics help convict murderers. The super-strict and thoroughly deceased former owner of Savannah’s Telfair Museum punishes rule breakers, and a ten-foot ’squatch emits a pungent stench at Minnehaha Falls. Join folklorist Alan Brown on a jaunt through the most confounding elements of Georgia’s long history.

Join author Caroline Eubanks on a behind-the-scenes look at the people, places and drinks behind the city. Even when it was still called Terminus, Atlanta was earning a raucous reputation as a hub for hard-drinking railroad workers. The first mayor, a saloon owner from the appropriately named Free and Rowdy Party, only cemented the town’s party credentials. What followed was more than a century of moonshiners, dollar bill–covered dives, exotic dancers, speakeasies and underground taverns, wild parties on both land and water and, of course, drinks. These spaces—like the all-night Backstreet club, the storied Manuel’s Tavern and futuristic Polaris—became launching pads for political campaigns, musical groups and drag superstars while also serving as a respite for everyday locals.