Did you know Fort Oglethorpe was named after a well-known slave trader who later became an abolitionist? The city of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., is named after James Oglethorpe, a British general and member of Parliament who founded the colony of Georgia in 1733.
What many people don’t know is that Oglethorpe made sure Georgia was the only British American colony to prohibit chattel slavery before the American Revolutionary War. Seeing the cruelty of slavery firsthand changed Oglethorpe, he sold his shares in the slave-trading Royal African Company and returned to England to share his views with activists who would become Britain’s first abolitionists.
Michael Thurmond, author of James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia, will share the story in Dalton on Saturday. Mr. Thurmond is a native Georgian, Black public servant, and speaker who will keynote the Dalton Whitfield NAACP’s Juneteenth Gala. The Gala is expected to draw 500 attendees to the Dalton Convention Center, beginning at 5 p.m. A dinner featuring Mr. Thurmond’s presentation starts at 6 p.m.