Hungry for History? Tomochichi: Friend & Ally of the Georgia Colony

Much remains unknown about how Tomochichi and the Yamacraws came to occupy Yamacraw Bluff as a community apart from the Creek nation. Yet his and his people’s presence there made all the difference to Oglethorpe’s success with the Georgia colony. This lecture tells the story of a friendship with much larger implications for intercultural relations nearly unprecedented in the story of British North America. Guest speaker Roger Smith serves as Director of The Learning Center at Senior Citizens, Inc. A native of Savannah, he studied English and French language and literature at Armstrong and Georgia Southern universities. For ten years he taught American literature and French language and culture at the high school level. After a period of service as a museum educator at Massie Heritage Center, he directed statewide history education programs for six years at the Georgia Historical Society. In 2006, he joined the staff of Senior Citizens, Inc. to establish The Learning Center, a humanities education program for people ages 55 and over.