Many of us can picture the end of the American Revolution: French Naval vessels off the coast, the white flag waving over Yorktown, and the signatures of British representatives and new Americans on the Treaty of Paris. But could a conflict so philosophical and essential to who we are—as people and as a nation—really end with the surrender of Cornwallis? The root causes of the war with Britain and the ideas that drove the Patriot cause remain with us still, even as we celebrate their 250th anniversary.
This year’s Chautauqua Lecture Series will explore the continuing legacy of the Revolution through the eyes of experts in four different fields. Join the Coastal Georgia Historical Society for in-depth explorations of the Revolution’s lasting power and its ideas’ ongoing role in civics education, world history, women’s rights, and the study of the war itself.
Lecture Dates and Time: Thursdays, September 3, 10, 17, and 24, at 6 p.m.
Location: St. Simons Presbyterian Church
Tickets & Pricing:
Series Pass (Admission to all 4 lectures):
Members $50
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Non-Members $95
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Individual Lecture Tickets (Admission to a single lecture):
Members & Non-Members: $30
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Thursday, September 3, 2026: “The American Revolution and the Fate of the World”
Speaker: Dr. Richard Bell
Dr. Bell, a Professor of History at the University of Maryland, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and his B.A. from the University of Cambridge. He has received the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching faculty in the Maryland state system. From 2021 through 2023, he was an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and he has held research fellowships at more than two dozen libraries and institutes. His recent books include Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped Into Slavery and Their Astonishing Odyssey Home and 2025’s The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, which provides the title of this initial lecture to the Chautauqua series.
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Thursday, September 10: “Legacies of the Revolution through Civics Education”
Speaker: Dr. Emma Humphries
Dr. Humphries has served as the Chief Education Officer of iCivics, the country’s largest civics education organization, since 2016. Dr. Humphries began her career as a classroom teacher, focusing on American government, before receiving her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Florida. She previously served as the Civic Engagement Coordinator at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, where she developed programs to connect with students at her alma mater. During her tenure, she created and taught an award-winning online citizenship course, titled “Rethinking Citizenship: Identity, Collaboration, and Action.”
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Thursday, September 17: “Beyond Remember the Ladies: The Impact of the Revolution on Women”
Speaker: Dr. Charlene Boyer Lewis
Dr. Boyer Lewis is the Director of American Studies and of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Kalamazoo College. She received her Ph.D. in History, with distinction, from the University of Virginia. She specializes in women’s history, southern history, and American cultural and social history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Dr. Boyer Lewis is the author of both Ladies and Gentlemen on Display: Planter Society at the Virginia Springs, 1790-1860 and Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: An American Aristocrat in the Early Republic. She also co-edited and contributed to the recent essay collection Women in George Washington’s World, and her next book, Traitor, Wife: Peggy Shippen Arnold and Revolutionary America, is forthcoming in early 2027.
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Thursday, September 24: “Echoes of the Revolutionary Era”
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Davenport
Dr. Davenport is the Vice President for Research and Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. His work has been published in Lapham’s Quarterly, Literary Matters, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Smithsonian Magazine, on topics including Thomas Jefferson’s death and legacies, Ralph Ellison in mid-20th century New York City, and the influence of Black literature on post-World War II French culture. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in U.S. History from Georgetown University, and he currently serves as a member of the inaugural cohort of the White House Historical Association Next-Gen Leadership Ambassadors.
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