BROWN BAG HISTORY SERIES
Dr. R. Scot Duncan will be at the museum on Thursday, August 20 at noon presenting a program on his award-winning book, Southern Rivers: Restoring America’s Freshwater Biodiversity, published by the University of Alabama Press in 2024. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Locust Fork River.
Duncan’s book discusses how development without thought to the needs of the diverse flora and fauna that inhabit the nation’s southern rivers have damaged the ecosystem and threatened the biodiversity of our waterways. In his book, he not only explains how and why society created the problems faced today and the consequences of doing nothing different but also offers solutions to meet the needs of humanity while preserving our environment.
Duncan has been the executive director of Alabama Audubon since 2022. Before that he taught biology at Birmingham-Southern College for 20 years. A native of Florida, Duncan earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Eckerd College and received his master’s and PhD in Zoology at the University of Florida. His research has taken him to five continents, but for the last 26 years, his focus has been centered in the Southeast region of the United States.
Bring your lunch, or not, join in, and perhaps learn what can be done to save our rivers.
Attendance is free and open to everyone. RSVP is encouraged but not required. To RSVP or for more information, contact the museum at 205-973-0465.
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Irene Latham will continue her very popular series of presentations of exhibits featured at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s National Museum in Washington D.C., on Wednesday, September 16, from noon until 1 p.m. as part of the museum’s Brown Bag History Series. September’s program is Masterpiece Quilts, an overview of extraordinary quilts and the women who made them from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Pictured is the Baltimore Album Quilt Top from the mid-19th century, a brilliant example of the quilts featured at the DAR National Museum that embodies “patriotism, liberty, and prosperity.”
Irene is a member of the Warrior Rivers Chapter of the DAR, which has partnered this year with the museum to bring interesting and informative virtual DAR exhibits to the community to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Irene is also an award-winning poet, author, and playwright who lives here in Blount County.
Bring your lunch, or not, and join in on what is sure to be a fascinating discussion of the quilters and quilts from America’s past.
Attendance is free and open to everyone. RSVP is encouraged but not required. To RSVP or for more information, contact the museum at 205-973-0465.
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FYI – Dr. Robert White, a professor in the Humanities Department at Alabama State University, was to speak on Wednesday, June 3, but the presentation has to be rescheduled. Please keep an eye out here or on the museum’s Facebook page for the new date.
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OTHER EVENTS
The Museum is happy to announce we will resume opening one Saturday each month (except July) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first Saturday will be June 27. Please note there are other events at the museum that day that you may want to attend. (See above)
Other Saturdays openings are August 22 and September 26.
BLOUNT COUNTY MEMORIAL MUSEUM & HISTORICAL SOCIETY 