First Sunday Lecture Series

Tunis Campbell: Reconstruction Politician
by William Marchione
Sunday, February 2, 2025
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room
Light refreshments will be served.

Tunis Campbell was the highest-ranking and most influential African American politician in nineteenth-century Georgia. Born to free black parents in New Jersey in 1812, Campbell worked as an abolitionist often sharing a stage with Frederick Douglass. After the Civil War, he worked for the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia and served as vice president of the Republican Party of Georgia. As a justice of the peace, a minister, and a politician, he worked to protect the rights of freed African Americans during Reconstruction.

The Sunday Lecture Series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

First Sunday Lecture SPECIAL EVENT

Photo Credit: Andreoli

Mrs. Lincoln: The First “First Lady”!

Starring Laura F. Keyes, as Mary Todd Lincoln
Sunday, April 13, 2025
3 pm
Smyrna Community Center, Magnolia Room
1250 Powder Springs St, Smyrna, GA 30080

Tickets are $35 and include an Afternoon Tea Service.

BUY TICKETS on Eventbrite

Tickets are also available at the Smyrna Public Library Circulation Desk.

Mary Todd Lincoln lived a life filled with triumphs and tragedies, but few people know her story. Now, librarian Laura Keyes shares Mary’s story in an entertaining and educational program entitled “Mrs. Lincoln: The First ‘First Lady,’” focusing on the life and losses of Mrs. Lincoln, set on April 14, 1865.

This program depicts an extraordinarily important time in our nation’s history from a point of view that is not often explored. Learn how Mary Lincoln influenced monumental events in her lifetime and why her story is still relevant today.

Biography: Laura Keyes graduated from UW-Madison with a Master’s Degree in Library Studies, and is Director of the Dunlap Public Library. Laura is a lifetime member of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, and recently won the Mary Todd Lincoln Oratory Contest at the Lincoln Days celebration in Hodgenville, KY.

If you are interested in volunteering for the event planning committee, please email FOSLvols@gmail.com

The Sunday Lecture Series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

Photo Credit: Andreoli

First Sunday Lecture Series

Hiking Atlanta's Hidden Forests
by Zana Pouncey
Sunday, June 1, 2025
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room

Presenter: Zana Pouncey, author of “Hiking Metro Atlanta's Hidden Forests: An Hour or Less from Downtown”

Think Atlanta is just asphalt? Discover a greener side of the city and gain a fresh perspective on exploring its secret trails. Whether you are an avid hiker or just looking for an escape into nature, outdoor leader and environmentalist Zana Pouncey will help you discover the secret historical ruins, urban art, and old-growth forests all within an hour from downtown Atlanta.

Zana Pouncey is an outdoor enthusiast and intersectional environmentalist who believes in an accessible approach to exploring the outdoors. Although she's hiked in some of the most remote and rugged places in the Western hemisphere, the trails near home are closest to her heart.

Light refreshments will be served.

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library

First Sunday Lecture Series

Coins & Currency in Times of Strife
by Jeff Jones
Sunday, June 22, 2025
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room

This lecture supports the "Coins & Currency in Times of Strife" exhibit that will be on exhibit in the 2nd Floor Display Gallery for the months of May and June.

The impacts to coins & currency due to the major events between 1900 and 1970 will be discussed on the following topics:

Lead-Up to WWI 1900 to 1913
   o European Nationalism and Asia-Pacific Conflicts
   o Colonial Empire Competition

WW1 1914 to 1919
   o War in Europe
   o Aftermath of Treaty of Versailles

Interwar Years 1920 to 1939
   o Roaring 20s for Victors - Hyperinflation for Losers
   o Rise of Imperial Japan & Fascism in Europe
   o Colonial Empires

WW2 1939 to 1952
   o WWII
   o Allied Occupation (Europe, Japan)

Postwar Years 1953 to 1970
   o Western Europe Post War Prosperity Commemoratives
   o Eastern Europe Post War Iron Curtain
   o Collapse of Colonial Empires
   o Cessation of Minting of Silver Coins

Light refreshments will be served.

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library

First Sunday Lecture Series

The City That Never Was: Fact and Fallacy in the Early History of Smyrna, Georgia, 1872-1910
Sunday, August 3, 2025
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room
Light refreshments will be served.

Presenter, Dr. William P. Marchione, author of A Brief History of Smyrna, Georgia (History Press, 2013)
The identity of Smyrna’s mayors and city council members serving in the 1872 to 1900 period has long been a matter of conjecture. The traditional explanation for this informational void holds that a fire destroyed Smyrna’s earliest city records.

This lecture turns to another source for an explanation of the absence of this information---the several hundred of regularly published Smyrna news columns that appeared in the pages of Cobb County’s chief newspaper, the Marietta Journal in those years. A close analysis of these news columns establishes, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Smyrna, though authorized by its Charter of 1872 to establish a functioning municipal government, never did so.

This leads to a host of questions. What forces were behind the 1872 incorporation initiative? What was the role of the powerful W&A Railroad in fostering the incorporation venture? What were the resident sponsors of Smyrna’s 1872 incorporation hoping to achieve? Most importantly, why were the provisions of Smyrna’s 1872 act of incorporation never approved by Smyrna's body politic? And finally, what alterations in the economic and political climate made the establishment of a functioning municipal government feasible 28 years later, in 1900, but in the context of radically reduced municipal boundaries?

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

First Sunday Lecture - Author Appearance

Author Appearance
by To Be Announced
August TBD, 2025
Time TBD
Reed House
3080 Atlanta Rd SE, Smyrna, GA 30080
Light refreshments will be served.

Check back soon for more information.

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

First Sunday Lecture Series

Smyrna and the Railroad: The People Who Ran (and Rode) the Trains
Sunday, September 7, 2025
3:00 p.m.
Smyrna Public Library, Meeting Room
Light refreshments will be served.

Railroads didn’t just pass through Smyrna. Many in the area depended on them for their livelihoods. Whether holding high-profile positions such as a conductor or meeting your spouse because of the streetcar, railroads played a role in many lives. This presentation will look at some of the lesser-known railroad stories throughout history.

Speaker: Todd DeFeo has written extensively about railroads, authoring several unique railroad books, including histories of the Atlanta Northern Railway, the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad and the Western & Atlantic Railroad. His presentations include rare and well-researched anecdotes to bring the stories of those impacted by railroads to life. His book, Built for High Speed: A Brief History of the Atlanta Northern Railway, is available for check out from Smyrna Public Library.

The Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.

First Sunday Lecture Series

This Old House: Researching Your Home
Sunday, October 5, 2025
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Smyrna Library, Meeting Room
Light refreshments will be served.

Architectural Historians Rebekah Helfgot and Jennifer Corcoran will discuss how to research the history of your house. They will explain how you can explore the physical and social history of your home or neighborhood and what resources are available to you. They will present research on two local houses as examples and will explain how you can find similar information for your home. There will also be time for questions to get your research started.

Speaker biographies:

Jennifer Corcoran is an architectural historian and NEPA planner for Jacobs Engineering. She has a Master’s degree in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design from Florida State University. She primarily works on environmental and cultural resource documentation for GDOT projects. She lives in a compact Ranch house in Cheney Woods and has been a Smyrna resident for 19 years. She is married and has one child at Campbell High School plus one pup named Apollo. Her favorite thing about Smyrna is living in a walkable neighborhood with school, restaurants, and entertainment close by.

Rebekah Helfgot is an architectural historian for AECOM. She has a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation and a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and History, from the University of Georgia. She works on architectural history surveys and historic evaluations for GDOT projects. She lives in a twenty-first century townhouse in Montclair and has been a Smyrna resident for 4 years. She is married and shares her space with 2 cats, Zoe and Eliot. Her favorite thing about Smyrna are the city events and facilities.

Sunday Lectures are sponsored by the Friends of Smyrna Library.