The next meeting of the Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the Cumming Playhouse in Cumming, Forsyth County, GA. The 1923 Cumming School was restored and reopened to the public in July 2004. In 2000 the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places through the efforts of the Historical Society of Forsyth County under the leadership of Annette Bramblett. In addition to the Playhouse, this historic building houses the Historical Society headquarters, the Bell Research Center, a 2000-book library of Southern history, replicas of 1930s – 1950s classrooms and a garden of native plants.
     The speaker at this meeting will be Don Shadburn, Forsyth County historian, author and retired teacher. Some of his books are “Pioneer History of Forsyth County, Georgia”, “Cherokee Planters in Georgia, 1832 – 1838” and “Unhallowed Intrusion: A History of Cherokee Families in Forsyth County, Georgia”. “Unhallowed Intrusion” received the first Lilla Mills Hawes Award presented by the Georgia Historical Society for the most outstanding regional history published in 1993 – 1994.
     The Online Research Database (TOTAbase) will go “live" on March 8th. You must be a paid 2008 Georgia Chapter member in order to get a password to get into the database. The database uses Google Earth to identify Cherokee sites in north Georgia.
     The Trail of Tears Association and its major partner, the National Park Service, are dedicated to identifying and preserving sites associated with the removal of Native Americans from the Southeast. We are also committed to educating the public about this tragic period in our country’s history. The TOTA was created to support the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail established by an act of Congress in 1987. The Association consists of nine state chapters representing the nine states that the Cherokee and other tribes traveled through on their way to present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma. The forced removal of the Cherokee was completed in 1838.
     You need not be a member to attend our chapter meetings nor have Indian heritage, just an interest and desire to learn more about this fascinating subject. There is no fee to attend. For more information about the TOTA, visit the National website at www.nationaltota.org or the Georgia Chapter website at www.gatrailoftears.org. For questions about the TOTA or the March meeting, contact Linda Baker at 770-704-6338 or badnil@alltel.net.
     The Cumming Playhouse is located at 101 School Street in downtown Cumming. For directions call 770-781-9178 or visit the Playhouse website at www.playhousecumming.com. HOPE YOU CAN ATTEND!!