The Georgia humorists were early-nineteenth-century writers who published satiric sketches about the lawlessness and debauchery of frontier conditions in antebellum Georgia. Mostly lawyers, newspaper editors, and other professional men, they included Augustus Baldwin Longstreet (1790-1870), William Tappan Thompson (1812-82), and John Basil Lamar (1812-62). Lesser-known writers were T. A. Burke, T. W. Lane, Oliver H. Prince, and Francis James Robinson. More conservative than the later writers who followed the southwestern expansion of the frontier toward the Mississippi River (such Southwest humorists as Johnson Jones Hooper of Alabama, Thomas Bangs Thorpe of Louisiana, and George Washington Harris of Tennessee), the Georgia humorists strove to protect plantation society from further erosion by satirizing the earthiness, deceit, and violence of the frontier.

Founded in 1882 by the Gospel Pilgrim Society, the Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens, GA provided burial spaces for formerly enslaved individuals. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print. All requests for permission to publish or reproduce the resource must be submitted to the rights holder. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qLHOq56imZWjsLqvy6innpyZlnuwvsZomKusmZi5pr%2BOmqmtq12Ywq3A1KucaJqclrCsecKepJ6slae2pr%2BOoKasqJWherG1y6CpoqVdZX1yew%3D%3D

An 1866 tobacco label depicts Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his crew being welcomed ashore by Native Americans. De Soto entered Georgia twice in 1540, encountering the Altamaha, Capachequi, Coosa, Ichisi, Ocute, Patofa, Toa, and Ulibahali chiefdoms during his travels in the area. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

The Reverend Howard Finster emerged from the rural Appalachian culture of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia to become one of America’s most important creative personalities in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He was a visionary artist in various visual media as well as a poet and a musician, and his creative output and cultural influence were enormous. Although he has been called “the Picasso of folk artists,” his fusion of tradition and innovation makes the label “folk artist” insufficient.

Beginning in 1971, James Blanchard served as the chief executive officer of Synovus, a Columbus-based financial services company. Blanchard is credited with leading the company into its greatest period of growth and profitability. In 2003 he was named Georgian of the Year by Georgia Trend magazine. Courtesy of Synovus The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.