Olaudah Equiano published one of the earliest known slave narratives, The Interesting Narrative, in London in 1789. The work chronicles his years of enslavement, which he spent sailing trade ships both at sea and along the Savannah River. Equiano purchased his freedom in 1766 and traveled widely thereafter. From The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, by O. Equiano 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 entrance to Howard Finster's outdoor sculpture garden, Paradise Garden, in Chattooga County features a concrete wall embedded with small toys, shards of glass and pottery, and various other found objects. Photograph by Sarah E. McKee, New Georgia Encyclopedia 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.

Detail from an 1868 Thomas Nast illustration. The monument reads, "The whipping post - hunted down with blood hounds - slavery for years - branded and manacled -- the auction block -- husband and wife, parent and child, sold apart. Daughters, mothers, wives, and sisters ruined." Nast aimed to arouse sympathy for freedpeople following emancipation. From the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture View on source site

The George Foster Peabody Award is given annually by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia to honor "distinguished achievement and meritorious service" by individuals, networks, stations, and organizations in the media industry. Courtesy of University of Georgia Photographic Services 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.

Once Georgia’s third largest town, Petersburg, located in the forks of the Broad and Savannah rivers in Elbert County, is now submerged under the waters of Clarks Hill Lake. During prolonged droughts, or when lake levels are down, it is possible to walk along the site and see the remnants of what was, from the 1780s to the 1820s, a thriving frontier community. Early History of Site Before the founding of Petersburg, the naturalist William Bartram traveled through the area and left his account of Fort James, a small British outpost located on the town’s future site and named after Georgia’s colonial governor, James Wright.