FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2024

CONTACT: Robin Gunn
Ossabaw Island Foundation
robin@ossabawisland.org
912-272-1448 (mobile/text)

SAVANNAH – Dr. Paul M. Pressly will share the newly-found histories of Titus from Ossabaw Island, and his predecessors Betty and Hercules, in a free lecture discussing his new book A Southern Underground Railroad: Black Georgians and the Promise of Spanish Florida and Indian Country (University of Georgia Press, 2024).

The lecture will be held Thursday, September 26, 6:00 pm at The Armstrong Center on the Georgia Southern/Armstrong Campus, 13040 Abercorn Street. It is hosted by the Ossabaw Island Foundation and Education Alliance. Following the lecture, books will be available for purchase and signing.

A Southern Underground Railroad describes how and why hundreds of enslaved coastal Georgia Black people risked their lives and escaped to freedom-by heading south to the freedom promised by Spanish Florida, over 100 miles south of Savannah on the Atlantic coast. Pressly’s research explores how and why the Southeast, especially the Georgia coast, provided a vital connecting link between the Black self-emancipation that occurred during the American Revolution and the emergence of the Underground Railroad in the final years of the antebellum period.

His highly readable prose gives life to many Black individuals who escaped enslavement, and who assisted hundreds of others in their quests for liberty, both by sea and by land. Pressly shows how their movement across cultural and international borders, compelled by personal desire for self-determination, was an integral part of the larger, sustained struggle for political dominance between the newly-formed United States, the Spanish colonies in Florida, and the Seminole and Creek indigenous nations that were being systematically pushed out of their homeland.

Paul M. Pressly is Director Emeritus of the Ossabaw Island Education Alliance, a partnership of the University System of Georgia and the Ossabaw Island Foundation. For 23 years he was Headmaster of Savannah Country Day School. Pressly has written or served as co-editor for three award-winning books on Georgia history.

“Pressly brilliantly brings [the people] to life with so many details within the larger context. …Rich and gripping.” — Sylviane A. Diouf, author of Slavery’s Exiles: The Story of the American Maroons

To pre-order books for the event, click here: https://ossabawisland.org/store/product/a-southern-underground-railroad-by-dr-paul-m-pressly/

What: Lecture and Book Signing by Dr. Paul M. Pressly

When: Thursday, Sept. 26, 6:00pm

Where: The Armstrong Center, 13040 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31419

Admission: Free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Hosts: The Ossabaw Island Foundation and Education Alliance

Media Availability:

For general media inquiries:

Robin Gunn, Project Coordinator, robin@ossabawisland.org; 912-272-1448 (mobile)

For interviews:

Paul Pressly, pmpressly@gmail.com; 912-398-2651 (mobile)

Elizabeth DuBose, Executive Director, Ossabaw Island Foundation: elizabeth@ossabawisland.org; 912-344-3900 (office)

Paul Pressly discusses his book A Southern Underground Railroad during a 2024 lecture.

Credit: Courtesy of the Ossabaw Island Foundation

ABOUT THE OSSABAW ISLAND FOUNDATION: The Ossabaw Island Foundation (TOIF) is a non-profit 501 (c)3. Through a partnership with the State of Georgia, TOIF inspires, promotes, and manages exceptional educational, cultural, and scientific programs that are designed to maximize the experience of Ossabaw Island, while minimizing the impact on the island’s resources. For more information visit ossabawisland.org.