James Oglethorpe, the British Army officer and politician best known for founding the colony of what became the U.S. state of Georgia, also left a less-familiar legacy: he was among the first white men in North America to stand against chattel slavery. 

It’s a provocative case that Michael Thurmond makes in his new book, James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder’s Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist. Thurmond will discuss his work on Wednesday, September 18, at book talks and signings hosted by Middle Georgia State University’s (MGA’s) Center for Middle Georgia Studies in partnership with the Middle Georgia Regional Library.  

At the University, the book signing will take place from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, September 18, at the Center for Middle Georgia Studies on the first floor of the Macon Campus Library. At 11 a.m., Thurmond will discuss his book in MGA’s School of Arts & Letters auditorium. 

On the same day at Washington Memorial Library near downtown Macon, Thurmond’s book signing, and talk is scheduled for 2 to 3:30 p.m.  

The events at both locations are free and open to the public. * Copies of the books will be available for purchase.  

Thurmond is the Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County, Ga., an attorney, and author of several books on historical topics. His new book originated in 1997 when he visited Oglethorpe’s tomb outside of London as the only Black member of a Georgia delegation’s trip to England. 

According to a February 2024 Associated Press article, Thurmond was stunned by an inscription on Oglethorpe’s tomb, which read, “He was the friend of the Oppressed Negro.” Although Thurmond knew that Oglethorpe had tried unsuccessfully to keep slaves out of the Georgia colony, historians “widely agreed he was concerned for the safety and self-sufficiency of white settlers rather than the suffering of enslaved Africans.” 

But Thurmond spent the next nearly three decades digging deeper. And through his book, published earlier this year by University of Georgia Press, he “makes a case that Oglethorpe evolved to revile slavery and, unlike most white Europeans of his time, saw the humanity in enslaved Africans,” the AP article reads. 

Thurmond holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion from Paine College and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina’s School of Law. Thurmond also completed the Political Executive’s Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 1986, Thurmond became the first African American elected to the Georgia General Assembly from Athens/Clarke County since Reconstruction. In 1998, he was elected Georgia labor commissioner. In 2020, the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council awarded Thurmond a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the research and preservation of African American Georgia history. 

For more information about the book talk, contact Dr. Kristie Roberts-Lewis, executive director of MGA’s Center for Middle Georgia Studies, at [email protected].