Chautauqua Lecture Series: Lamb in His Bosom

On October 29, 1911, newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer died aboard his yacht in the Charleston, S.C., harbor. His destination had been his winter cottage on Jekyll Island. Several years later, through an endowment in his will, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to recognize excellence in journalism and the arts.

This summer, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Prize, the Society will explore connections between our state and the coveted award. In a series of five programs, scholars and authors will focus on winners in different categories and the impact of the Prize. The series will begin and end with lectures about early recipients: playwright Eugene O’Neill, winner of four Prizes for drama, who lived on Sea Island for four years; and Caroline Miller, 1934 winner for fiction, who paved the way for Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. The 1998 and 2007 Pulitzer Prize winners in History, both Georgia residents, will discuss the impact of the award on their careers, and Joseph Pulitzer’s biographer will tell the story of the ground-breaking publisher.

In preparation for our fifth and final program, we invite everyone to read Caroline Miller’s Lamb in His Bosom. On September 15, Dr. Pearl McHaney will discuss this Pulitzer Prize winning novel as a work of historical realism in its depiction of pioneers on the 19th century south Georgia frontier. She will also explore connections with the two other Georgia women who won the Prize for Fiction – Margaret Mitchell and Alice Walker. Dr. McHaney is Associate Dean for Fine Arts and Professor of English at Georgia State University. With a concentration in southern literature, she has written or edited four books about Eudora Welty and has given lectures around the world in an effort to acquaint international audiences with southern literature.  

The 2016 Lecture Series is sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors.