Fort Frederica National Monument Superintendent Mary Beth Wester is pleased to announce an upcoming program highlighting the continuum of history on the Georgia Coast. On Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 5:30 pm, historian Jon Burpee will present a program entitled Frederica, 1736. This illustrated talk will focus on the 1736 settlers of Fort Frederica and their first year in their new home. The program will include information about the hardships of the voyage crossing the Atlantic Ocean. This journey brought the settlers from the hardscape of London to the nearly tropical St. Simons Island in the new colony of Georgia. Upon arrival, the settlers encountered a land that was difficult and poised on the edge of the opposing Spanish Empire. Throughout the year they transformed old fields used by the natives for agriculture into a small English village.
This year is the 275th anniversary of the founding of Fort Frederica. Burpee serves as the Chief of Interpretation at Fort Frederica National Monument. He has been a park ranger for the National Park Service since 1996 and has served at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Death Valley National Park and the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. He is a graduate of the University of Washington.
The Coasters Lecture Series is a cooperative partnership between the National Park Service and the St. Simons Island Coasters.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
