Spring 2023
A View From the Mountain a newsletter from the Lillian E. Smith Center
This Issue 1 Jim Crow, The Holocaust,& Today 3 Writer-In-Service Award 4 Residency Awards
Jim Crow, The Holocaust, and Today Event For Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Lillian E. Smith Center hosted “Jim Crow, the Holocaust, and Today,” a panel discussion exploring the intersections between the Jim Crow South and Nazi Germany. The panel consisted of Dr. Thomas Aiello (Professor of History and Africana Studies at Valdosta State University), Dr. Chad Gibbs (Director of the Zucker/Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies at the College of Charleston) and Dr. Jelena Subotić (Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University) discussing the historical context and also the importance of knowing this history for today. The essay below is by our director Dr. Matthew Teutsch on the genesis of the panel and his reflections on it. ---------Why? Last summer, I led a directed study, with one student, on Jim Crow and the Holocaust. When the student mentioned to other people the topic of the class, they would stare and respond with one word, “Why?” A lot rests within that one-word question. Why study Jim Crow? Why study the Holocaust? Why think about the links between Jim Crow and the Holocaust? Why dig up the past? Why put yourself through the psychological pain of reading about it? Why come face to face with yourself? That question rests at the heart of that one word. It serves as the foundation for resistance to the exploration of the intersections between Jim Crow and the Holocaust here in the United States South because the illumination of those intersections, while informing us of historical facts, turns a mirror upon ourselves, revealing our own complicity in systems that did, and still, oppress individuals.
Planned Giving
Planned gifts are a perfect way to provide fellowships for artists in residence at the Center or scholarship funds for students enrolled in the Lillian E. Smith Scholars Program at Piedmont College. FOR MORE INFORMATION piedmont.edu/endowment-planned-giving Ann Sutton asutton@piedmont.edu | 706-894-4214 DIRECTOR OF LILLIAN E. SMITH CENTER Matthew Teutsch mteutsch@piedmont.edu | 706-894-4204
LES ADVISORY BOARD Marshall Criser, Chair Nannette Curran Nancy Smith Fichter Robert W. Fichter Margaret Rose Gladney Sue Ellen Lovejoy Susan Montgomery Tommye Scanlin John Siegel W. Austin Smith Stewart Smith John H. Templeton Bill Tribby