Local & State Headlines

Carter to speak on presidency

• Jimmy Carter to speak in Plains for Presidents' Day.

Susan McCord

PLAINS — Former President Jimmy Carter will speak about important moments in the Carter presidency during a Presidents’ Day event Monday at Plains High School Museum in Plains.

The event, featuring Carter and with remarks about the history of Presidents’ Day from Georgia Southwestern State University Professor Gary Kline, is the first of its kind for the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, Park Superintendent and Ranger Steve Theus said.

Starting at 10 a.m., Kline, chair of the university’s History and Political Science Department, will speak in the auditorium of the High School Museum, Theus said.

Carter’s speech, on “the Carter presidency’s greatest moments,” will follow, and afterward, audience members will be allowed to participate in a short question-and-answer session with the former president, Theus said.

Carter will be available to autograph his books, which are available for sale at the Eastern National Bookstore inside the museum, officials said.

Carter, 83, has written 27 books.

Presidents’ Day originated in the 1880s as a celebration connected with the birthday of George Washington, Kline said.

The first president of the United States was born Feb. 22, 1732.

The federal holiday, now celebrated on the third Monday in February later came to be associated with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, Kline said.

The 16th American president was born Feb. 12, 1809.

Today, U.S. states have varying celebrations, from Washington’s Birthday to Alabama’s Washington and Jefferson Day, Kline said.

“The fact is, most people don’t know much about Presidents’ Day,” he said. “Many think of it as a day when we find sales at the stores.”

All day Monday, the Plains Depot, which served as Carter’s 1976 campaign headquarters, will be open, as will the 1930s-era Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm, where special events such as blacksmithing demonstrations will go on throughout he day, Theus said.

Admission to the National Historic Site is free. For more information and school field trip information, call the site at (229) 824-4104.

More Headlines>>