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Please select your free admission tickets below. Tickets are General Admission. Seats are not assigned or reserved.
Reception at the Northeast Georgia History Center
We encourage you to join us after the screening for a reception at the Northeast Georgia History Center where fascinating artifacts related to FDR's time in Gainesville will be on display. Light refreshments will be provided and guests will be welcome to tour the exhibits and galleries. Tickets for the reception are $10 and support the Northeast Georgia History Center's mission to be a community resource for history education.
Details of the Event
The Northeast Georgia History Center proudly presents a free screening of the award-winning documentary A President in our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia at the John S. Burd Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, April 20th, from 2-4 PM. This event is free to the public thanks to the support and sponsorship of Jackson EMC.
Filmed in 2020 and premiered at the Little White House on April 12, 2021, A President in our Midst has won several awards for excellence. Created in collaboration with Georgia Humanities and Georgia Public Broadcasting, this one-hour documentary received the Bronze Telly in 2022 as well as the Southern Film Festival's People's Choice Best Film in 2021. Filmed by Georgia State University TV, the documentary, based on the book by Kaye Minchew, was filmed throughout Georgia and tells the story of FDR's relationship to the state.
Executive Producer Dan White, who will be a special guest panelist at the event, adds, “Serving as Executive Producer of this film and engaging the talents of over 100 Georgians in its creation was a wonderful experience. I hope people seeing this film will appreciate the story of FDR in Georgia and its national implications.”
Dr. Hal Raper of the Little White House Advisory Committee will open the program by portraying FDR as he delivers a speech the president gave in Gainesville in 1938. A discussion panel will be held after the screening with Dan White and Abit Massey, Member of the Little White House Advisory Committee.
Massey comments on the direct connection to FDR and Gainesville sharing:
“President Roosevelt visited and toured Gainesville three days after the horrible tornado in 1936 and pledged his support to restore Gainesville and construct new city and county buildings. He returned in March 1938 to dedicate the buildings before a massive crowd at what is now Roosevelt Square and referred to the “good people of Gainesville.” Georgia was his adopted state, and he was pleased to receive an honorary degree from the University of Georgia in August 1938. It is great to have Jackson EMC as our Sponsor given that Warm Springs was the birthplace of REA/EMC from which rural electrification spread across Georgia and the United States.”
Following the screening, a reception will be held at the Northeast Georgia History Center, directly across the street, where guests may view special artifacts from FDR's time in Gainesville. The reception offers light refreshments, admission to the museum’s exhibits and galleries, and the chance to speak with our special guests. Tickets for the reception are $10 and support the Northeast Georgia History Center.