Vanderbilt’s libraries, the Vanderbilt University Press, and Middle Tennessee State University Center for Historic Preservation are teaming up to offer two zoom webinars in the month of April on the legacy of John Donelson and James Robertson. We hope you will register to be part of these discussions. For more information, contact ACE@vanderbilt.edu.
April 9, 2021, 12:00-1:00pm: Voyage of the Adventure
In 2016, artist John Guider followed the journey John Donelson and his party began from the shores of the Holston River in 1779 to the French Lick above the Cumberland River. Donelson’s plan was to bring a flotilla of settlers to the area now known as Nashville to reconnoiter with James Robertson, who was taking a land route to the area. Donelson’s party included a large number of enslaved people and the route they took led them through lands occupied by Native Americans. Guider’s photographs of his experience inspired an Emmy Award-winning documentary of the trip, directed by Will Pedigo for Nashville Public Television.
In 2020, the Vanderbilt University Press published Voyage of the Adventure: Retracing the Donelson Party’s Journey to the Founding of Nashville with Guider’s photographs and a series of essays by scholars who bring new perspectives on the legacy of the historic voyage. The book’s writers, including Dr. Carroll Van West, Dr. Learotha Williams, Jeff Sellers, Albert Bender and John Guider, himself will come together on April 9 for this lunchtime discussion on the legacy of John Donelson. Registrants will receive a discount code to purchase the book from the Vanderbilt University Press at a special rate.