Near Lumpkin in Stewart County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Westville Symposium / Academic Pioneers
Westville Symposium
On October 12, 1973 an informal group of fifty persons, having an interest in several areas of academic research, met at Westville's Yellow Creek campmeeting tabernacle for a three day symposium to discuss a subject of mutual concern. They came from across the nation to share information about evidence of transoceanic contacts between precolumbian Americans and ancient peoples of Europe, Asia and Africa.
A major problem was popular skepticism resulting from the scholarly dictum of NEBC (No Europeans Before Columbus).
Academic Pioneers
The first Westville Symposium on precolumbian transoceanic contacts was a significant event in American historiography and was followed by similar meetings here in 1974 and 1975. More than 150 people participated in this series of talks.
Many of those who assembled at Westville have become leaders in the revisionist movement in American history that has grown since that time. Although strongly resisted by conservatives, this new history promises a more accurate understanding of precolumbian Americans as an interacting component of world society and not as an isolated culturally backward segment of mankind as the NEBC school had taught.
Erected 1988 by Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Institute for the Study of American Cultures.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Exploration • Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical date for this entry is October 12, 1973.
Location. 32° 2.383′ N, 84° 47.1′ W. Marker is near Lumpkin, Georgia, in Stewart County. Marker is on Forsyth Street (entrance to Westville Village), 0.4 miles east of Westville Village Museum Store. The marker is on a walking trail, near the Arbor at Westville Village. Westville Village is located one-half mile south of Lumpkin on Martin Luther King Drive. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1850 Martin Luther King Drive, Lumpkin GA 31815, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Stewart County Academy and Masonic Building (approx. 0.9 miles away); Lumpkin and Stewart County (approx. one mile away); County Courthouse (approx. one mile away); Our Soldiers (approx. one mile away); Bedingfield Inn (approx. one mile away); John Wellborn Root Birthplace Site (approx. one mile away); Masonic Female College (approx. 1.2 miles away); Providence Canyons (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lumpkin.
More about this marker. This marker was once located at the entrance to Westville Village from the parking lot. Prior to 2003 it was relocated to its present location.
Also see . . . Historic Westville. New Georgia Encyclopedia website entry:
Historic Westville is a living history museum that asks the visitor to “travel back in time” to the year 1850. (Submitted on January 4, 2024, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 22, 2009, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. This page has been viewed 1,368 times since then and 40 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 22, 2009, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker in context. • Can you help?