Historic Savannah Foundation’s lecture series, “People, Places and Stories that Define Savannah,”  will feature lectures covering a wide range of speakers and topics. Each lecturer will give a presentation on a subject that falls within the realm of their expertise followed by a question-and-answer session.

Kathy Thomas & Pat West

Savannah’s Endangered African American Landmarks: Lifting the Stories of Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church and LePageville Memorial Cemetery

February 19 | 6:00 PM

In observance of Black History Month 2026, Historic Savannah Foundation will feature two under-represented stories in Savannah’s historical narratives. Kathy Thomas, executive director of The Friends of Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church, Inc. (FHNBC) will share the rich history of the Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church, the White Bluff/Coffee Bluff community, and its Gullah Geechee heritage. Attendees will discover the many ways to engage with the rehabilitation and reintroduction of this historic landmark as a significant chapter in telling the ‘whole story’ of a people and place in both local and American history. Then, Savannah State University Professor (Retired) Pat West will introduce participants to the overarching history of the LePageville Memorial Cemetery (LMC) and share some of the intriguing stories of its people and their burial places–now unmarked and endangered near downtown Savannah.  She will pull highlights that situate LMC pre-history back to the Revolutionary War, as plantations during enslavement, and as part of a living community until 1967. Both speakers will share the stories that led to their recognition as endangered historic sites in Savannah-Chatham County, Georgia by Historic Savannah Foundation.

This lecture will take place on Thursday, February 19 at the Murray C. Perlman and Wayne C. Spear Preservation Center, located at 323 E. Broughton Street. Doors open at 5:30 pm for a wine reception and the lecture begins at 6:00 pm. Admission is free for HSF members and $15 for non-members. Space is limited; both members and non-members may reserve their spot by clicking the button above. For more information about the lecture series, contact Kendall Graham at [email protected].

KATHY MIDDLETON THOMAS

Executive Director, Friends of Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church, Inc.

‘May the work that I’ve done, speak for me.’
Kathy has spent her entire career facilitating the development of people and organizations. She has held leadership positions across a range of industries including higher education, electric utilities, financial services and national defense. Prior to her retirement, Kathy served as Vice President, Learning & Development, Northrop Grumman Corporation.

She has served on various nonprofit boards including the American Red Cross of Hampton Roads, VA and the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA. Kathy is a Past President of the Philadelphia Club of Soroptimist International of the Americas, Inc. Currently, she serves as Historian for The Crusaders Club (est. 1954); the oldest continuously operating descendant community service organization in the historic White Bluff/Coffee Bluff community.

Kathy’s passion for historic preservation and community engagement is fueled by a deep-seated commitment to honor and preserve the legacy of her White Bluff /Coffee Bluff Gullah Geechee ancestral community and similarly situated communities across our city, state and nation.
Kathy holds an A.B. degree in Political Systems from Mount Holyoke College and an M.Ed. in Human Resource Development from George Washington University. Kathy has also achieved recognition for her participation in the City of Savannah’s 2025 inaugural Community Advancement Leadership Institute (CALI).

PAT WEST

Patricia Ann West is a native of Savannah, GA who retired as an Assistant Professor of English at Savannah State University in 2022. She is a 1976 alumnus of Savannah State University, holds a 1996 Master’s Degree in English Education from Georgia Southern University, and attained Doctoral Candidacy status at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Since 2005, she has presented at least 20 conference sessions in numerous states across the country from Beaufort, SC to Belize, Central America. She is the author of numerous newspaper articles, journal articles and book chapters. In 2020, she published her book Still Water Words: Poems and Stories from Ancestral Places, and in 2022 she co-authored the e-textbook Great Works of African American Literature through a grant from the University System of Georgia. In the Fall of 2022, The Journal of Museum Anthropology published her research essay, “The Total Picture: Activist Artist Virginia Jackson Kiah and the Black House Museum Beyond the Frame.” Additionally in 2022, the journal Women’s Studies published her article, “Ev’ry Shut Eye Ain’ Sleep: A Critical Race Awakening of Flannery O’Connor’s Artificial and Converged Characters in Crisis.” In May 2025, she presented ground-breaking research on the African American farm workers and house servants who influenced the writing of Flannery O’Connor before the American Literature Association Conference in Boston.

She brings attention to the beauty of her Gullah Geechee heritage and culture as a focus for literary scholarship through writing and performance. She has appeared in two stage productions of Blank Page Poetry directed by renowned artist Jerome Meadows in October, 2014 and in November 2018.
She gives back as a member of the SSU Community Booster Club in support of athletes, the SSU National Alumni Association, Historic Savannah Foundation, The Flannery O’Connor Society, the LePageville Memorial Cemetery Board of Directors, the National Council of Negro Women, the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, and lecturer for the Senior Learning Center. When able, she volunteered with the Ossabaw Island Foundation. She enjoys baking, gardening, photography, and above all writing researching history and family heritage. She is married to Stephen Gairn of New South Wales, Australia; and she is the mother of one awesome son, Dedan McClinton and a grandson, Dedan, Jr. with beautiful, kind, and creative souls.

SPECIAL TOUR:

Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church

February 21 | 10:00 AM

The Friends of Historical Nicholsonboro Baptist Church, Inc, (FHNBC) invite you to journey beyond the Historic District and step inside a nationally recognized Gullah Geechee historical sacred place of worship and community building, right here within in our city. Come and learn about the rich history of the Church and the White Bluff/Coffee Bluff community. Discover the many ways you can engage with the restoration and reintroduction of this historic landmark as a significant chapter in telling the ‘whole story’ of a people and place in both local and American history.

HSF is delighted to partner with Historical Nicholosonboro Baptist Church to offer a special tour of the church on Saturday, February 21 at 10:00 am. This tour is free and open to the public but space is limited. Please register by selecting the HSF member option (regardless of membership status) to secure your spot.

DON’T MISS OUR UPCOMING LECTURES & TOURS!

Mark your calendar and we hope to see you there!

Attendees are invited to a wine reception at 5:30 p.m. to meet & mingle with HSF members and staff. The discussion will start at 6 p.m.

We take a ‘lecture break’ in July and December.