Participant Info

First Name
Barbara
Last Name
Spence Orsolits Ph.D.
Affiliation
Independent Scholar
Website URL
Keywords
British Atlantic World History, Barbados, Rice Cultivation, Slavery, Drayton Hall, Palladian Architecture, Andre Michaux, Historic Landscapes, Ferme Ornee, Landscapes of Slavery, Women's History and Kinship Ties, Southern Men and Honor, Historic Preservation of Charleston, Public History, Archaeology of Drayton Hall, Crowfield Plantation. The Holocaust and the Landscape of Genocide: Latvia and Riga.
Additional Contact Information

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

I am currently an Independent Scholar based in Smyrna, Georgia.  In, 1977, I attained a Bachelors of Arts from Indiana University in History.  From 1977 to 2019, I was employed by Delta Air Lines as a Flight Attendant. I flew as a Purser on International Flights and also served as a member of Delta’s Conflict Resolution Team and Critical Incident Response Team.

From 2001 to 2004, I was a graduate student at Georgia State University in the Heritage Preservation Program.  I was awarded a Master of Heritage Preservation in 2004, with a concentration in Public History and Museum Studies. I worked for The National Park Service/Historic Landmark Program from 2001 to 2004.  In addition, I conducted historic research on Drayton Hall’s Historic Landscape and also the connection with Andre Michaux. I also worked as a research assistant for James Cothran ASLA on the history of Loutrel Briggs and Charleston’s Historic Gardens.

In 2005, I began the Doctoral Program in History at Georgia State University with a concentration in Southern History, British Atlantic World History, and the History of Women and Gender. I began research on the Drayton Paper’s Collection, which is a digital record of all the Drayton family of Drayton Hall’s papers from 1702 to the twentieth century.

Currently, I describing and arranging the papers of Austin Ford, which will be housed at The Atlanta History Center. Ford was a Episcopal priest, who was active in the Civil Rights Movement and founded Emmaus House in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Recent Publications
Media Coverage
Country Focus
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Colonial North America
Expertise by Geography
Atlantic, British Isles, Caribbean, Eastern Europe, England, France, Russia, United States
Expertise by Chronology
17th century, 18th century, 19th century, 20th century
Expertise by Topic
American Civil War, American Revolution, American Founding Era, Art & Architectural History, Capitalism, Colonialism, Emancipation, Environment, Gender, Genocide, Holocaust & Nazi Persecution, Human Rights, Material Culture, Medicine, Museums, Public History, Race, Rural & Agrarian History, Slavery, Women, World War II