Revolutionary Legacies Speaker Series

Pebble Hill in collaboration with the Department of History

February - April 2026

Together, Pebble Hill and the Department of History will launch a speaker series, Revolutionary Legacies, that features three faculty members talking about the legacies of the Revolution on their area of expertise, including journalism, law and public health. The Auburn faculty include assistant professor Autumn Linford from the School of Communication and Journalism and Professor Steve Brown from the Department of Political Science.

The first speaker will include professor Andy Wehrman, a historian of medicine at Central Michigan University, whose lecture will also be included in the Medical and Health Humanities Speaker Series.

“Rendering the Practice of Inoculation as Universal as Possible”: The Public Health Legacy of the American Revolution

The first speaker will include Professor Andy Wehrman, a historian of medicine at Central Michigan University, whose lecture will also be included in the Medical and Health Humanities Speaker Series.

Andrew Wehrman, Professor of History, Central Michigan University

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

4:00 - 5:00 pm | Tichenor 215

America’s Founding Fathers on the Importance of a Free Press

The founding fathers prioritized a free press as essential to democracy. Come find out why Thomas Jefferson said if he had to choose between a government without journalism or journalism without government, he would “not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

Autumn Linford, Assistant Professor of Communication, Auburn University

Tuesday, March 2, 2026

4:00 - 5:00 pm | Tichenor 215

Law and the American Revolution

Over a span of 150 years, people in British America developed a conception of legal rights, personal liberties, and citizen participation that was very different from that held by George III, members of Parliament, and others who lived an ocean away. That colonial conception would not only spark the Revolutionary War but would go on to inform the subsequent drafting of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and continues to influence each of us today.

Steve Brown, Professor of Political Science, Auburn University

Tuesday, April 13, 2026

4:00 - 5:00 pm | Tichenor 215

Public Talks at Pebble Hill (Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for Arts & Humanities)

College of Liberal Arts

Spring 2026

  1. OLLI Course, Winter Term, 2026: "US 250: Perspectives from Auburn University History Faculty,” in collaboration with AU History Department

  2. 6th Grade Teacher Workshop on U.S. Independence and Creating U.S. Government, in collaboration with Auburn Public Schools

  3. Public talks with guest True Lewis on “My True Roots to the American Revolution,” in collaboration with Opelika chapter of NAACP and Elmore County History Museum

  4. Constitution Day Lecture with Dr. John Fea, Messiah University, in collaboration with AU History and AU Libraries