FIrst Sunday Lecture: First Women - Culture and Change Among the Creek and Cherokee

Thank you, Jennie Eldredge, for presenting “First Women: Culture and Change Among the Creek and Cherokee” at last Sunday’s First Sunday Lecture.  

The very informative lecture discussed the roles of women in Cherokee and Muscogee Creek cultures both before and after relocation. The shared ancestry of both groups in Georgia and how women anchored these matrilineal groups throughout their history was discussed in detail.

Jennie Eldredge has been the Museum Manager for the City of Smyrna since October of 2017, overseeing the Museum and 3 historic cemeteries. She graduated from Georgia State University with a BA in Anthropology, and an M.A. in Heritage Preservation. 

“The Mississippian Era Around Us” Now on Exhibit in Galleries Through December

The Smyrna Public Library Art & Display Galleries feature “The Mississippian Era Around Us” through December 31, 2024.  The exhibit is located on the second floor. 

In honor of Native American Heritage Month (November), the Smyrna Museum and Smyrna Public Library bring you a photo exhibit showcasing two Mississippian Era sites in Georgia, Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site. The Mississippian Period in Georgia archaeology stretches from AD. 800 A.D. to 1600 and is characterized by complex societies that built large, earthen platform mounds. 

Museum Manager, Jennie Eldredge and Library Associate Jennifer Moore visited Ocmulgee Mounds in May of 2024 and Etowah in October 2024 and captured views of the structures around these spectacular parks. The images are presented here with informative signage to introduce viewers to the monuments built by Native Americans in the Georgia area over hundreds of years. Both the Cherokee Nation and Muscogee Creek Nation who later occupied the Smyrna area are descended from these Mississippian peoples.

The Smyrna Museum is a city owned property and collection that is housed in a reconstruction of the train depot that was located on Atlanta Road until the 1950s. Beginning with the Native American period of Smyrna history, visitors are taken on a chronological tour of the city's history with over 100 objects on display. Museum Manager and Cobb native, Jennie Eldredge, has been overseeing the museum since 2017. She holds a master's degree in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University.