07 LC 96
2464
Senate
Resolution 420
By:
Senators Harp of the 29th and Staton of the 18th
A
RESOLUTION
Recognizing
Georgia authors and urging educators to increase school curricula based on
Georgia authors; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
the American South has been long recognized as one of the world's richest
grounds for literary talent, and Georgia has an international reputation for its
diverse tradition of profound and influential writers; and
WHEREAS,
Georgia has been the home to a wealth of acclaimed poets, novelists, and
journalists, such as the members of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, including
Conrad Aiken, Elias Boudinot, Erskine Caldwell, President Jimmy Carter, Pat
Conroy, Harry Crews, James Dickey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Henry W. Grady, Joel Chandler
Harris, Terry Kay, John O. Killens, Martin Luther King, Jr., Sidney Lanier,
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet, Carson McCullers, Ralph McGill, Margaret Mitchell,
Flannery O'Connor, Byron Herbert Reece, Jean Toomer, Lillian Smith, Alice
Walker, and Frank Yerby; and
WHEREAS,
Georgia has been graced by a number of great playwrights such as Margaret Edson,
Frank Manley, and Alfred Uhry, the author of "Driving Miss Daisy";
and
WHEREAS,
countless generations of readers throughout the world have applauded the
profound artistry of the great works of fiction that have been written in or
about Georgia such as
Cane
by Jean Toomer,
The Color
Purple by Alice Walker,
Deliverance
by James Dickey,
Gone With the
Wind by Margaret Mitchell,
The Heart Is a
Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers,
Jubilee
by Margaret Walker,
A Man in
Full by Tom Wolfe,
Strange
Fruit by Lillian Smith,
Swamp
Water by Vereen Bell,
God's Little
Acre by Erskine Caldwell,
Wise
Blood by Flannery O'Connor,
The Waiting
Time by Eugenia Price, and
Run with the
Horsemen by Dr. Ferrol Sams, Jr.;
and
WHEREAS,
Georgia has also been the subject of a number of great works of nonfiction such
as I Am a
Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! by
Robert Elliott Burns,
Killers of the
Dream by Lillian Smith,
Midnight in
the Garden of Good and Evil by John
Berendt,
Ecology of a
Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray, and
Mama Makes Up
Her Mind by Bailey White; and
WHEREAS,
literature is deeply entwined in the roots of Georgia culture, and a familiarity
with the writings of Georgia authors is critical to a thorough understanding of
Georgia history.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that Georgia authors and the rich
literary tradition of Georgia are hereby recognized and that the Board of
Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of
Education are hereby urged to consider adding curricula on Georgia authors that
is grade-level appropriate.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Board of Regents of
the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Education.