Brown Bag Series   

Part of OLLI’s highlighted U.S. 250 topics, this Brown Bag marks the nation’s 250th anniversary by returning to one of its defining texts: the Declaration of Independence. Steve Murray will explore how its words were crafted, debated, and preserved, and why they continue to shape conversations about liberty, citizenship, and the meaning of American democracy.

Steve Murray serves as Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, where he oversees the preservation and interpretation of Alabama’s historical records and heritage. A longtime advocate for public history, Murray has played key leadership roles in statewide historical initiatives and commemorations. His presentations bring history to life by connecting original documents and historical events to their lasting impact on American society.

Read about America 250 at Auburn University.

Join a group of fellow travelers as they share highlights from a two-week hiking journey across England. Through photographs and personal reflections, they will revisit historic walking routes, memorable landscapes, cultural discoveries, and the fellowship they experienced while exploring England on foot.

This winter, OLLI begins it's 10th year of hosting hiking groups. What began as a way to stay active and enjoy the outdoors has become a strong subcommunity of hikers who support and encourage each other to get out and explore.

A draft drawing preserved at Pebble Hill offers an intriguing connection to a finished work by nineteenth-century American artist George Fuller that is now on permanent display in Boston. Ray Radigan will explore Fuller’s Alabama drawings, including works that have never been published, and discuss plans to bring greater attention to the artist’s time and work in Alabama.

Ray Radigan is Curator and Assistant Director of Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880, the museum preserves and interprets an extensive collection of regional art, history, and culture. Radigan’s curatorial experience provides valuable insight into George Fuller’s work and artistic legacy.

Journalist and author Mike Marshall shares the remarkable true story behind his decades-long effort to solve the 1963 murder of civil rights activist William Moore, a white postal worker who was killed while walking from Washington, D.C., to Mississippi in support of racial equality. Blending investigative journalism, personal history, and civil rights history, Marshall examines one of the nation's last unsolved civil rights-era murders and the surprising discoveries that finally brought the case to light.

Mike Marshall is an award-winning journalist and author from Huntsville, Alabama. A longtime reporter for The Huntsville Times, he has won more than seventy state and national writing awards for his work covering Southern culture and history. His book No Place for Pilgrims: Solving the Murder of William Moore, the Last Cold Civil Rights Case chronicles his decades-long investigation into one of the last unsolved civil rights-era murders.

Step aboard Auburn University's GeoExplorer Lab, a mobile geoscience classroom designed to bring hands-on exploration directly to communities across Alabama. Led by Auburn geoscientists, this interactive program showcases innovative technologies used to study our world, including mapping, geographic information systems (GIS), drones, and citizen science. Participants will learn how geoscientists use these tools to investigate environmental challenges, understand communities, and inspire the next generation of explorers and problem-solvers.

Timothy Hawthorne, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Geosciences at Auburn University. A National Geographic Explorer and Fellow of the American Association of Geographers, he specializes in community geography and geospatial technologies, using innovative approaches to connect science, education, and public engagement.

Note: This presentation will be held at Sunny Slope - not at Pebble Hill.

Historian Susan Youngblood Ashmore explores the life and legacy of Lurleen Burns Wallace, who made history in 1966 as Alabama's first female governor. More than a stand-in for her politically powerful husband, George Wallace, Lurleen emerged as a compelling public figure in her own right. Drawing on historical research, Ashmore examines Wallace's groundbreaking campaign, her time in office, and what her rise to power reveals about Alabama politics, women’s leadership, and the changing South during the turbulent 1960s.

Susan Youngblood Ashmore is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of History at Oxford College of Emory University and a scholar of twentieth-century Southern history. An award-winning historian, she is the author of Carry It On: The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, 1964-1972 and has written extensively on Alabama politics, civil rights, and social change in the modern South.

In his debut poetry collection, Work Lunch, Alabama poet and musician Lee Bains draws on his experiences at the intersection of work and food, including the familiar daily ritual of a workday lunch. Moving from meat-and-threes and taquerías to fast-food chains, Bains explores family, labor, service, community, and the often contradictory nature of Southern culture and values.

Lee Bains is an Alabama poet, songwriter, and musician whose four albums with Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires blend punk rock with the sounds and traditions of the South. His debut poetry collection, Work Lunch, explores work, food, family, community, and Southern life through expansive, story-rich poems.

Bonsai artist and horticulturalist Zach Adamz will introduce the living art of bonsai during his residency with the Draughon Center. He will explore how horticultural knowledge, careful observation, artistic design, and patience come together to shape and sustain miniature trees.

Zach Adamz is the founder and owner of Komorebi Bonsai in Oxford, Mississippi. He began practicing bonsai in 2011 and has studied with leading American and international bonsai artists, including completing an apprenticeship at the Korea Bonsai Museum in Seoul. Today, Komorebi nurtures a collection of more than 500 trees and offers workshops, demonstrations, and individualized instruction.

Learn the story of “Alabama Heritage,” the state’s award-winning history magazine, and discover how it brings Alabama’s past to life in print and sound. Rebecca Todd Minder will explore the magazine’s beginnings, its evolution over the decades, and its commitment to sharing thoughtfully researched stories about the people, places, and traditions that shape Alabama.

This Brown Bag will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how stories are selected, how historians and writers collaborate, and how Alabama Heritage has expanded from the printed page to its popular podcast. Attendees will learn how the magazine honors the traditions of historical scholarship and storytelling while finding new ways to engage audiences—one page, one voice, and one story at a time.

Rebecca Todd Minder is director of Alabama Heritage, the state’s award-winning history magazine. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The University of Alabama, where her graduate studies focused on American studies and Southern popular culture. Her work helps bring Alabama history to broad audiences through carefully researched writing, compelling visuals, and audio storytelling.