2014 Meeting Programs
October 2nd Program Details
Featured Speaker: Mr. Billy Yeargin
"Tobacco in Granville County"
Billy Yeargin, a Granville County native, will be the guest speaker for the October 2 meeting of the Granville County Genealogical Society at 6:30 p.m. in the large conference room of the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford. The topic of his presentation will be the history and culture of tobacco in Granville County.
Mr. Yeargin received a Master's Degree in Liberal Arts from Duke University. He also studied at the University of Oxford in England, earning four certificates in the area of European History, Politics and Society. He did his undergraduate work at UNC.
Yeargin currently teaches "Southern Culture" at Duke University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He is also a lecturer with the North Carolina Humanities Council. In the past, he also taught at Johnston Community College, Vance-Granville Community College, Pitt Community College and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (Butner, NC). Yeargin is a past headmaster of Oak Ridge Military Academy.
An accomplished author, Mr. Yeargin has published two books on North Carolina Tobacco Culture: North Carolina Tobacco: A History (2008) and Remembering North Carolina Tobacco (2008). His most recent book is Gold In The Hills: The Story of Tennessee Burley Tobacco Culture (2014). He is currently working on a book about former U.S. Senator Robert B. Morgan.
In his previous career in politics, Yeargin held the following positions: Executive Director of the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission; Agriculture Liaison and Policy Advisor to North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr.; policy advisor to U.S. Senator Robert Morgan: and Executive Director of the Tobacco Growers' Information Committee.
Mr. Yeargin is active in his community, serving as a Certified Advanced Lay Servant with the North Carolina United Methodist Conference and as a Sunday School Teacher for the Senior Adult Bible Class at Antioch United Methodist Church. He also serves on the Boards of Trustees/ Directors for Antioch United Methodist Church and Duke Homestead Education and History Corporation. He is a past member of the Boards of Trustees/ Directors for the North Carolina State Capitol Preservation Society, Oak Ridge Military Academy and the North Carolina Leadership Academy (founding member).
Please join the members of the Granville County Genealogical Society at 6:30 P.M. on October 2, 2014
in the large conference room at the Richard H. Thornton Library in Oxford. Visitors are always welcome and are encouraged to join in this presentation.
All GCGS meetings are open to the public and guests are cordially invited to attend.
