Presented by Wanda Patterson, “Spring Place & Oochgeelogy” tells the dramatic story of the first missionary group to be permitted to establish schools and mission stations in the Cherokee Nation--the Moravians. The lecture will focus on the origins and development of Moravian missionary activity in the Cherokee Nation, highlighting the patterns of cultural exchange between Moravian missionaries and the Cherokee at the Spring Place and Oochgeelogy mission stations in present-day Chatsworth and Calhoun, GA.

Wanda Patterson graduated from West Georgia College in 1969 with a Master’ s Degree in Secondary Education. She taught English and journalism for 30 years at Sprayberry High School in Marietta. Since retirement, Miss Patterson has devoted much of her time to research concerning American Indians in general and the Cherokee in particular. She is a charter member of the Georgia Trail of Tears Association. On behalf of the chapter, she edited a volume of poetry by Cherokee writer John Rollin Ridge, as well as serving on the Trail of Tears Speakers Staff.

Miss Patterson has been a member of the Fielding Lewis Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution for eleven years. In her role as Historian, Miss Patterson published a book celebrating 112 years of the accomplishments of the Fielding Lewis Chapter of DAR. Miss Patterson also serves as State Committee Chair of the DAR Regent’s Speakers Staff