Speaker series coming to World War II Museum

Jul. 21—The man known as "the father of the atomic bomb" will be featured as one of four presentations to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the World War II Home Front Museum on St. Simons Island.

Clay Jenkinson, recipient of the National Humanities Award and host of the nationally syndicated radio program "The Thomas Jefferson Hour," will make an unusual presentation, in comparison with the other three feature speakers.

Instead of discussing the role, Jenkinson will make a dramatic portrayal of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where the atomic bombs were developed.

Leigh Ann Stroud, public relations director for the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, said Jenkinson portrays other important characters in history besides Oppenheimer.

"He has a long list of characters he has portrayed over the years," she said. "That is his style of presentation."

Jenkinson said Oppenheimer is his favorite character to portray.

"This is a dramatic, even gripping story of genius and retribution," he said. "Oppenheimer was overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility and remorse for having created a weapon of mass destruction. 'I am become Death,' he said, 'the destroyer of worlds.'"

Stroud said she believes the recent release of a movie based on Oppenheimer's role in developing the bombs that fell on Japan leading to the end of World War II should help generate interest in the speaker series.

The first speaker on Aug. 17 will be best-selling author Donald L. Miller, with his lecture titled "Over There: The British Home Front during World War II."

Miller, the author of 10 books, will discuss the impact of the war in Great Britain, especially areas near U.S. military bases. He will draw from personal journals kept by ordinary citizens.

An Aug. 24, historian Robert M. Citino will discuss the role of the American south in the war. His presentation will explain how the South, including Coastal Georgia, was dramatically affected by the war.

Jenkinson's presentation about Oppenheimer will be on Sept. 7.

The lecture series will end Sept. 14 with a presentation on the "forgotten women of the French resistance" by author Lynne Olson. She will explain the crucial role women play in resisting Nazi occupation and the importance of their participation in the resistance movement.

The programs all begin at 6 p.m. at the St. Simons Presbyterian Church, 205 Kings Way. The will also be live-streamed.

Tickets for the series are $95 for non-members and $50 for members of the historical society. To register, go to coastalgeorgiahistory.org.