![\"Presley2\"](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/Presley2.jpg\")
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It is said that Georgia Southern was born of humble farm beginnings. It\u2019s all the more fitting then that historian Delma Presley would find himself driven to explore the roots of the region so closely intertwined with those of his own family.<\/p>\n
It was 1969 when Presley and his wife, Beverly, arrived in Statesboro on an offer from iconic University professor and chair Fielding Russell to teach English at Georgia Southern. Through the 1970s, Presley\u2019s love of language and literature and his training from Mercer, Baptist Theological Seminary and Emory served him well in his academic pursuits. Yet, in the back of his mind an idea was forming \u2014 one that became increasingly focused with the passage of time and led to a gradual shift.<\/p>\n
Presley\u2019s passion was focusing less on classical lit and more on south Georgia grit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided that I was going to try to understand the people of south Georgia,\u201d he said. \u201cMy father grew up in Laurens County \u2014 a farmer\u2019s boy. I wanted to know the people: why the people lived this way, who the people are, what their values are. This was one of my overriding concerns when I came here. And so, gradually I found a way to do that by becoming active in local history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presley\u2019s father left his south Georgia farm in the midst of the Great Depression for a job with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in north Georgia. \u201cHe joined the CCC boys and moved up to north Georgia where they built roads and parks and that sort of thing,\u201d said Presley.<\/p>\n
Growing up in the Blue Ridge foothills of Stephens County, the younger Presley was fascinated by his dad\u2019s stories of south Georgia. \u201cHe talked about his grandfather who was a timber raft hand. They\u2019d cut trees in the fall and let them dry out, and in the spring they\u2019d drift them down to Darien. Then he\u2019d walk home. My grandfather would come back with all these tales of Darien.\u201d<\/p>\n Those stories eventually came to bear on his career. He continued to teach, but in 1971, he and history professors George Rogers and Frank Saunders received a grant to study the local Deloach Primitive Baptist community. \u201cThat was my first effort in that area,\u201d he said. \u201cIt turned out well, so we kept getting grants. We got grants through the `70s until I went to the Museum and then we carried it on there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was basically an effort to work with other people to understand who we are, where we came from, and what our values are,\u201d said Presley. \u201cI became interested in folklore \u2014 what the great stories are in this area. I guess we all evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n And so he did. In 1982, with a tip of the hat to his grandfather\u2019s timber work, he organized Project R.A.F.T. (Restore Altamaha Folklife Traditions) as a way to honor the memories of the men who floated timber down the Ocmulgee and Altamaha rivers in the early 20th century. A tremendous success, the project was coordinated with folk life festivals along the river and its message continues to be shared with others more than 30 years later.<\/p>\n That year heralded an official career shift when\u00a0he became the first permanent director of the new Georgia Southern Museum, leaving the classroom and delving full time into stories about the people of south Georgia. For 17 years he enthusiastically embraced exhibits on the region\u2019s history, culture, geology, zoology and botany while independently writing and researching.<\/p>\n Retiring from the Museum in 1999, he continued to study, interpret and organize local and regional historical events. As the University was approaching its 2006 centennial observance, he agreed to take on a massive task at the request of former President Bruce Grube \u2014 that of recounting Georgia Southern\u2019s first 100 years.<\/p>\n The result was the 291-page definitive history of the University, The Southern Century<\/em>: Georgia Southern University, 1906-2006.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel that the true story of Georgia Southern needs to be understood and told,\u201d said Presley. \u201cI got at the true story, I think, in The Southern Century. I wrote the book and I fell in love with the story even more. I realized that not only was Georgia Southern a special place, but Statesboro had some unique qualities that made this place happen to begin with. I think that\u2019s important, too.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the future, Presley is committed to doing all he can to ensure that the people of south Georgia are aware of their history, and that it is seen by others in its proper context.<\/p>\n![\"Presley\"](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/Presley3.jpg\")