David Jones
Series Price: $50 for members/$100 for visitors. Individual Lectures: $10/$20 in advance
At the Door: $20 per lecture
This exciting series is a journey through America's lesser-known historical chapters, uncovering surprising Puritan prohibitions and Billy Mitchell’s Pearl Harbor warnings. It resurrects overlooked heroes who altered the nation's trajectory—John Glover's rescue of Washington's army, John Jay's foundational contributions, the Frémonts' western adventures, and the Irish Brigade's Civil War valor. It traverses four centuries of moral battles, military innovations, and visionary individuals who shaped America through crises, conquests, and cultural transformations.
The Long Arm of Virtue: America’s History of Moral Policing
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, September 24
Colonial sumptuary laws, the Comstock Act, and Hollywood’s Hays Code add up to a particularly American moral regulation that persists today.
John Glover and the Indispensables Save Washington
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, October 1
A Massachusetts mariner and his regiment of fishermen saved Washington’s army from certain destruction.
John Jay: A Nearly Forgotten Founding Father
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, October 8
Overshadowed by more famous contemporaries, John Jay authored the Federalist Papers, served as the nation’s first Chief Justice, and made pivotal diplomatic and judicial contributions.
Brutal Reckoning in the Creek War
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, October 15
Andrew Jackson’s ruthless campaign against the Creek nation established his military reputation and shaped the balance of power in the American Southeast.
How John C. Frémont Stole California and His Wife Opened the West
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, October 22
The audacious military adventures of the “Pathfinder” and the influence of Jessie Benton Frémont secured America’s expansion to the Pacific.
Colonel Micheal Corcoran and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, October 29
Corcoran and his fellow Irish immigrants fought courageously for their adopted country while facing nativist prejudice.
Salmon Chase Saves the Union
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, November 5
Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary revolutionized American finance by creating a national banking system and a currency that funded the Union’s victory.
The Vindicated Visionary: Billy Mitchell’s Court-Martial and Pearl Harbor Prophecy
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, November 12
Mitchell’s accurate predictions about air power and Pacific proved devastatingly prescient at Pearl Harbor, but they had already cost him his military career.
Arsenal of Democracy: The American Superweapon
9:15-10:15 am | Wednesday, November 19
The unparalleled industrial capacity of the U.S. became the decisive in World War II, transforming the nation into the world’s dominant military and economic power.
David Jones has offered courses and lectures for nearly ten years at The Learning Center. He holds a PhD in leadership from Indiana University. He has served in multiple university and business roles across a distinguished career, culminating in his retirement in Savannah.