Native Guard, the Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poetry by former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, will be staged this season amidst the Atlanta History Center’s extraordinary Civil War collection. First adapted for the stage by the Alliance in 2014 to sold-out audiences, Native Guard juxtaposes the deeply personal experiences of Trethewey, a child of a then-illegal marriage between her African-American mother and Caucasian father living in 1960s Mississippi, with the experience of a soldier in the Native Guard, the first African-American Union troop in the Civil War who was charged with guarding white Confederate captives. Years after her mother’s tragic death, Trethewey reclaims her memory, just as she reclaims the voices of the black soldiers whose service has been all but forgotten.

For the second act of each performance, you're invited to join a discussion about the play. Each night will be hosted by a different community leader, who will share their thoughts on the show before opening the discussion. Hosts include Sheffield Hale (President & CEO, Atlanta History Center); Dr. Paul Wolpe (Director, Emory Center for Ethics); Pellom McDaniels III (Curator, African American Collections, Rose Library); Doug Hooker (Executive Director, Atlanta Regional Commission); Doug Shipman (President and CEO, Woodruff Arts Center); and more.  See the full list of hosts here.