Montgomery, AL (03/13/2025) – The Alabama Department of Archives and History’s series History/Now: Conversations on the Past + Present returns on Thursday, April 3, with a 5:00 pm reception and 6:00pm program commemorating the bicentennial of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824-1825 tour of the United States.
A reception with light fare will begin at 5:00pm in the Main Lobby of the Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH), 624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL, 36104. At 6:00pm, panelists John Beaver, Julien Icher, and Shari Williams will discuss The Legacy of Lafayette’s Tour. The program will be held in the ADAH’s Joseph M. Farley Alabama Power Auditorium. Admission is FREE, and no advance registration is required.
John Beaver, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is the curatorial manager for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Cultural Center & Archives Department and the Council House Museum in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Previously, Beaver served as cultural protocols program specialist at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), where he was also a member of the Curatorial Council Collections Review Committee. Prior to NMAI, he worked in the Anthropology Collections Department at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. He recently completed a four-year term as a Tribal Nominated Appointee on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Review Committee. Beaver’s expertise and leadership continue to shape the field of cultural preservation and repatriation.
Julien Pierre Icher is a French national, founder, and president of The Lafayette Trail, Inc. He holds an undergraduate degree in history and geography and graduate degrees in human and digital geography. In 2018, he accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to Washington, D.C., at age 24, serving as the youngest member of the French Presidential Delegation. His work highlights the historical ties between France and the U.S. and Lafayette’s role in their union. Icher is the host and director of Follow the Frenchmen, a YouTube series by The Lafayette Trail, Inc., exploring Lafayette’s 1824–1825 U.S. tour and its significance.
Historian Dr. Shari L. Williams specializes in the history and cultural landscapes of Alabama’s Black Belt. As Executive Director of The Ridge Macon County Archaeology Project, she oversees research at the Federal Road Interpretive Center and an active dig site in Warrior Stand, near the probable location of one of General Lafayette’s stops on his 1825 tour. Her work explores the intersection of social history, archaeology, and preservation.
History/Now is sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Previous programs on the Scottsboro trials, tribal sovereignty, the 1901 constitution, and the process of congressional reapportionment, can be viewed on the Archives’ YouTube page. For additional information, contact Alex Colvin at alex.colvin@archives.alabama.gov or (334) 353-4689.
The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the state’s government-records repository, a special-collections library and research facility, and home to the Museum of Alabama, the state history museum. It is located in downtown Montgomery, directly across Washington Avenue from the State Capitol. The Museum of Alabama is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. The EBSCO Research Room is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. To learn more, visit www.archives.alabama.gov or call (334) 242-4364.
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