Dr. John Derden, a professor at East Georgia State College, recently had an article published in The Sons of the American Revolution Magazine (SAR). The article is the text of a speech Dr. Derden wrote on the anniversary of The Battle of Brier Creek. The article is published in the Fall 2020 edition of the magazine. To view the entire article, visit https://www.sar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Fall-2020_SAR.pdf.
The SAR Magazine is the official quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The SAR Magazine has a paid circulation of more than 34,000 active SAR members. A quarterly publication (released in February, May, August and November), the magazine’s content includes not only SAR society news at all levels and scopes, but features articles on patriotic, historic and educational topics. Special reports recap such news as the commemoration of major events of the Revolutionary War, the restoration of significant historical sites and many other member-sponsored events and programs. Each issue includes feature articles authored by SAR members recounting in detail a historical perspective of the period and presenting lively portrayals of personalities contributing to the founding of this great nation.
Dr. Derden has been at East Georgia State College since 1973. He retired from full-time service in 2004 but remains at the college on a part-time basis. He has served in numerous teaching and administrative capacities at the college and has co-authored and edited several books on local history, published articles on various topics as well as numerous book reviews, read papers to professional historical organizations, and given many talks to local history groups and area civic clubs. His most recent book is The World’s Largest Prison: the Story of Camp Lawton (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2012).
He holds the A.A. from Reinhardt University (1967) and the B.S.Ed. (1969), M.A. (1973), and Ph.D. (1981) degrees from the University of Georgia. He has done additional study and/or attended seminars at Georgia Perimeter College, St. Joseph’s University, Cornell University, Ohio State University and City University of New York.
Dr. Derden has been active in the community, serving as president of the Emanuel County Historic Preservation Society, a member of the Board of Grantors of the Mill Creek Foundation, a member of the Exchange Club, a founding member of the Emanuel Arts Center, and in numerous capacities at Swainsboro First United Methodist Church.
On the state level, he served a term on the Georgia National Register Review Board and was elected to three terms as the treasurer of the Georgia Association of Historians. He currently serves on the marker review board for Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails, Inc.
