3000 Macon Rd
Columbus, GA 31906
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Saving the Chattahoochee Screening and Discussion
Join us for a screening and discussion of Saving the Chattahoochee: The Story of the Women Who Defended the River.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
6 p.m.
6 p.m.
Saving the Chattahoochee: The Story of the Women Who Defended the River tells the story of how a small group of dedicated Atlanta women worked over the course of 50 years to protect the Chattahoochee River and its watershed—the drinking water supply for more than five million people.
Join us for a screening of the film with a live introduction by director Hal Jacobs. After the screening, hear a discussion with Sally Bethea, former Director of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and featured in the film, Hannah Palmer of Finding the Flint, and Ashley Desensi of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Moderated by Troy Keller, Professor of Environmental Science at Columbus State University.
About Saving the Chattahoochee
The documentary (40 min.) takes a more personal look at Sally, one of the first women riverkeepers in the U.S. It's about how she stepped up to become the face of the river at a pivotal moment in Atlanta's development, while also being a single parent to two sons. How she teamed up with Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, the first Black female mayor of a major southern city, to change the course of the river's future.
Hal Jacobs brings a career in freelance writing and developing written and video resources for higher education into film work that focuses on arts, social justice and the environment. He lives in Decatur, Georgia, with his wife, Alicia Macbeth Jacobs, a former elementary school librarian and executive producer for film projects.
About Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
Our mission is to educate, advocate and secure the protection and stewardship of the Chattahoochee River, including its lakes, tributaries and watershed, in order to restore and conserve their ecological health for the people and wildlife that depend on the river system and in recognition of the important ecosystem functions provided throughout the region and planet.
This project was created by American Rivers, The Conservation Fund, and the Atlanta Regional Commission. All three organizations have been leading initiatives to restore rivers and revitalize communities in metro Atlanta. Finding the Flint builds off years of research, planning, coalition building, and big ideas for the Flint's headwaters in the airport area.
About the Earth and Space Sciences Department at Columbus State University
Explore a different kind of classroom in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences. At CSU, you'll develop an in-depth understanding of the universe through the lens of earth, environmental, and space science - or robotics and engineering. Interdisciplinary by nature, our department offers both graduate and baccalaureate degrees, as well an associate’s degree and certificate program.
About Keeping the Chattahoochee by Sally Sierer Bethea
Sally Sierer Bethea was one of the first women in America to become a “riverkeeper”—a vocal defender of a specific waterway who holds polluters accountable. In Keeping the Chattahoochee, she tells stories that range from joyous and funny to frustrating—even alarming—to illustrate what it takes to save an endangered river. Her tales are triggered by the regular walks she takes through a forest to the Chattahoochee over the course of a year, finding solace and kinship in nature.