RITA VITAL MEMORIAL MOCCASIN BEND LECTURE SERIES CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

by Jennifer Crutchfield

National Park Partners of Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Moccasin Bend presents three unique events each fall with fascinating speakers and topics related to National Parks and conservation; Indigenous culture and history; and Chattanooga’s place in the U.S. Civil War. Founded in 2006, the series is underwritten by Tennessee State Representative Greg Vital, now celebrating the 20th year and sustained in his mother, Rita Vital’s honor.

Moccasin Bend Lecture Series events take place on Monday evenings at 7:00 pm at the Tennessee Aquarium River Journey Auditorium. Seating is limited and advance registration is required to guarantee a spot. All lectures are FREE and open to the public and recordings of previous lectures are available on-demand on the National Park Partners YouTube Channel.

Ava Lowery

This year’s season begins with a September 22 presentation by Ava Lowery, Jeffery L. Brown Award Winner and graduate of the University of Tennessee who is the anthropologist and educator for Audubon Acres. Entitled “Conquistadors and Chiefdoms: The Hidden History of 40HA84,” Lowery’s presentation will focus on the Coosa Chiefdom, the Spanish conquistadors, and Little Owl Village, present-day Audubon Acres. Reserve your free seats for this event online here.

Lowery utilizes historical accounts and archaeological evidence to illustrate the complex social and military relationships between and within the Coosa chiefdom along with Spanish conquistador Tristán de Luna’s 1560 expedition into the interior Southeast. With Little Owl Village at Audubon Acres and other local archaeological sites as the setting, there is a significant framework for a discussion of the sociopolitical environment of the Mississippian period in the Chattanooga area during early European contact, colonial power dynamics, struggles for sovereignty within the Native population, and narratives of power in the context of practicing cultural preservation today.

Lowery earned her BS in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and, beginning in the summer of 2023, interned under two dedicated professors for UTC’s NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) compliance efforts until graduation, receiving a Jeffrey L. Brown Memorial Scholarship Award for her participation. She used and expanded those same skills in a voluntary repatriation project for Chattanooga Audubon Society’s donated archaeological collection, ensuring that items of cultural significance were successfully repatriated to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Lowery is a museum and outdoor educator at the Chattanooga Audubon Society’s main property, Audubon Acres, where she produces educational programs based around nature, history, and archaeology.

The October 20 event features a presentation from the first woman named a National Park Service Superintendent, M. Ann Belkov. She will be joined by Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly in a conversation about the relevance of community involvement in a National Park City. Also the former Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty, Belkov’s service in Chattanooga was critical to shaping the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Register here for this important discussion. 

The culminating presentation in the series, “Public Lands Partnerships: The Fort Monroe National Monument Model,” is presented by Scott Martin, former Administrator of the Department of Parks and Outdoors (DPO) for the City of Chattanooga. Linda Moss Mines, Hamilton County Historian, will join Scott for a discussion of how the best practices of their model for public lands management may be replicated in other communities. Register here for this culminating presentation. 

Hosted now in her honor, the series was important to Johanna ‘Rita’ Vital. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930 to German immigrant parents, Rita married Leo Vital, a returning WWII veteran in 1951, and embarked on a lifelong pursuit of education and faith. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Atlantic Union College, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a chaplaincy degree from Andover Newton Theological School. An avid traveler, she visited over 50 countries, loved nature, and founded the Adventurers program, a nature-based youth outreach effort with the Seventh Day Adventists that was so successful it was spread internationally. Rita was instrumental in the Moccasin Bend Lecture Series, never missed an event, and was a stalwart supporter of the National Park Service.  

National Park Partners preserves and promotes the landscapes and stories of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, including Moccasin Bend National Archeological District. We believe the park belongs to everyone and everyone belongs in the park, and we engage the community in growing Chattanooga’s National Park legacy for current and future generations. Visit nppcha.org for more information.