Oglethorpe Cut-Out in the Museum

James Oglethorpe is synonymous with the founding of the Georgia colony.

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The figure is of James Edward Oglethorpe. A respected scholar and member of the British Parliament, Oglethorpe served on Georgia’s board of Trustees, an elite council created by King George the Second. The only Trustee ever to set foot in Georgia, he personally directed and defended the colony for ten years.

Although Oglethorpe’s unbending will made him a hero to some and a tyrant to others, he inspired hundreds to uproot their lives in England and follow him to Georgia; an act they knew might lead them into war with Spain.  It is Oglethorpe’s town that you are visiting today, shaped both by his plan to protect Britain’s colonial coast, and by his benevolent philosophy.