Something Southern: A History of Mules in South Georgia presented by Tyler Hendrix: About this Project

This project examines the history of mules in Bulloch County and South Georgia between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II. Specifically, the project explores the impact of mules on agriculture, the interaction of mules with social classes and local culture, and the factors that led to the decline of mules during the early twentieth century. In addition to these major analytical themes, the project documents the background and process behind a local mule-operated cane boil, which produced a ten-minute-long documentary film entitled Georgia Cane Boils: A Dying Tradition.

Georgia Southern University’s Public History program was founded in Fall 2012 as a non-thesis track for the Department of History's Master of Arts in History program. The program allows students to pursue studies outside the traditional classroom setting in a variety of hands-on courses. The program concludes with a capstone project in cooperation with historical sites and museums throughout the region. To learn more, visit the Department of History's website.

The Welter-Johnson Heritage Site is a historic farmstead located northwest of Statesboro, Georgia. Notable structures on the site include a large mule barn and a train subdepot, both among the last still in existence in the state of Georgia. The site is owned by Dave and Carrie Welter, who restored it in honor of Carrie’s father, Paul H. Johnson. To honor the farm’s history, the Welter-Johnson Heritage Site hosts a traditional cane boil every October.

​​​​​​Tyler Hendrix is a graduate student in the Master of History with a Public History concentration program at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. He currently works as a graduate assistant in Special Collections in the Zach S. Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University. His project details the history of mules in Bulloch County and South Georgia. The academic committee advising this project consists of Dr. Lisa Denmark (chair), Dr. Alan Downs, and Dr. Michael Van Wagenen. Additionally, Dr. Brent Tharp provided significant technical assistance.