WHAT TO READ

Here are some recommended readings about Dalton, Whitfield County, its people and about progress in motion:

Books

• Translation Nation by Hector Tovar. Read the review in the New York Times. This book has a whole chapter about Dalton.
• The Educational Welcome of Latinos in the New South by Edmund T. Hamann. Read the review in Amazon.com. This is the tale of the origin, emergence, and transformation of an unorthodox binational partnership, the Georgia Project, that brought a Mexican university to aid a Georgia school district (in Dalton) that suddenly found itself hosting thousands of Latino newcomers

Websites

• The History of Carpet in the USA by the Carpet & Rug Institute @ http://www.carpet-rug.org/about-cri/the-history-of-carpet.cfm Make sure you read the part on the tufted carpet industry in Georgia.
• The History of Dalton @ http://www.daltoncvb.com/history.html
• Dalton data @ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalton,_Georgia
• Pew Hispanic Center @ http://pewhispanic.org/ for the most recent research results on Latino/Hispanic issues in the USA.
• A Possible Dream. The Georgia Project in Dalton. An article by Laura Wexler.
• Battles in Whitfield County during the Civil War@ http://www.whitfieldcountyga.com/History/CivilWar/civil_war.htm
• Whitfield County History @ http://www.whitfieldcountyga.com/History/historic_tourism.htm Check out the Railroad History.

Newspapers and Magazines

• The Dalton local newspaper: The Daily Citizen @ http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/
• The New York Times: Many Hispanics Hit Hard by Economic Slump @ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/13hispanics.html?fta=y
• The Dalton Magazine. Check out the September-October 2008 issue which articles on LG alumni and our weekend.

Excerpt from the news we made in Dalton!

Leadership Georgia class 'wowed' by Dalton welcome

Charles Oliver from The Daily Citizen

As they stepped out of limousines to the sounds of the Dalton High School band, the faces of the members of the Leadership Georgia 2008 class showed their surprise.

“Wow! What a reception!” said Karen Cohilas, a class member from Albany.

Cohilas was one of 120 class members personally escorted into City Hall by graduates of the Little Bloomers pre-kindergarten program as Dalton High cheerleaders performed in welcome. Once inside, they were greeted by state, city and county leaders as well as business executives.

“I’m so impressed with the outpouring of support,” said Karen Pope, a class member from Atlanta. “When Dalton does something, they do it big! It’s really impressive, and to have the children involved is really nice.”

Leadership Georgia is a year-long educational program sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Dalton is the fourth of five Georgia cities this year’s class has visited. The group will be in town through Saturday visiting Dalton Utilities, Shaw Industries facilities and Shiroki North America’s automobile parts plant, among other places.

“Leadership Georgia is honored to be in Dalton because Dalton is an example of progress for the state of Georgia,” said program chairman Jorge Atiles. “We are going to be learning a lot.”

“I want people who come to this program this weekend to take away the sense of social and economic progress this city has, how it has been able to diversity and look into the future,” Atiles said. “I want them to come away with the sense that ‘Wow, this is happening right here in the state of Georgia.’”

“I want to learn what the secret to success is here,” said Cohilas.

Class members said they have already learned a great deal about Georgia, its economy and its people. But they said the program is also an excellent way to meet other state leaders.

“It is a program that allows me to network with people from diverse backgrounds throughout the state,” said Pope.