Tuesday March 19th, 2024 4:00AM

Film crew shoots Dare Stones docu-drama at Brenau

GAINESVILLE - A local legend is returning to the small screen while a film crew shoots a docu-drama about the Dare Stones on the Brenau University campus.

Vintage cars are zooming through the campus, and actors in historical dress are gracing the front lawn, Pearce Auditorium and Bailey Hall as the crew gets their shots for the production, which is expected to air in October, according to Brenau University spokesman David Morrison.
 
"How we got them, that's a subject of some interest for a number of production companies over the years, particularly in recent years, and they're here now for filming."
 
The Roanoke colony mysteriously vanished within three years after it was founded. The founder, Governor John White, returned to the colony after a few years in England without so much as a trace as to where the colony - and his family - had gone.
 
The mystery touched Gainesville in the 1930's after a small stone, about the size of a tombstone, was located in a North Carolina swamp and brought to Emory University, where the stone was examined by Dr. Haywood Pearce Jr.
 
Pearce Jr.'s father, President of the college at the time, expressed an interest in the stone, Morrison said, and that's when Brenau began collecting additional stones that may (or may not) have been fakes.
 
"Brenau began accumulating the stones and we got quite a collection of them, we got about 40 or 50," said Morrison. "They're pretty big rocks, and they all have interesting carvings on them. In about 1940, an article broke in the Saturday Evening Post that was done by a muck-raking journalist that pretty much debunked the authenticity of the stones."
 
Previously, the collection of stones, including the original stone, had been verified by, whom Morrison called, the top three historians in the country.
 
"We've kept the stones," said Morrison. "They're of historical importance, especially if they can be authenticated. But I believe and others believe that even if they're part of a hoax, they're historically important for that reason, given what was going on in the Great Depression-era."
 
If it was a hoax, Morrison said, "It had to be one of the most elaborate hoaxes and heavily researched hoaxes of all time."
 
The Dare Stones were featured previously in another History Channel documentary from 1977, featuring longtime Brenau professor Dr. Jim Sutherland. (Dr. Sutherland's segment can be found at the 17 minute mark in this video.)
 
Alongside Dr. Sutherland and other Brenau faculty and staff, many people - including Brenau students - still think the first Dare Stone is likely an authentic piece.
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