Georgia Archives

Georgia Archives celebrates Georgia Day Feb. 12

~ Georgia Gen

 Georgia copy of the Declaration of Independence will be on display at the Georgia Archives.  February 12 – 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Morrow, GA, February 5, 2016– The Georgia Archives will display Georgia’s recorded copy of the Declaration of Independence at the Archives building in Morrow on Friday, February 12, 2016, in honor of Georgia Day.  The document will be available for viewing from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Royal Charter that made Georgia a colony in 1733 will also be on display.  The annual Georgia Day celebration commemorates Georgia’s founding on February 12, 1733.

On January 18, 1777, the Continental Congress met in Baltimore, Maryland and ordered that copies of the Declaration of Independence be printed and sent to each of the 13 states.  The States were directed to make the Declaration a part of their official records. Georgia’s copy was officially entered into the records on March 2, 1777.

Today, the Declaration is protected with Georgia’s other “birth documents”: the Royal Charter that created the colony in 1733, and Georgia’s 1788 ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the document that made Georgia a state.  All are kept in a high security vault where a constant temperature and humidity are maintained to ensure their long-term survival.

The Georgia Archives has limited public viewing of its copy of the Declaration in order to mitigate the fading, deterioration and other damage caused by frequent exhibits.

The Georgia Archives is a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and identifies, collects, manages, preserves, and publicizes records and information of Georgia and its people and assists state and local government agencies with their records management. This work is done within the framework of the USG’s mission to create a more highly educated Georgia.

For more information, please contact Jill Sweetapple at 678.364.3731 or email at Jill.Sweetapple@usg.edu.

Georgia Archives – 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia 30260 – 678-364-3710

 

 

Ashley Callahan to speak at GA Archives Lunch & Learn

~ Georgia Gen

Lunch & Learn Friday February 12, 2016- 12 noon

Morrow, GA, January 19, 2016– Ashley Callahan will speak about her book Southern Tufts:
The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion on Friday February 12, 2016, at the Georgia Archives at 12 noon.

Southern Tufts is the first book to highlight the garments produced by northwestern Georgia’s tufted textile industry. Though best known now for its production of carpet, in the early twentieth century the region was revered for its handtufted candlewick bedspreads, products that grew out of the Southern Appalachian Craft Revival and appealed to the vogue for Colonial Revival–style household goods. Callahan tells the story of chenille fashion and its connections to stylistic trends, automobile tourism, industrial developments, and U.S. history. Southern Tufts presents a broad history of tufted textiles, as well as sections highlighting individual craftspeople and manufacturers involved with the production of chenille fashion.

Ashley Callahan has an MA in the history of American decorative arts from Parsons School of Design and the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Institution, and a BA in art history from the University of the South.

Please join us at the Georgia Archives on February 12 as Callahan speaks about the history of candlewick and chenille garment production in northwestern Georgia from the 1920s through the 1950s. The talk is part of our monthly Lunch and Learn series, which is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Jill Sweetapple at 678.364.3731 or email at Jill.Sweetapple@usg.edu.

 

Georgia Archives – 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia 30260 – 678-364-3710

Migrations, occupations, case files and tufts

~ Georgia Gen

Focus on Georgia columnists:

Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr. for the AJC, 31 January 2016

Seminar focuses on ancestors’ migrations and occupations

“Ancestors: Where They Went, What They Did, and a Way to Share What We Know,” is the theme of the Georgia Genealogical Society seminar to be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb. 27 at McElreath Hall at the Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta.

The first speaker, Andie Criminger, will address why every genealogist should have a blog. Karen Molohon will follow with three lectures: an overview of geography and genealogy; finding and understanding your ancestor’s occupation in the census records; and migration and mapping to find out where your ancestors went.

Cost is $25 for members of GGS and the Atlanta History Center, $35 for nonmembers. Mailing registration deadline is Feb. 19, PayPal online deadline is Feb. 24. Send checks to Georgia Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 550247, Atlanta, GA 30355-2747; to register online and for further information, see gagensociety.org.

If you have further questions, contact Laura Carter at gagensocprograms@gmail.com or 706-369-9420. Lunch is not provided, but there are places nearby. The Atlanta History Center’s library and archives will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. that day for research. See atlantahistorycenter.com.

Learn about Southern tufts

Ashley Callahan will speak at noon Feb. 12 at the Georgia Archives Lunch and Learn seminar on “Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion,” the subject of her recent book by that title from the University of Georgia Press. Callahan, an independent scholar with decorative arts training, will cover this northwest Georgia phenomenon, which has grown into a major industry. The seminar is free; bring your lunch. For more information, check georgiaarchives.org or call 678-364-3710.

North Carolina case files online

Familysearch.org recently posted a great free resource, North Carolina state Supreme Court case files, 1800-1909. These are digitized copies of the original loose case files, with an online searchable index that only covers the major names — roughly, the full names — of those in the title of the lawsuit. You may find a reference online from North Carolina Reports, the published summaries of decisions. Here, you can read the entire case. The originals are at the North Carolina Archives. Check for any surname of interest, then check the county.

Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P.O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031 or gagensociety.org.

 

Topic: Old Governor’s Mansion, Milledgeville

~ Georgia Gen

MATT DAVIS to speak at GEORGIA ARCHIVES

Matt Davis, Director of the Old Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville, Georgia, will speak at the Georgia Archives on Friday, January 29, 2016 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. Davis will speak on the history of the Old Governor’s Mansion.

Davis, a native of Kinston, North Carolina, received his education at Georgia College & State University. His duties as director of the Old Governor’s Mansion include oversight of the historic properties, coordinating administrative functions, research, curatorial work, educational programming and fundraising. In 2012, Davis was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries, and he was recently appointed to the Programming Committee for the Southeastern Museums Conference. He is a frequent guest speaker and presenter at museum conferences nationwide. Aside from his duties at the Mansion, Davis teaches history as an adjunct Assistant Professor of History at Georgia College & State University and at Georgia Military College. In 2011, he was named as the Museum Professional of the Year by the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries.

Completed in 1839, the Old Governor’s Mansion served as the residence for Georgia’s chief executives for over thirty years encompassing the antebellum, Civil War, and early Reconstruction phases of the state’s history. Such notable residents as George Crawford, Howell Cobb and Joseph E. Brown used the Mansion as a stage for speeches and hosted prominent guests during their tenure. The Mansion was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. It is an accredited museum of the American Alliance of Museums, and in 2015 it was named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Georgia Archives is a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and identifies, collects, manages, preserves, and publicizes records and information of Georgia and its people and assists state and local government agencies with their records management. This work is done within the framework of the USG’s mission to create a more highly educated Georgia.

For more information, please contact Jill Sweetapple at 678.364.3731  2015_Georgia_Archives_OldGovernorsMansion