NAME: Renee Sharrock
POSITION: Archives Assistant
INSTITUTION: Greenblatt Library of the Medical College of Georgia
How long have you lived in Augusta and how did you come to live there? I grew up in the CSRA – Central Savannah River Area – so I’ve lived here for 30+ years!
What is the focus of the archives/library/museum where you work? The Historical Collections and Archives of the Greenblatt Library focuses on the history the Medical College of Georgia and the health sciences.
What is your favorite thing in your holdings?
On display in the Historical Collections and Archives Room is the “Bronchoscopic History and Exhibit” of Dr. Clyde Edison Purcell
(1872-1948) which features the 146 “foreign bodies” removed by Dr.
Purcell between 1905-1947 in Paducah, Kentucky. Most of the foreign bodies were safety pins, jacks, and coins. Dr. Purcell kept a catalog of the items, dates, patients’ ages, instruments used, etc. which is also on display. The exhibit was given to the MCG Library by Dr. Purcell’s grandson, Dr. Ewell C. Noel, Jr., a graduate of MCG. Visitors to Historical Collections and Archives are often intrigued with the exhibit.
What aspect of archival work are you most interested in, especially for the future of the profession? Digital collections and their preservation.
What is your favorite bar or restaurant in Augusta and why? Oh my – there’s more than one: French Market Grille, T-Bonz Steakhouse, The Partridge Inn Bar & Grill, Boll Weevil Cafe, and across the Savannah River in North Augusta, South Carolina, Manuel’s Bread Cafe.
What is the one thing that you think all SGA/SCAAers should do or see in Augusta? After the last session on Friday, eat lunch at the Boll Weevil and from there visit the Morris Museum of Art. If you have time, or would prefer, take a stroll through the Riverwalk Park to the Augusta Museum of History. If you have only the briefest of time for sight-seeing and want to do something memorable – have a photo taken of you with James Brown at his statue on Broad Street. There’s the James Brown Cam if you don’t have a friend to take the photo.
sogablog.org 