Month: May 2019

Edward Weldon Scholarship Applications Open June 1

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The 2019 Society of Georgia Archivists Scholarship committee is proud to announce the opening of applications for the Edward Weldon Scholarship.  Applications will be accepted June 1st– July 5th.2019.
The Society of Georgia Archivists’ Edward Weldon Scholarship provides funding for registration for an SGA member to attend the Society of American Archivists (SAA) annual meeting. The Edward Weldon Scholarship was established in 2000 to recognize Ed’s leadership in furthering the preservation and access of Georgia’s historical records.
The scholarship covers only the amount of the early-bird-Advance registration fee. The award recipient is responsible for covering any costs associated with travel and accommodations. Please note that the scholarship winner is responsible for submitting their SAA meeting registration by the early-bird/advance registration deadline. After the SAA meeting, the recipient will submit their SAA registration receipt to the SGA Treasurer for reimbursement, as well as a brief article on the experience for use in the SGA Magazine.
Individuals eligible to compete for the scholarship are:
·         must be members of SGA (as of February 1 of the current year)
·         residents of the State of Georgia
·         Preference will be given to applicants who do not have access to institutional support for attending the Society of American Archivists annual meeting
To apply for the Edward Weldon Scholarship, please fill out the application, with all required supplemental materials, prior to Friday July 5th. Applicants are strongly encouraged to complete the digital application to avoid problems with postal delivery. Please note that the application must be RECEIVED (not postmarked) by July 5, 2019, to qualify.
For more information regarding this scholarship, please contact: scholarships@soga.org

Fire at Highlander Center

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By Laurel Bowen, University Archivist, Georgia State University


Atlanta is well known for civil rights activism, as evidenced by the numerous archival repositories, cultural resources, and historical sites that bear witness to that history. They include:

•        National Center for Civil and Human Rights;
•        Civil Rights Digital Library;
•        Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Collection;
•        Archives and research centers at the Atlanta University Center, Atlanta History Center, and Atlanta-Fulton Public Library;
•        Civil rights collections and materials at Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Emory University;
•        Living Atlanta Oral History Collection at the American Folklife Center (Library of Congress);
•        Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park (formerly MLK National Historic Site);
•        Atlanta’s “Off the Wall” public art collection (murals) documenting civil rights and social justice movements.
Colleagues who attended the SGA conference last October may remember an afternoon session on “Split Collections: Outreach Across Multiple Institutions.” The session explored ways to identify and cooperatively expand access to African-American history collections split among different institutions. One of the four presenters was Susan Williams, coordinator of the Highlander Library/Resource Center and a member of the Education team.
We often focus on public demonstrations and other expressions of activism. We should also consider the origins of advocacy—how advocates are motivated, what strategies they choose, and by what means a movement grows. The Highlander Center (https://www.highlandercenter.org/about-us/), created in 1932 as the Highlander Folk School, has long served as an important Tennessee-based social justice incubator, offering a forum for discussion as well as workshops and training sessions for those concerned with social and economic issues. In the 1930s and 1940s this work focused on the unemployed and evolved into a training center for union organizers in eleven southern states. In the 1950s and 1960s the Highlander provided a non-segregated space for interaction, discussion, and strategy development for many Atlanta civil rights leaders including Rosa Parks, Ralph David Abernathy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Following several government investigations of the Folk School’s work during the McCarthy and early civil rights eras, the state of Tennessee revoked its charter in 1961 and seized its land and buildings. The school reopened the next day as the Highlander Research and Education Center and relocated to Knoxville, where it remained for a decade until it moved in 1972 to its current location near New Market.
At our last SGA conference, this past history as a social justice center and the resulting government actions were cited as a rationale for moving many of the Highlander’s oldest and most historic records to an off-site archival repository. Five months after our conference—on March 29—the Highlander was the target of suspected arson. According to news reports, investigators were focusing on a symbol spray painted on the pavement near the charred building. The symbol, resembling a hashtag or tic-tac-toe grid but with three horizontal and vertical lines, is known to be used by white supremacists.
The Atlanta civil rights connection is explored in an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Later reports in the Knoxville News Sentinel (4/5/19) indicate the symbol may have existed prior to the fire, but Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) has called for a federal investigation. While the oldest group of the Highlander’s archival records (dating from about 1917 to 2005) are at the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Highlander said “decades of historic documents” had been destroyed in the fire. An update on May 14 from the Highlander says the cause of the fire is still undetermined, but all of the staff are safe and messages of encouragement and support continue to pour in from around the world.

Georgia Archives Month Spotlight Grant applications due May 31

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Applications are being accepted for the Georgia Archives Month’s Spotlight Grant, and the deadline is May 31st!
The Spotlight on Archives Grant is intended to help archives, museums, or heritage institutions in Georgia promote public awareness of their archives and manuscript collections during Georgia Archives Month in October. This year, there will be one award of $500. 

Award monies are intended to be used by the selected institution to fund an event held during Georgia Archives Month in October 2019. The money can be used for the event’s expenses. The 2019 theme is “Looking Forward, Looking Back: 50 Years of Preserving History”.
You can get your application and specific details HERE.
Apply by May 31st for consideration!
While you’re on the site, check out events hosted by past winners!  Good luck!

Atlanta Housing Archives Finding Aids Now Available Online

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The Atlanta Housing (AH) Archives is pleased to announce it has begun publishing preliminary finding aids, available online at https://www.atlantahousing.org/about-us/archives/ . The finding aids consist of accessioned records maintained by the AH Archives of both processed and unprocessed records. 
About the Atlanta Housing (AH) Archives 
The mission of the Archives is to preserve and provide permanent and historical materials that will assist in the operations of AH; to promote knowledge, research and understanding of the origins, functions, programs, and goals of AH; and to collect archival materials that tell the AH story.  

The AH Archives consists of a variety of records, artifacts, moving images, and more than 14,000 photographs dating from the early 1930s document AH’s unique history. AH’s collections strengths include records concerning the history of the first federally funded public housing developments in the United States (Techwood Homes for whites and University Homes for African-Americans), public housing for war workers during WWII, AH’s communities, urban renewal, and AH’s involvement with important public figures who helped shape the story of public housing in Atlanta.