We had a good turnout for our SGA membership outing in August. The Booth Western Art Museum and the Bartow History Museum hosted some wonderful tours to 11 of our members.
The first tour included a behind the scenes look into the Bartow History Archives, recently named for the Mulinix Family of Bartow County. Our guide, Trey Gaines, then took us over to the Bartow History Museum and discussed the history of the building. The group had time to explore the temporary exhibit of It’s All Fun & Games: Iconic Toys of the Past and the permanent collection on the upper floor.
A docent led highlights tour at the Booth Western Art Museum covered many of the museum’s permanent and loaned collection. Pat, a long time docent at the Booth, led a great tour full of interesting history and facts about art and artists housed at the Booth. A horse created from recycled materials, “Walking Horse” by Leo Sewell, was a great talking piece among the group! The piece is created from repurposed metals.
Walking Horse by Leo Sewell
After the docent tour, Marion Hudson, gave the group a look at the Booth Research Library. Marion has been the librarian/archivist for the Booth since 2020. Many of the SGA members enjoyed lunch in the Booth Café with its wonderful view of the Bartow History Museum, which is housed in the historical courthouse.
We thank the Booth Western Art Museum and the Bartow History Museum for their hospitality. For more information on the Booth Western Art Museum and the Bartow History Museum visit the websites below. Both are sister museums to the Tellus Science Museum and Savoy Automobile Museum; all are part of Georgia Museums, Inc.
Submitted by Leigh Burns, Director Fox Theatre Institute
The Fox Theatre, in partnership with Atlanta History Center (AHC), hosted our first Archives Night here at the Fox Theatre on Thursday, June 16th. The evening was planned originally for 2020, then later revived in 2022, with the support of our colleagues at AHC. We had more than one hundred attend the event with members from both AHC and our Friends of the Fox. We were thrilled by the enthusiasm for the event and the attendance exceeded our expectations.
Beyond collaborating with AHC staff on the event, we also enjoyed hosting many of their devoted members here to discover our own Fox Theatre archival collections. The special event gave our guests an opportunity to discover firsthand dozens of artifacts, many for the first time, from the Fox’s archives by rotating presentations from three archival experts. Our experts included Paul Crater, Debra Freer, and Josh Kitchens. These individuals have worked in our archives in different capacities throughout the years and have exceptional archival experience. In their individual, rotating presentations, each highlighted some the Fox’s original furniture, lighting, artwork, movie and show posters, and our 1970s Save the Fox campaign memorabilia. Before the rotating presentations began, Paul Crater gave an informative and enjoyable opening address. Paul’s personal interest in our own collections and his devotion to preserving Atlanta history is admirable. We are so grateful that Paul helped us lead this first-time effort. Well beyond that evening, Paul continues to support all our archives through consulting as needed.
The Fox Theatre Archives is located onsite here at the Fox Theatre. Our archives space was formally integrated into the Restoration department of the Fox Theatre in 1996. Following the 1996 fire that began in the adjoining restaurant, our Fox Theatre leadership established a permanent, climate-controlled designated area for our irreplaceable items. The archives were built out of a previous administrative area and established to protect the various artifacts important to legacy of the theatre. Beyond thousands of paper artifacts, our collections within our “living museum” includes historic furniture, historic lighting, our Moller “Mighty Mo” organ, and other artwork including architectural features. The Fox Theatre funds the ongoing care of the collections through a restoration fee added to all ticketed, public events. Every time one of our patrons join us at the Fox, they are contributing financially to the care of our collections, including our Fox Theatre archives. In addition to the physical objects, we maintain our collection electronically through the Access to Memory database. The database was implemented in 2018 and we use this to assist with external and internal requests from the public and staff as needed. We maintain architectural drawings, historical photographs and other historical documents that support the work of our marketing and facilities and restoration team members.
We look forward to hosting additional public events relating to our Archives and we hope potentially another Archives Night in early 2023. We are grateful for the support of many archivists from the metro-Atlanta area for attending this first special event. For more information about the history of the Fox Theatre please feel free to visit our website at https://www.foxtheatre.org/about/fox-historystory
Submitted by Christina Zamon, SGA VP/ Membership Committee Chair
On Saturday, nine members of the Society of Georgia Archivists were treated to a two-hour tour by Atlanta Preservation Center Executive Director David Y. Mitchell. Despite the heat outside, the group enjoyed learning about L.P. Grant, his origins, family, and the history of the oldest existing house in Atlanta. We were able to walk through the windows just as the Grant family did to get out to the cool shade of the porches and porticos, learn how the stucco was made and about the “Grant Park Green” color of the window trim.
Vader, the unofficial mascot of the property also came by to say hello to us.
David made it clear that our work as archivists is essential to the larger role in preserving historic homes and neighborhoods and without us they could not do their important work. After the tour we had a great conversation with lots of questions about the house and the role it has played in the history of Atlanta.
The Society of Georgia Archivists is thankful to David for taking time out of his Saturday to allow us to visit and tour the space. If you missed the tour you can always sign up for one on your own: https://www.atlantapreservationcenter.com/lp_grant_mansion. Thanks also to SGA’s Membership Committee for coordinating such an insightful tour. To learn more about SGA membership and all the benefits it includes visit our website, https://soga.wildapricot.org/membership.
Reparative Description from Two Sides: Cataloging and Processing
Thursday, June 23, 2022, 12:30-4:00 PM (EST)
Location: Zoom
This workshop is for archivists and special collection librarians who wish to increase their abilities in limiting harmful language in their organization’s finding aids and catalog records through reparative description. This workshop will help archivists and librarians to identify and build upon best practices in description and cataloging to create policy, guidelines, and implement reparative description in their own organizations. Discussion leaders will present on prominent topics and issues, and participants will learn how to approach description, identify authoritative organizations and documentation, and discuss situations with leaders in this work as well other learners through the roundtable discussion.
Instructors: Beth Shoemaker and Tierra Thomas
Moderator: Laura Starratt
Beth Shoemaker is the Rare Book Librarian at Emory University’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archive & Rare Book Library in Atlanta. Her work includes cataloging, collection development, teaching and curating exhibits in the Emory Libraries. Her research interests include how practicing catalogers approach ethics in the workplace. Since its formation in 2018, she has been co-chair of the Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee, which released a final draft of the Cataloguing Code of Ethics in January 2021. Beth is a graduate of the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
Tierra Thomas is an early career archivist living in Decatur, Georgia. She earned her MSLS at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – School of Information and Library Science. As an undergraduate, she studied History and African American Studies at Georgia State University. Most recently she finished her contract term as Visiting Archivist for Southern Jewish Collections at Emory University. She has served as a member of the Anti-Oppressive Language Working Group at Emory University’s Rose Library and the Conscious Editing Steering Committee at UNC-CH’s Wilson Library. Her research focuses on social justice and equity and centering those ideals in an archival setting.
Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections have partnered with the Odum Library and teaching faculty to bring a 5-session book program on Women’s Suffrage to Valdosta, funded from an American Library Association grant. The Archives will be providing meeting space, refreshments, and a display on Women’s Suffrage in Georgia. The “Let’s Talk About It: Women’s Suffrage” project at VSU will kick off on March 10 and continue over a series of 10 weeks, discussing five books.
The Society of Georgia Archivists is now accepting applications for the Carroll Hart Scholarship to attend the 2022 Georgia Archives Institute. As of now, the Institute will be held in person, from June 6-17, 2022. It will be held in Morrow, GA and is a two week immersive introduction to archival scholarship, with hands-on training and insight from renown archivists.
The recordings of the 2021 SGA Annual Meeting are now available to view online! If you were unable to attend the conference live or missed a session you really wanted to attend, we invite you to view the playlist of presentations on SGA’s YouTube.
Georgia Southern University Special Collections continues its tradition of celebrating Georgia Archives Month with another exciting game experience for their campus community. This year’s The Case of the College Sweetheart is an immersive mystery game in which players must examine historical evidence and digital clues to solve the forgotten mysteries of Georgia Southern’s “Sweetheart” Campus. The game offers players an opportunity to engage with archival primary sources that document the historic area of campus in a fun and engaging way. The program builds upon the success of their 2019 Secrets, Sources, and Swamp face-to-face escape room but in a safer, semi-virtual environment that allows players to socially distance themselves.
The Game Case of the College Sweetheart mystery game sets are available for checkout at the library checkout desk. A welcome letter included in the set introduces players to a fictitious, but real-world scenario that includes a series of interconnected puzzles. Working individually or in small groups, participants have a two-hour checkout window to examine physical game materials including archival documents, private correspondence, and campus memorabilia to help solve seven interconnected puzzles. Access to digital clues and puzzle prompts are available through the online game portal at georgiasouthern.libguides.com/sweetheart. The mystery is revealed to players by solving the final clue. Participants who successfully complete the game are eligible to enter a grand prize drawing.
The program will be available throughout October and is partially funded by the 2020 Georgia Archives Month Spotlight on Archives Grant.
Interested in oral history? Georgia State University is hosting the first ever Oral History Symposium, Uncovering Hidden Narratives, on Saturday, September 25th from 9am to 5pm. The symposium was organized by oral historians from Atlanta History Center, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Emory University, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, National Park Service, Oral History Association, Storycorps, University of Georgia, and We Love Buford Highway. The symposium will kick off with keynote speaker Althea Sumpter with her talk centered on trauma in oral histories. Throughout the day attendees can choose sessions that best suit their needs and interests for those that are just beginning or thinking about starting an oral history project to those that are part of established programs. We will wrap up with a meet and greet where attendees can network with other attendees and organizations who support and manage oral history projects.
Maximum capacity for this event is 75 registrants. Masks are strongly encouraged to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
We need a minimum of 25 registrations by September 10th in order for the program to proceed. All registrants will be notified by September 15th if the event cannot be held as planned and will be reimbursed for their registration costs.
Also, if you are knowledgeable about oral history yourself and would like to help, we are still looking for presenters in these areas:
Intermediate
People with some experience in oral history (e.g. may have done interviews but may have not coordinated a project). They know what they don’t know. Sessions should present a skill that participants can begin practicing and perfecting.
Funding (grants, Foundations, Federal)
Creating a fundraising plan
Advanced
Experienced in oral history. Done many interviews and maybe some projects in the past. Don’t know what they really know (i.e. have lots of oral history practice but not much reflection on the process). Sessions should present a question for discussion.
Beyond the University
Use of oral history in non-academic efforts (e.g. corporate and community)
Combination of academic, corporate, and/or community projects
How much should funders control or have input into project design?
How do you engage both interviewees and stakeholders in a project?
What worked? What didn’t? What should be the takeaway from these efforts?
A President in our Midst will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Tuesday, September 21st at 7 p.m. This compelling new documentary describes the mutual benefits that the friendship provided to both the President and the people of Georgia.
Historic photos from the Little White House, Roosevelt Warm Springs Archives, the FDR Library, and archives across Georgia are featured in the documentary. Additionally rare film footage from the Brown Media Archives at UGA Libraries and footage from the FDR Library are used.
In January, 2019, author and screenwriter Kaye Minchew of LaGrange and executive producer Dan White of Yatesville and Atlanta approached Georgia Public Broadcasting with a proposal to create a documentary about FDR’s life in Georgia based on Minchew’s book, A President in our Midst. With the assurance of a broadcast platform, efforts began to secure the financing and technical resources necessary to complete the film.
In January of 2020, Georgia Humanities agreed to be the official sponsor of the documentary and Georgia State University TV agreed to provide the technical expertise necessary to create the film. Filming began in September, 2020, in locations throughout Georgia. LaGrange, Gainesville, Athens, Atlanta, Warm Springs, Thomaston, Barnesville as well as Harris, Meriwether and Upson County are all featured in the film. Using drone photography and location shooting, combined with archival photos and historical film clips, A President in Our Midst brings to viewers a contemporary image of life during the period 1921 to 1945.
Financing for the film was privately raised through public donations. In addition, the combined talents of over 70 Georgians helped create the finished product. Carol Howington Cain, James Fowler and Bill Murray are featured performers in the documentary. Oral history narratives from a variety of Georgians whose lives and institutions were profoundly shaped by FDR and the New Deal in Georgia are also featured. This most consequential of stories will be presented to a new generation of Georgians.
The documentary recently received two awards from the Southern Film Festival, held in LaGrange. The documentary was named the best feature documentary and received the People’s Choice Award.
sogablog.org 