Archives in Appalachia 2020 Survey,  Archives In Appalachia Survey,  Articles

Archives in Appalachia 2020 Survey: Georgia

July 13, 2020

By Derek Whisnant and Gene Hyde

This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue.

Introduction: 

NOTE: September 28, 2020 – This updated version includes final formatting. 

The 2020 survey was administered through a combination of online research and contacting repositories via email. The survey was done in two sections. The first section used the original 1985 survey to ask the following:

  • Is the repository still open ?
  • If so, have their been any administrative changes (name change, merged with another repository, etc.) ?
  • Is there a website or email contact?

Once repositories were identified, Derek sent them this email query:

We are working to update and expand on a 1985 survey, Archives In Appalachia: A Directory (Appalachian Consortium Press). The original survey was intended to serve as a tool for research in and about the Southern Appalachian region. The updated version will serve the same purpose and be published in the Appalachian Curator newsletter

For the 2020 updated version, we are reaching out to organizations such as yours that were either not in operation in 1985 or were not included in the original survey. 

The information we are hoping to include:

  • Does your organization currently have archival materials that pertain to Southern Appalachia?
  • Are these materials accessible to the public?
  • What types of materials are included in these holdings?
    • Ex: manuscripts, photographs, genealogical records, audio/video, artifacts, etc
  • What historical period is represented in the materials that relate to Southern Appalachia?
  • What geographical areas do the materials cover?
  • What general subjects do the materials cover?
    • Ex: family life, local history, military history, agriculture, genealogy, political history, etc.
  • Approximately how large are the holdings related to Southern Appalachia?

The second section of the survey involved locating collections not originally listed in the survey 35 years ago. Derek searched for the same kinds of collections (colleges and universities, public libraries, historical societies, etc.) identified in the 1985 survey, limiting his search to the Georgia counties originally covered in the 1985 survey, then extending beyond those counties to locate more Appalachian content in other repositories.

 

Georgia counties in 1985 Archives in Appalachia survey
Georgia counties in 1985 Archives in Appalachia survey. (from page 5 of the 1985 survey)

A work in progress and the next steps…

This is very much a work in progress, and we need your help in identifying and contacting Georgia repositories with Appalachian content. Not surprisingly, we did not receive responses from some repositories which were likely closed due to COVID, and we are hoping to hear from them soon.

Please contact Gene Hyde (ghyde@unca.edu) if you have any information about repositories we might have missed.

The next state we’ll survey is Kentucky, again based on the order in the original 1985 survey.

 

Archives in Appalachia 2020: Georgia Survey Data

Bell Research Center

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-2pm
    • Staff:
      • Frank Clark: Curator
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has extensive reference materials, artifacts, photographs, artifacts, books, and films pertaining to the American South from 1600-present. The holdings include materials on the Civil War, indigenous groups, American and local history, and migration trail genealogy.
      • Reference guide: books

Berry College Archives

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, currently appointment only
    • Staff:
      • Michael O’Malley: Archivist
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has audio/visual, manuscript, oral history, manuscript, institutional record, and photographic holdings pertaining primarily to the history of the Berry Schools and College, Mount Berry, and Rome, Georgia from 1902-date.
      • Digital archives: Berry College Digital Archives
      • Martha Berry digital archive: Martha Berry Digital Archive

Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Bandy Heritage Center
      • Address: 650 College Drive, Dalton, Georgia 30720
      • Phone: 706-272-4452
      • Email: bandyheritagecenter@daltonstate.edu
    • Accessibility:
      • Hours:
    • Staff:
      • Adam Ware: Director
      • Brian Hilliard: Project Director
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has document, manuscript, photograph, and visual culture holdings pertaining to Northwest Georgia. The holdings include materials on Indigenous history, Appalachian culture, the Civil War, business and industry, Dalton State history, and modern Georgia.
      • Museum and Archival holdings: Collections

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest office

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility:
      • Hours: 9am-12pm, 1-4pm
    • Staff:
      • Edward Hunter: Forest Supervisor
      • Derek Fusco: Staff Officer for Lands and Cultural Resources
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript, oral history, audio/visual, and photographic holdings pertaining to Appalachia from 1901-date. The holdings are varied, including materials on agriculture, business and industry, the civil war, crafts, community life, indigenous groups, literature, local history, mining and natural resources, recreation, and transportation.

Cherokee County Historical Society

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, appointment preferred
      • Hours:
        • Museum: Wednesday-Friday, 10am-5pm; Saturday 10am-3pm
        • Office: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm
      • Staff:
        • Stefanie Joyner: Executive Director
      • Holdings:
        • This repository holds an extensive collection of documents, artifacts, photographs, and maps pertaining to the history of Cherokee County Georgia. The holdings include materials on local history and politics, family and community life, indigenous groups, labor, and genealogy.
        • Finding aids for holdings here: Collection & Archives

Chestatee Library System – Dawson County Library

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Chestatee Regional Library System
      • Address: 342 Allen Street, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534
      • Phone: 706-344-3690
      • Email: dawson@chestateelibrary.org
        • Information specialist: agrizzle@chestateelibrary.org
      • Accessibility: public
        • Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9am-5:30pm; Friday-Saturday 9am-2:30pm
      • Staff:
      • Holdings:
        • This repository has manuscript, microfilm, genealogy, photograph, and newspaper holdings pertaining to Dawson County Georgia and the surrounding region from the 1800s-date. The holdings include materials on genealogy and local history.
        • Collections description available here: Genealogy and Georgia History collection

Crown Garden and Archives

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, some fees for non-member research
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm
    • Staff:
      • Ellen Thompson: Chairperson
      • Erik Gallman: Director
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript, oral history, audio/visual, and photographic holdings primarily pertaining to the history of Whitfield and Murray counties. The holdings are varied, including materials on genealogical information, histories of nearby organizations and locales, crafts and textile products, and indigenous groups.
      • List of names in the family files: Whitfield-Murray Historical Society
      • List of publications: Whitfield-Murray Historical Society

Emory University: Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, appointment only
      • Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm
    • Staff:
      • John Bence: University Archivist
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has extensive manuscript, photographic, audiovisual, publication, artifact, and digital holdings pertaining primarily to the American South from 1800-present. The holdings include materials on African American history, civil rights movements, the institutional history of Emory University, poetry and literature, Southern politics, and the Civil War.
      • Collections information can be found here: Collections

Fannin Historical Museum and Baugh House

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Home
      • Address: 411 West First Street, Blue Ridge, Georgia
      • Phone: 706-258-2645
      • Email:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday, Friday, Saturday, 10am-3pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:

FoxFire Museum and Heritage Center

    • Contact information:
      • URL: foxfire.org
      • Address: Chattahoochee National Forest, 98 Foxfire Lane, Mountain City, GA 30562
      • Phone: 706-746-5828
      • Email: foxfire@foxfire.org
    • Accessibility: public, fee for admission
      • Hours: Monday-Saturday, 8:30am-4:30pm
    • Staff:
      • J. Smith: President, Executive Director
      • Barry Stiles: Curator
      • Kami Ahrens: Asst. Curator
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has extensive manuscript, oral history, audio/visual, photographic, and transcript holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1800-date. The holdings are varied, including materials on agriculture, race and gender history, genealogy, local history and politics, literature, social movements, music, business and industry, and education.

 

Gwinnett Historical Society

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-2pm
    • Staff:
      • Officers:
        • President: Susan Y. Gilbert
      • Committee chairs:
        • Archives: Frances Johnson
        • Black History: Bernice Bailey
        • Genealogy: Elizabeth Olson
        • Historian: Mary Long
        • Librarian: Harriett Nicholls
        • Preservation: Beverly Paff
      • Holdings:
        • This repository has manuscript, genealogical, and photographic holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region with a focus on Gwinnett County Georgia from 1800-date. The holdings are varied, including both physical and digital materials on race and gender history, family and community life, genealogy, indigenous groups, local history, and state and local politics.

Jackson County Historic Courthouse Archives

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, appointment only
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-3pm
    • Staff:
      • Charlotte Mealor: Archives Coordinator
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript, local government, photographic, and financial record holdings pertaining to Jackson County Georgia.

Johns Creek Historical Society

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility:
      • Hours:
    • Staff:
      • Joan Compton: President, Co-Founder
      • Claudette Lopez: VP, Co-Founder
    • Holdings:
      • This very young repository is working to create publicly accessible collections of records, oral histories, photographs, manuscripts, maps, publications, and artifacts that pertain to the history of Johns Creek, Georgia. These collections aim to include materials on local history and politics, genealogy, indigenous groups, agriculture, labor, mining, business, and industry.

 

Marble Valley Historical Society

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has minimal information available, but appears to hold manuscript, genealogical, and photographic materials pertaining to Pickens County Georgia from 1800-date.

Mountain Regional Library (system headquarters)

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday and Thursday, 11am-6pm
    • Staff:
      • Heath Lee: MRLS Director
      • Debbie Phillips: Branch Manager
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1866-date. The holdings include materials on agriculture, crafts, family and community life, indigenous groups, literature, local history and politics, and recreation.

Northeast Georgia Regional Library System

Quinlan Visual Arts Center

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday, 10am-4pm
    • Staff:
      • Nairika Cornett: Executive Director
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript and visual arts holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1900-date.

Rabun County Historical Society

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday and Friday, 10am-2pm
    • Staff:
      • All volunteer staff
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has photographic, genealogical, artifact, manuscript, and media holdings pertaining primarily to Rabun County, Georgia from the late 1800s-date. The holdings include materials on family life, local history and politics, military history, agriculture and industry, and genealogy.

Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Sautee Nacoochee Center
      • Address: 283 Highway 255 North, Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia 30571
      • Phone: 706-878-3300
      • Email:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 1pm-5pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has visual art, photographic, and cultural artifact holdings pertaining to the Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys in Northeast Georgia from the 1800s-date. The holdings include materials on African American and Indigenous groups in the area, European colonization, and local history.
      • Gallery descriptions: Valley Heritage & Museums

Sequoyah Regional Library Headquarters – R.T. Jones

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 12pm-6pm; Saturday, 10am-2pm
    • Staff:
      • Lisa Huskey: Branch Manager
        • huskeyl@seqlib.org
      • Holdings:
        • This repository has manuscript, oral history, and photographic holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1800-date. The holdings include materials on business and industry, the Civil War, education, genealogy, indigenous groups, literature, local history and politics, labor, mining, and recreation.

Southeastern Railway Museum

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, admission fees
      • Hours: visit site for up-to-date operating hours
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript and photographic holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1861-date. The holdings include materials on business and industry, the Civil War, labor, and transportation.

UGA Archives: Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-12pm and 1pm-4:30pm; Saturday, 1pm-5pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository holds an extensive collection of manuscripts, photographs, publications, artifacts, and corporate and organizational papers pertaining to Georgia and the University of Georgia from the 1500s-date. These holdings are varied, and include materials on state history and culture, UGA history, performing arts, and natural history.

UGA Archives: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm; Saturday, 1pm-5pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has an extensive collection of manuscripts, oral histories, correspondence, photographs, artifacts, graphic materials, and political documents pertaining to modern politics in Georgia from 1900-date.
      • Detailed collections information available here: Collections Overview | UGA Libraries

UGA Archives: Walter J. Brown Media Archives

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Collection
      • Address: 300 Hull Street, Athens, GA 30602
      • Phone: 706-542-4757
      • Email: abolins@uga.edu
    • Accessibility: public, appointment only
      • Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has an extensive collection of film, video, audiotape, and other recording formats pertaining to Georgia from 1920-date.
      • Detailed collections information available here: Brown Media Archive Collection: About

University of North Georgia Special Collections and Archives (Dahlonega and Gainesville campus libraries)

    • Contact information:
      • URL: Special Collections and Archives – Libraries
      • Address:
        • Dahlonega: 117 Georgia Circle, Dahlonega, GA 30597
        • Gainesville: 3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood, GA 30566
      • Phone:
        • Dahlonega: 706-864-1889
        • Gainesville: 678-717-3653
      • Email: archives@ung.edu
    • Accessibility: public, appointment only
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript, photographic, oral history, correspondence, and artifact holdings pertaining to the history of Appalachia and Northeast Georgia from 1800-date.
      • Detailed collections information available here: Collections

Vann House Historic Site

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, admission fees
    • Holdings: This repository has manuscript, oral history, photographic, and genealogical holdings pertaining to the Appalachian region from 1800-1880. The holdings include materials on agriculture, business and industry, local history and community life, indigenous groups, state and local politics, crafts and music, immigration, education, and genealogy.

White County Historical Society Museum

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public
      • Hours: Thursday-Saturday, 10am-3pm
    • Staff:
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has genealogical, artifact, and newspaper holdings pertaining to North Georgia and White County from the late 1800s-date. The holdings include materials on local history, genealogy, and family and community life.

Young Harris College Archives and Special Collections

    • Contact information:
    • Accessibility: public, by appointment
    • Staff:
      • Debra March: Dean of Library Services
    • Holdings:
      • This repository has manuscript, artifact, photographic, and publication holdings pertaining to the institutional history of Young Harris College.

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