Volume 24, No. 3 • Fall 2006MUSEUM ON MAIN AWARDED PRESERVE AMERICA GRANTStaff at the City of LaGrange and the Troup County Historical Society and Archives recently learned they have been awarded a Preserve America Grant for $123,000 to create exhibits at the new Museum on Main with complimentary on-line exhibits and three kiosks to be located throughout LaGrange. The exhibits and kiosks will tell the history of the area through stories of the people who have lived here. Grant funds will also be used to develop brochures and public banners to market the exhibits. The LaGrange project is the only project to be funded in Georgia during the current round of grants.Jenny Copeland, chair of the Museum on Main Fundraising Committee notes that, “We are very excited about this new grant. This project will enable us to develop exhibits in the Museum and plan for the marketing of the exhibits with banners on Main Street and brochures. We are delighted to be moving forward with the museum.” Renovations are expected to begin on the building at 136 Main Street in LaGrange in late fall or winter. Museum on Main will open about a year after renovations begin. The Preserve America grant program, administered by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service in partnership with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, offers matching grants. These competitive dollar-for-dollar grants fund designated Preserve America Communities, State Historic Preservation Offices, and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education and historic preservation planning. Through these projects, citizens and visitors alike gain a greater shared knowledge about the nation’s past, strengthen regional identities and local pride, increase local participation in preserving the country’s cultural and natural heritage assets, and support for the economic vitality of our communities. LaGrange was designated as a Preserve America community earlier this year, a tribute to both its historic preservation activities and its efforts to support heritage tourism. The Preserve America grant project will focus on three exhibits in the permanent gallery area and will allow museum designers to examine a topic in greater depth than would be possible with a museum exhibit. The kiosks and on-line exhibits will allow the planners to look in detail at particular artifacts and examine the role that artifact might have played in local history. For instance, should the topic of one of the exhibits be the Civil War, the on-line exhibits will allow greater examination of how the sword of George Fauntleroy Todd (a recent donation to the Museum) traveled during the war and battles it saw. “Preserve America grants help communities learn about their history and share it with visitors. These grants make the story of America come alive and create a better understanding of our diverse and rich culture,” said John L. Nau, III, chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. “In the process, we help make historic preservation self-sustaining and allow existing resources to make greater contributions to the economic and cultural well-being of communities and the nation.”
The Preserve America grant will allow Museum on Main to use photographs from the Troup County Archives with other artifacts. In this example, photographs of downtown buildings will be used with paving brick first used in local streets and items such as this advertisement from Callaway’s Department Stores. Troup County Historical Society Fall Meeting on November 10th
Attendees are invited to share stories they remember or may have heard about FDR and his time in this area. The brunch will be held on Friday, November 10, 2006 at Highland Country Club in LaGrange beginning at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $15 per person Send your reservations to Troup County Historical Society, P.O. Box 1051, 136 Main Street, LaGrange, GA 30241 or call 706-884-1828 or email us at info@trouparchives.org. Checks, cash and credit cards are accepted! New Officers To Be Elected:During its meeting on November 10, members of the Troup County Historical Society will hold its annual election for new officers and new members of the Board of Trustees. The following people have been nominated:Officers: 2006-2007
President…Ann Petry REFLECTING ON THE ANNE FRANK EXHIBIT Students with docent Julia Dyar This April and May, the Troup County Archives hosted an exhibit on Anne Frank. Over 1000 students and adults viewed the exhibit. The following are a few photographs made during visits and comments written in the notebook. The exhibit was on loan from the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. Director Sylvia Wygoda, staff member Mike Weinroth, and volunteer John Karp all assisted with arranging the exhibit. Special thanks are due to the following people who served as docents and gave school groups tours.
 
Comments written in the notebook.
RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE TROUP COUNTY ARCHIVESBaker, Terry, Whitesboro, TX. Information on Kirkland C. Ayers, Troup County native, city marshal killed in line of duty in Whitesboro, March 2, 1879.Bell, Denise Young, Rockmart, GA 30153. Lehmann Jewelry Company advertisement cards. Berry, Elizabeth, West Point. Information on Troup County native Fannie Mae Barnes, first woman “gripman” on San Francisco cable car. Cauble, Lillian Cobb, West Point, GA. Red Cross Notes and papers, c. 1940s. Cox, Diane, Atlanta, GA. Copies of LaGrange Woman’s Club Yearbook, 1912-13 and Mrs. Clifford Smith’s copy of The Garden Club of Georgia, Yearbook Number Four, 1933. Davis, Jane Crayton, LaGrange. Poems by Carrie Fall Benson, LaGrange High Clarions, and Confederate Centennial Program, 1961. Downtown LaGrange Development Authority. Historic Downtown LaGrange Tree Inventory and Management Plan. Farrar, Charlie A, Highlands, TX. 1951 program from LaGrange Speedway and 1959 program from LaGrange Theatre. Gibbs, Melanie, Rainbow City, AL. Information on Frank Abner Boykin. Harrison, John H., Vincennes, IN. Information on the descendants of Richard Calloway and Lucy Sappington. Hethcox, James H., Jr., LaGrange. Adventures in Green and Gray: True Stories of a Game Warden. Hethcox was born in Troup County. Hopkins, Patricia, LaGrange. Information on Atlanta Olympics, Street Paving, Dixie Mill and 1920 Cyclone. Horvath, Louise C., LaGrange. Records of Mountville Drug Company operated by Owen Caudle. Howard, Sue Turner, LaGrange. Papers, photos and artifacts from the estate of Wallace and Geraldine Howard. LaGrange, City of. Resolution of November 11, 2005, Dedication of War Memorial honoring Troup County war veterans. Lankford, Jean, Cedartown, GA. LaGrange Postcards and Robert Ellis Home, Greenville, GA. Major, Glenda, LaGrange. Hollyhocks and Old Maid Aunts: A Book of Memories, Favorite Poems, Amusing Quotes, and Family Recipes and Love Is: Taking Care of a Spouse With Alzheimer’s Disease, My Turn. Mallory, Georgia H., LaGrange. Postcards of Dunson Mill. Mallory, Paul and Bill, LaGrange. 1955 LaGrange Coca-Cola Bottling Co. coupon and letter. Moore, Rebecca. Panorama of Dunson Mill, c. 1920s/30s. Morgan, Donna, Harrisburg, NC. Images of America: Callaway, Florida and Miss Daisy Callaway’s Ancestors: Henry County, KY. Park, Clara L., Amarillo, TX. Jennie Ellena (Cagle) Cammack, 1886-1936: Descendants and Paternal Ancestors. Reams, Melanie, LaGrange. Troup County Republican Women Collection: Minutes, Contact Sheets, Correspondence. Rogers, Tamera, LaGrange. Copy of The Cotton States and International Exposition and South, 1896. Strain, Jane, Hogansville, Information on Jones-Florence Plantation and Render Homestead, Meriwether County, Phillip-Orr House, Coweta, County; Fannin-Truitt Plantation, Troup County. Taylor, Christina, LaGrange. Colquitt (?) family postcards Taylor, R. J. Foundation, Atlanta, GA. Cemeteries of Grady County, Georgia. Wadsworth, Mrs. Lamar, LaGrange. Photos of 1961 West Point, Georgia flood. Wilson-Jones, Ruth Anne, LaGrange. Correspondence and minutes of Troup County Chapter, AARP. Woodyard, James, C., Mineral Bluff, GA. Photos of LaGrange Eagle Scouts, 1948-49 and copy of Dixie Mill’s “E” Award Ceremony, 1943. MEMBERSHIP DRIVE BEGINSThe Troup County Historical Society will begin its annual membership campaign in November 2006. If you are a member of the Society, you will be getting a letter from us soon asking you to renew your membership. We urge you to consider increasing your level of membership giving this year. If you would like to save us the stamp and the letter, fill out the form below and mail it in with your payment. Or to make the renewal even easier, you can call the Archives at 706-884-1828 and put your membership renewal on your credit card! Our bookkeeper Diana Thomas will be happy to assist you!The Historical Society was organized in 1972 as the Ockfuskee Historical Society. Members decided to change the name in 1981. The Society sponsored the Troup County Archives, which opened in January 1983. Throughout the years, the Society has been active in helping preserve historic structures and his torical documents in LaGrange, Troup County, and West Georgia. A major focus has always been education. Educational goals have been met by reaching out to students, classes, and teachers throughout the county; by hosting lectures and special programs; and by writing articles for this newsletter, the LaGrange Daily News, and other publications. With your membership in the Historical Society, you will receive our quarterly newsletter and will receive invitations to our luncheon programs and special lectures. Your membership is tax deductible. Membership funds of the Historical Society support the Troup County Archives, planning for the Museum on Main, annual History Day contests for middle and high school students, Heritage Education workshops for teachers, and other special programs and projects. We thank you for your past membership support and hope you will continue to participate in the Troup County Historical Society. Membership in the TROUP COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY is open to all people interested in preserving Troup County’s heritage. Membership entitles you to a free subscription to the newsletter and invitations to Society functions. The Historical Society is a nonprofit agency. All memberships are tax-deductible. Mail checks to the Society at P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241 or you can charge to your credit card. Simply call at 706-884-1828 or send your name, address, card number, and expiration. For more information on membership, click here. ARTIFACT SPOTLIGHT: WHEELS WANTED As part of the Preserve America grant and the Museum project, Museum on Main is seeking donations of historic wheels. “Wheels of Change” is the theme for the permanent exhibit gallery, which is being sponsored by the Junior Service League of LaGrange. The Museum is seeking old wheels: wheels from wagons, machinery, locomotives, grinding stones, machinery gears, saw blades, steering wheels, and other wheels once used in every day life. If you would like for your historic wheels to become part of history at Museum on Main, please bring your wheels to the Archives at 136 Main Street in LaGrange or call 706-884-1828. Fred Jones of Jones Crossroads donated this 1926 Model-T wheel. This was the first year Model-T’s had wire wheels.
This newsletter is a quarterly publication of
The Troup County Historical Society and Archives 136 Main Street, P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241.
Phone: 706-884-1828; fax: 706-884-1840 Staff of the Archives:Director - Kaye Lanning MinchewReference Archivist - F. Clark Johnson Education Archivist - Barry Jackson Bookkeeper - Diana Thomas Photographs - George Allen
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