Volume 24, No. 2 • Summer 2006

MUSEUM ON MAIN: AN UPDATE

Kathy Dixson and Larry Graham of Avient Museum Services of Atlanta are designing the long-term exhibit area, which will be located next to the Main Street entrance. The theme will be “Wheels of Change.” Topics to be explored include the history of West Georgia from the days of the Indians to antebellum days when LaGrange had three colleges, to the coming of the textile industry and modern times.

The museum is a project of the Troup County Historical Society, which also operates the Troup County Archives. Members of the Historical Society’s Board of Trustees decided a couple of years ago that a steam engine in the basement of the old Newman Construction Company building on East Depot Street would be the “centerpiece” for the museum’s long-term exhibit area. In February of this year, members of the Museum committee learned that the steam engine would be unavailable. A new centerpiece emphasizing the “wheels of change” theme is being developed.

Skip Smith and Smith Design Group of LaGrange are developing architectural plans for the museum. Major changes include removing walls that separate the present lobby from the reading room and removing office walls to open up the rear half of the first floor. Renovations are expected to start in fall of 2006 and Museum on Main is expected to open in late 2007 or early 2008.

This long-term exhibit area will be known as the Junior Service League Gallery since members of the League contributed earnings from their Fall 2005 Follies to the museum project. The League raised over $40,000 on this project. The next area will house rotating exhibits and will be known as the Charter Foundation Gallery in honor of contributions of Charter Foundation of West Point to the project. The rotating exhibits area will be of special interest to local residents. Exhibits loaned by national museums, such as the Smithsonian and the National Building Museum, and state museums, such as the Richard B. Russell Library at the University of Georgia, and exhibits developed by Museum on Main staff will be spotlighted. Cotton farming of West Georgia, a bridal review through the decades, and the history of rural electrification in Georgia are a few subjects to be explored. These exhibits will change every six to twelve weeks.

Museum fundraising is also progressing. Almost one million dollars have been raised for the project. Additional funds are currently being sought. Jenny Copeland is the chair of the Fundraising Committee. Mrs. Copeland noted that, “Now is an exciting time to be located in downtown LaGrange. The Troup County Government Center is complete, as is the renovated athletic club. The new Carmike Theaters and the parking deck at Broome and Morgan Street should be completed this fall. Museum on Main and the renovated Troup County Archives will add even more activity and people to downtown. Visitors and long-term residents alike will have a place to go to learn more about the heritage of the area.”

SUMMER INTERNS

I have always had a passion and love of history. My Dad earned a B.A. in History at Florida State University, and through him my interest in history grew. Though I share the love of history with him, I did not follow his footsteps in earning my B.A. in History at Florida State, instead I opted for LaGrange College. I am a rising senior at LC, working towards my B.A in History and a minor in Political Science. Through the history department at LC, particularly, Dr. Joe Cafaro, I became aware of the summer internship position at the Troup County Archives. I have worked previously with the TCA at History Day in the spring of 2005 and 2006. After talking with Dr. Cafaro about the internship I decided take on the job.

I chose to take the internship for several reasons. One, my passion and love of history fits in perfectly with an archives, because that’s exactly what they know and work with, history. Second, for future studies in history, working at the archives will be a great asset on my resume. Third, every day I knew I would encounter various needs from various people of the community, a community that I now live in and have grown to love.

My job responsibilities at the TCA vary day to day. I often look up school records or court records. I have assisted in creating new areas to store records by discarding certain approved records. One project, in particular, that will take the majority of the summer, is creating a organized system to store LaGrange Daily News photographs. I do whatever I can to help out the staff at TCA. I have enjoyed the job thus far and look forward to the remainder of the summer.

After the summer, I will continue work on my B.A in History from LaGrange College and will graduate in May 2007. From there, I will be working on my Masters in Art of Teaching degree from LaGrange College. My goal is to be a high school history teacher in a South Georgia city, while living in Tallahassee and finally following in my Dad’s footsteps by getting my Masters in History and Doctorate of Philosophy, with a history concentration at Florida State University.

Liz VanDahm has been back with us for a second year. She just received her M.A. degree in Public History from Appalachian State University. She has been assisting with planning for Museum on Main and has helped researchers. Liz is the granddaughter of Dewey and Betty McKenzie.

We wish our student interns great luck in their studies and job searches and we appreciate the hard work they have done this summer!

RECENT COLLECTIONS PROCESSED AND AVAILABLE

The artifacts were mostly early equipment used in quality control, such as a crimp tester, sliver scales, and a three piece, hand-operated swatch cutter, but also early examples of spindles, bobbins, and quills. They include original office pieces, such as a porcelain stamp and envelope moistener and an antique letter spindle and the memorial plaque of World War II service people from Dunson Mill.

The records will be a valuable addition to our industrial history. They include the original, 1910 stock certificates for Dunson Mill and the redeemed bond coupons for Dixie Mill between 1901 and 1903. Of particular interest were two large ledgers that included the complete list of Dunson Mill Village houses, by address, who bought them when the company decided to sell them in the 1950s, and the weekly payments for each house. The specifications and contracts for the erection and equipping of Dunson Cotton Mills, 1910-1911, include contracts and correspondence with the architects and the builders, Pike Brothers, as well as the equipment companies and the railroad. Board of Directors’ minutes from 1910-1921 and 1942-1953 add to our understanding of how a Southern textile mill was brought to completion.

Eunice Hearn Harris Whitaker Collection. MS 2006.03. We have also processed a wonderful collection of papers and photographs belonging to Mrs. Charlie Whitaker, saved and brought to us by Wayne Parmer. They document her life, 1906 to 2004, and family as well as her interesting career as a student, teacher, and principal in the Tatum-Vernon area of Troup County.

Tabard Book Club Collection. MS 2006.05. The records of this local book club, named for Chaucer’s famous Tabard Inn, include many of their early records from their founding in 1956 to the current time. The bulk of the collection consists of minutes, 1960 – 2005, and were brought to us by Catherine Holmes on behalf of the club.

Rotary Club of LaGrange, Georgia. MS 16. We have acquired and processed two boxes of additional records of this local service club, including mostly the presidential papers of Fred L. Jones, Jr., 1998-1999; Frank S. “Chunk” Newman, 1999-2000; Charles D. Hudson, Jr., 2000-2001; F. Clark Johnson, III, 2001-2002; and Kaye L. Minchew, 2002-2003.

“The New Deal and All That Jazz”

Barry Jackson talks to the TAH teachers about downtown.	Clark Johnson talks about City leaders from the 1920s-30s now resting at Hill View Cemetery.

The Johnny Mercer song title, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” might well have summarized the feelings of twenty-three Troup County social studies teachers who participated in this year’s Teaching American History Summer Institute held the week of June 5-9 at the Troup County Archives. This year’s theme, “The New Deal and All That Jazz,” brought teachers in contact with the history of Troup County and West Central Georgia through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the New Deal.

The Teaching American History grant, received in 2004 by the Troup County School System, funds the Summer Institute. The Troup County Historical Society/Archives and LaGrange College are partners with the school system. Troup County social studies teachers, grades K-12, are eligible to participate. The objectives of the grant are to increase content knowledge of teachers, to connect teachers with resources beyond the borders of Troup County, to immerse teachers as historians in research, analysis, problem solving, interpretation, collaboration, and presentation and thereby produce quality lesson plans that effectively engage, motivate and instruct students in content. Each teacher receives a notebook of local documents for use in their classrooms.

On Monday, teachers heard about life in West Georgia and the Valley during the 1920s and 1930s from retired Columbus State College professor, John Lupold, and then toured Elm City Mill. After a bus trip on Tuesday morning to meet Hogansville “historian” Jane Strain at the Amphitheatre, the group enjoyed lunch at the Liberty Hill home of Bill and Ann Petry. They also toured their property and had a short project related to trying to determine the purpose of tools fromt the 1920s and 1930s. Visits to Abbottsford School and the Callaway Tower concluded the day’s activities. A walking tour of downtown LaGrange, led by Archives staff member, Barry Jackson, on Wednesday was followed by a presentation on FDR in Georgia by Kaye Minchew. Historical Society President Oliver Greene and his wife, artist Annie Greene, and society member Julia Dyar shared remembrances of their childhood during the depression and New Deal period. On Thursday, Glen Eskew of Georgia State University, shared thoughts on music and literature during the time period and discussed the contributions of Georgia native Johnny Mercer to popular music. Friday, teachers were introduced to John Inscoe, history professor at the University of Georgia, who spoke on African-Americans during the time period and Joe Cafero of LaGrange College’s history department who spoke on the New Deal.

Throughout the week, teachers were engaged in various strategies designed to make learning fun as well as worked at the Franklin Forest Elementary School computer lab. Each teacher is required to write and teach a lesson plan centered around the 1920s and 1930s. Lesson plans will be published on the Troup County School System website.

Participants in the 2006 Summer Institute and their schools were: Hollie Blakely, Ethel Kight Magnet; Willis Blakely, Franklin Forest; Carole Camp, Lone Cane Middle; Sandy Cook, Troup High; Peter Doig, Franklin Forest; Randi Dorman, Hollis Hand; Marcia Ferri, Hollis Hand; Beth Gaddy, Callaway Middle; Kelly Hanners, Hogansville Elementary; John Heard,Callaway Middle; Elaine Howard, West Point Elementary; John Martin, Long Cane Middle; Marc Mayfield, LaGrange High; Sharon McLaughlin Lone Cane Middle; Melba Moon, Callaway Middle, Christine Nobley, Whitesville Road Elementary; Ryan Slay, LaGrange High; Julie Stodghill, Troup High; Nancy Walls, LaGrange High; and Jennifer Wheeler, Troup High.

RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE TROUP COUNTY ARCHIVES

The Historical Society provided funds to help Ryan West, Emory Redding, and Malcolm Kenyon on their trip to National History Day in Washington DC. Here is one thank you letter:

Memories Come in Small Packages ... Sometimes

ARTIFACT SPOTLIGHT:
A 1942 LaGrange Car Tag