Volume 22, No. 3 • October 2004

Bridging Deep South Rivers: The Life and Legends of Horace King

"The Life and Legend of Horace King" is the focus of a special program being sponsored by the Troup County Historical Society and Archives on Friday, October 22, 2004. Authors John S. Lupold and Thomas L. French, Jr., will be the featured speakers. The public is invited. King is also featured in a new exhibit at the Archives entitled "Troup County Bridges". Lupold and French will autograph copies of the book on October 22nd and extra copies will be on sale at the Archives for $29.95.

The University of Georgia Press published the book in September. This is the first published biography of Horace King, who was born a slave in 1807 but became a master covered bridge builder. King built covered bridges over every large river in Georgia, Alabama, and eastern Mississippi. King and his sons built several houses and commercial buildings in and around LaGrange and were very involved in life here. He spent the last thirteen years of his life living and working in LaGrange and is buried with his son lust off Miller Street.

TROUP COUNTY RECEIVES GRANT FOR TEACHING AMERICAN HISTORY

The system will partner with the Library of America, LaGrange College, and the Troup County Historical Society to launch the "Teacher as Historian" project, a series of advanced training sessions, for 15 teachers per year to become master teachers in American history. The Historical Society and College will present a summer institute for 25 elementary, middle, and high school teachers per year focused on improving content knowledge and teaching skills. Retired Troup High School social studies teacher Lou Anne Storey will be the project director. She hopes the teachers will use the advanced training to help students form connections to local, state and national history. "As history becomes more relevant to them, they will remember it and they will test better," she said. Archives staff member Barry Jackson will coordinate the project for the Historical Society. The National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that less than one-quarter of students are proficient in civics or American history. "This is critical right now," Price said. "Only 10 percent of high school students score proficiently in American history." The grant application said "more than 20 percent of the secondary schools (in Troup County) have scored below the state passing rate on American history/social studies standardized measurements, and more than 80 percent of all county elementary school teachers have had insufficient content preparation in traditional American history."

The first summer institute will concentrate on Georgia's involvement in the Civil War and Reconstruction. Possible topics for the second and third years include the American Indians, westward expansion. World War Hand civil rights.

"I hope this will build a foundation in our elementary and middle schools in social studies areas so that in the high school we can polish that," said Callaway High School social studies teacher Rosemary Stefenelli, who will take part in the training and was on the committee that wrote the grant, along with other educators and Archives Director Kaye Minchew.

The Troup County Historical Society has long been a sponsor of summer Heritage Education workshops which provide teachers with documents, strategies, and knowledge about local history and historical sites. Jackson notes that the "Teacher as Historian" project is the next step in the Archives' continuing education program. Participating teachers will focus on a specific era for an extended period of time and produce lesson plans which will help make local and national history come alive for their students. (Thanks to Jody Kent and the LaGrange Daily News for information in this article.)

SPECIAL THANKS!

Kaye Minchew, Secretary of State Cathy Cox and Oliver Greene

ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY RECEIVE GHRAB AWARD

In presenting the award, Carmichael said: "The Troup-Harris-Coweta Regional Library and Troup County Archives collaborated in an oral history project about residents of Troup County. Project staff interviewed over eighty residents from families that had lived there since the county's founding as well as those who had arrived in the United States only a few years earlier.

Interviewees ranged in age from 40 to 105. The interviews provide details that could not be found in any other way, whether the subject is the loneliness of being the first black to attend all-white West Point High. the tension of assisting local owners when Callaway Mills were sold to Milliken in 1968, or the frustration of being a Russian immigrant struggling to get a job cleaning the local mall as he sought U.S. citizenship.

All interviews were conducted using a digital video camera and the digital videotapes are part of the Troup County Archives' permanent collection. Digital tape recordings and transcripts are being placed on the Library-Archives' shared website where viewers can watch the interview, read the transcript, and search major topics."

Another Troup County "family member" received the award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 9-12. As Carmichael said: Justin DiFeliciantonio is a junior at Hardaway High School in Columbus. During his sophomore year, he researched President Jimmy Carter's negotiation of the Iran Hostage Crisis, and subsequently developed a 10-minute documentary on the topic. The documentary received first place at the State Contest of National History Day in Georgia. DiFeliciantonio took his documentary to National History Day at the University of Maryland to represent Georgia. He was selected by National History Day to show his documentary at the White House Visitors' Center last June.

Carmichael stated that: "Mr. DiFeliciantonio and his project are fine examples of what students can do when they take the time to explore information maintained in our state's archives. .... His interest in this topic emerged out of a visit to Plains, Georgia, [while a student at West Side] when he was in the 8th grade. For that National History Day project, he researched President Carter and the Camp David Accords.... He is committed to continuing his learning through exploring primary sources and this commitment is helping to prepare a fine example of the next generation of archives' users."

MUSEUM ON MAIN DONATIONS AND PLEDGES

$275,000

$25,000

$20,000

$10,000

$5000

$2500

$1826

$1000

$500

We have also have many donations of $25 to $250 which we value and appreciate and will list in a future issue of this newsletter. We encourage those who have pledged money to pay off their pledges this year. We are still raising funds and need your support!

MOM Receives Community Support

The Service League first organized in LaGrange in 1973 and has supported many important causes in the LaGrange and Troup County areas - Super Saturdays at the Art Museum, Boys and Girls Club, scholarships, caring for needy children, and more. The Service League will support MoM both financial and their members will assist by hosting tours of the Museum. Members will help in making contacts with local schools and Scout groups. We are delighted to have the Service League 's support for this project!. As the list on page four indicates, members of the Troup County and West Georgia communities have beer generous in their support of Museum on Main. Those giving at the $1826 level and above will be recognized in the museum. Contributors at that level and above have the option of making their gift in honor or memory

All of this support has been tremendous but more monies need to be raised. At this stage, we are raising monies to renovate 136 Main Street and to start an endowment which will help fund museum operations in future years. The fundraising committee will be approaching other individuals plus local corporations and businesses seeking additional support.

If you have not pledged your support for Museum on Main yet, please consider doing it now! The Historical Society is working with Skip Smith of Smith Design Group and Avient Consultants of Atlanta in developing the plans. 136 Main Street is the building which has housed the Troup County Archives since 1983. Museum on Main will occupy the first floor and the Troup County Archives will occupy the second floor. Extensive renovations will be needed on the first floor to make room for Museum on Main. Stay tuned to this newsletter for more information about this project! In the meantime, we need your support!

Jenny Copeland, Laura Smith, Darby Dennis, and Gail Hunnicutt discuss the Junior Service Leagues, their upcoming Follies, and supporting MoM.

RECENT ACCESSIONS AT THE ARCHIVES

SPOTLIGHT

This newsletter is a quarterly publication of the Troup County Historical Society and Archives, 136 Main Street, P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241.

Officers:

Staff of the Archives: