Volume 21, no. 1 · March 2003

ORAL HISTORY GRANT

Pearce Cleaveland was interviewed by Clark Johnson in 1994, five years before his death. This interview is similar to ones that will be done during this grant project. A transcript of the interview is available at the Archives.

The grant will ensure that the memories and history of Troup County are preserved for future generations. “Much of our local history is passed down through oral tradition,” said Minchew. “We want to make sure we can save the recollections of our residents who lived through the Depression, World War II, and the many changes we saw in the 1960s.” Minchew estimates the length of the interviews will run from 20 minutes to two hours.

This project continues the partnership of the library and archives begun last year when they received a grant to digitize Troup County’s Marriage and Deed Records back to 1828, also a first in Georgia. “So few places have digitized their history records, that it is hard for people to realize they only have to go on-line to find the information,” said JoEllen Ostendorf, Director of the LaGrange Memorial Library. “We had a family who drove all the way from Texas to look for a Troup County marriage record from the 1830s. We pulled it up on the computer and pointed out to them they could have done this from home!”

The oral history project will be completed by September 30 and available online by November 1, 2003 through either the library’s web page (www.thclibrary.net) or through archives’ web page (www.trouparchives.org).

Interviewees will represent the broad variety of backgrounds found in Troup County -- from citizens whose families have lived here for generations to recent immigrants. People from LaGrange, West Point, and Hogansville will be interviewed. People who have played a role in the development of the textile industry and industrial growth of the area will be interviewed as will people who have connections with LaGrange College. The integration of the local schools will be reviewed as well.

If you know of people who should be interviewed, please call the Archives at 706-884-1828 or e-mail at info@trouparchives.org and share the names and basic biographical information.

Museum Fundraising Committee

Work has begun on the building at 141 Main Street which is located across the street from the Troup County Archives. Using a grant from the Governor’s Discretionary Funds, a new roof has been put on the building and detailed drawings will soon be made to guide renovations.

With the help of the Museum Committee, an overhead program about Museum on Main has been developed and is available for showing to civic groups and other interested people. Archives Director Kaye Minchew has already shown the show to Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, and Phi Alpha Kappa, an educators group. A presentations to the Newcomers Club is planned for June. The presentation takes about 20 minutes. To arrange a presentation for your group, call the Archives at 884-1828 or e-mail at info@trouparchives.org.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS!

This banner hangs in one of the display windows at Museum on Main. Jim Short, a native of Scotland and an employee of Milliken and Company in LaGrange, shared this quote at a breakfast on July 19 at Lamar Dodd Art Center which focused on the museum. The quote is credited to Mr. Pansy Martin, a textile mill owner in Scotland in the nineteenth century. We think it nicely sums up the goals and ideals of Museum on Main!

LIVE ... FROM WTRP

Topics of conversation have included the Archives, the planned Museum on Main, dramatic weather, genealogy, and much more. Listen in and call with your questions or comments!

HISTORY DAY

Students from twelve West Georgia schools are participating in the 2003 District contest. If you would like for your favorite school to participate next year, contact the principal and history teachers. Give coordinators Barry Jackson and Kaye Minchew a call at the Archives at 884-1828 and we will be sure they get information about the contest next fall. This will give them plenty of time to get their students ready for the contest!

Judges include members of the Troup County Historical Society, retired teachers, and faculty and students from LaGrange College. Members of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honorary society, have been especially helpful with history day for several years now! The Fall 2002 newsletter of National History Day included a letter written by Christy DiFeliciantonio whose son Justin participated in the National History Day Contest and gave his presentation at the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta as well. She wrote: “The national contest was an amazing event and a learning experience for our whole family...Lush with learning opportunities for our students, I have to agree with the National History Day slogan: “It’s not a day. It’s an experience.”

HERITAGE EDUCATION

Teachers and Media Specialists from Troup High, LaGrange High, Westside Magnet, and Callaway Middle School have already signed up to participate. A few spaces are still open. Teachers can reserve space by sending a check for $25 to the Troup County Archives at P.O. Box 1051, LaGrange, GA 30241. The deposit will be refunded upon completion of the course. Call the Archives at 884-1828 for more information.

Each year the week proves to be an exciting time of learning new facts and figuring out new and creative ways of sharing our local history and heritage with teachers and eventually with their students. Ways to introduce local history into classrooms include exercises in creative writing, math, mini-dramatic productions, art, geography, mapping, and presentations.

Field trips are an important part of Heritage Education workshops but given the budget and time constraints faced by teachers, every effort is made to show how these field trips can be taken in person or virtually through use of overhead presentations, slide shows, or computers!

One of this year’s trips includes a walking tour of Broad and Vernon Streets examining structures standing during the Civil War. Another trip will include Fort Tyler in West Point, a visit to the cemetery at Long Cane Baptist Church where soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War are buried, and a look at planes that flew during World War II. Visits to Troup County’s war memorials will also be included. This program is held with support from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

TROUP COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP, 2003

FARM LIFE

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: