Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

Thursday, May 16, 2013
6:30-9:30 pm

At the home of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond John Doumar
2644 Henry Street

Historic Augusta’s annual Cotton Ball is an opportunity to mingle in a historic setting while enjoying a delicious meal, drinks, mint juleps, and great music. Admission to the Cotton Ball is by current, new or renewing membership in Historic Augusta, Inc., which is open to all who are interested in preserving our city’s historic places. Memberships start at just $50 for individuals and $85 for couples. For more information call Historic Augusta at 706-724-0436.

May 3-4, 2013

May is National Historic Preservation Month. Celebrate by taking an intimate look inside historic buildings in the Augusta Downtown Historic District during the annual Downtown Loft Tour. All proceeds benefit the projects and programs of Historic Augusta. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 during the tour. For tickets and more information, call Historic Augusta at 706-724-0436.

Georgia Regents University-Augusta will be conducting three programs in April as part of the Augusta’s Viewpoint: Understanding the Civil War series:

Monday, April 15

Book Discussion, 7 pm, Washington Hall (Summerville)

Dr. Debra van Tuyll, Professor of Communications at Georgia Regents University, will lead an open discussion of Thomas J. Brown’s latest work- Remixing the Civil War: Mediations on the Sesquicentennial.

 Saturday, April 20

Driving Tour of Civil War Augusta, 2pm, Fanning Hall (Summerville)

The tour will begin on the Summerville campus, the site of the Augusta Arsenal, in the Fanning Hall parking lot. Drive along with the group and learn about the landmarks and memorials that shape Augusta’s history. The tour will conclude at the old Sibley Mill, the site of the old Confederate Powder Works. Reservations are not required but suggested.

 Sunday, April 21

“The Steampunk Civil War” Presented by Thomas J. Brown

2pm, Washington Hall (Summerville)

Join us as we conclude our year-long celebration with Dr. Thomas J. Brown’s provocative lecture, “The Steampunk Civil War,” Brown will look at the development of war technology during the civil war as a precursor to the cultural obsession.

For more information contact Reese Library Special Collections at spcoll@gru.edu or by calling 706-667-4912.

Sports in the CSRA

April’s Brown Bag History Series Lecture

 Augusta, Georgia (4/3/13) – As part of its continuing Brown Bag History Series, the Augusta Museum of History presents, Sports in the CSRA a talk given by Randy DuTeau, on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 12:30 p.m.  His talk will discuss how sports can fuel the local economy and shape our culture.

Mr. DuTeau is currently Executive Director of Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau, however, prior to October 2012 he worked seven years as the Events and Sports Development Manager for the Augusta Sport Council. During his 20 years in sports management his experiences included stints as the general manager of the Wolf Creek Olympic Shooting Complex in Atlanta as well as serving as the operations manager of Tour de Georgia, an international bicycle stage-race.

The Brown Bag History Series is an educational lecture series provided monthly by the Augusta Museum of History, and is an ideal lunch-time break for downtown professionals, retirees, and students.  The lectures are free to Museum members and $3 for non-members.  Participants should bring a lunch and the Museum will only be providing beverages.  Lunch can begin as early as 11:30 a.m.; the lecture runs from 12:30 – 1:00 p.m.

The Georgia Room will be displaying Bill Baab’s glass bottle collection during the months of April and May. Bill Baab is a CSRA resident and author (Augusta on Glass) and has been collecting bottles of various sizes and styles since 1969. The bottles in his collection range from 1737 to the early 1900’s and he finds these glass treasures all over the CSRA: Augusta, Trenton, Midville, Millen and Graniteville, just to name a few.

Please stop in the Georgia Room to see this beautiful collection. We are open Monday-Friday, 9-5, and Saturday 1-5.

The Augusta Genealogical Society will be hosting a “Digital Scrapbooking and Photo Preservation” workshop at the Augusta Museum of History on Thursday, April 4 at 3pm. The workshop will be presented by Beryl Morgan, owner of Beryl Morgan Scrapulescence: http://www.berylmorgan.com/id75.html. 

The workshop is free and open to the public.

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA (3/28/13) – The Augusta Museum of History is pleased to announce the special hours that the Museum will be open and available for visitors during Master’s week:

Sunday, April 8, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, April 9th to April 14th, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, April 15th, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

All exhibitions will be open which will include: Celebrating a Grand Tradition, The Story of Golf, The Godfather of Soul, Mr. James Brown, Local Legends, and Augusta Story. Statues of golf greats Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Bryon Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer will be on view in the Museum’s Rotunda.

Augusta Museum of History, the only Museum in the CSRA accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, was established in 1937 for the purpose of preserving and sharing the material history of Augusta and the region. From a 10,000 year-old projectile point to a 1914 locomotive, to James Brown memorabilia the collections chronicle a rich and fascinating past. The museum is located at 560 Reynolds Street in downtown Augusta. Please call (706) 722-8454 for more information or visit our website www.augustamuseum.org.

Hours: Thursday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; Sunday 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm; Closed Monday-Wednesday
Admission: Adult: $4 • Senior: $3 • Child (6-18): $2 • Child (5 & under): Free

The 1797 Ezekiel Harris House¸ said to be “the finest eighteenth-century house surviving in Georgia”, is located at 1822 Broad Street and is an excellent example of early Federal architecture. Fully restored in 1964 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Ezekiel Harris House is a reminder of the days when tobacco was the primary cash crop of Georgia. For more information, call (706) 722-8454 or visit www.augustamuseum.org.

Hours: Guided tours by appointment Tuesday – Friday, with the last tour beginning at 4:00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, with the last tour beginning at 4:00 pm; Tours by appointment only Tuesday – Friday; Closed Sunday & Monday. To schedule tours call (706) 722-8454.

Admission: Adult and Senior: $2 • Child: $1

Join Aiken State Park (Windsor, SC) on March 23, 2013 at 2 p.m. for a special program devoted to park’s African-American legacy. The program will talk about the African-American detachment of the Civilian Conservation Corps and tour some of the buildings built by the group.

Aiken State Park is Redcliffe Plantation SHS’s sister park in Aiken County, South Carolina. The program will be presented by Redcliffe Park Interpreter Elizabeth Laney and Aiken Park Manager Robert Mahoney.

Thank you to Elizabeth Laney for providing this information!

We look forward to seeing you at our March regular meeting at 6:30 in the Conference room of the Burke County library. We are very excited to have Christine Miller-Betts, Executive Director of the Lucy Craft Laney Museum, as our guest speaker! We hope to see you there!

Burke County Genealogical and Historical Society

The Paine College History Club students will present free tours at Cedar Grove Cemetery this Saturday, March 9, at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Each tour will have historical re-enactments of famous African Americans buried at Cedar Grove. For more information, please call 706-821-8371.

March 11, 2013 Monday, 7 p.m.

The fifth event in the Augusta Viewpoints: Understanding the Civil War reading and discussion series is scheduled for Monday, March 11, at 7 pm in Washington Hall on the Summerville campus.

Dr. Debra van Tuyll, Professor at Georgia Regents University, will moderate discussion of James M. McPherson’s “For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War.”

This event and all others in the series are free and open to the public.  Information can be found online athttp://guides.aug.edu/augustaviewpoint orhttp://augustaviewpoint.wordpress.com/.

The series is an eight month reading and discussion series which includes six book titles that reflect on the multiple experiences and perspectives and experiences of Augustans during the American Civil War.

The project is a collaborative effort led by Carol Waggoner-Angleton, Special Collections Librarian, with special grant-funding from the Georgia Humanities Council.

Books in the series are available at Reese Library, Collins-Callaway Library at Paine College, the Augusta Public Library, and the Columbia County Library.  They are also available for purchase at the ASU Bookstore.

Location Information: Summerville Campus – Washington Hall, 4th floor The Towers room