Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

Just a reminder that the Georgia Room is hosting a Civil War tour at Magnolia Cemetery this Saturday, March 9 at 2pm. We will meet at the main entrance and the tour will be conducted by Russell Liner, our in-house Civil War buff and Reference Department staff member. We will tour the Civil War section and General’s Row and talk about the people who are buried there. Please call the Georgia Room at 706-826-1511 to pre-register. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a camera to take pictures!

by Aspasia Luster

In preparation for a class later this spring, I’ve been searching out hair and eye color, length of life and any other physical tidbits I can find. I’m putting this information on an ancestry chart. The results have been very interesting. Now I know the red hair that my brother and daughters have didn’t come just from my mom. My dad’s dad also had red hair. My daughter’s blonde hair came from my dad, as it turns out. Like my daughter, my dad’s hair didn’t turn dark until he was thirty.

These personal genealogy discoveries flesh out my ancestors. I hope when you are researching your family, you remember to look for traits to trace through the generations.

Dr. Leslie J. Pollard, retired Calloway Distinguished Professor of History from Paine College, will be speaking  on his manuscript on African American doctors in Augusta in the late 19th/early 20th century tonight at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 2230 Walton Way, Augusta. The meeting starts at 7pm and the public is welcome to attend.

Dottie Demarest, of the Georgia Heritage Room at the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library was featured with Gloria Lucas and Corey Rogers on a Channel 6 program about African American Funeral Programs. Watch it here:

http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2013/feb/13/2/local-african-american-funeral-program-collection-ar-5586500/

Fold3 is offering free access to their Black History Records in honor of Black History Month. I don’t know how long this will last so hop to it!

http://go.fold3.com/blackhistory/?xid=1577

Augusta Genealogical Society is holding an all day workshop on Saturday, March 2, 2013. This workshop is for people who would like to learn how to search for their ancestors. It will last from 8:45 to 3:15 at the Covenant Presbyterian Church on Walton Way.

The cost of the workshop is $25 for members and $30 for non-members. The fee includes a box lunch and a “how-to” genealogy book. Deadline for registration is Wednesday February 27th.

Call 706-722-4073 or email AugustaGenSociety@comcast.net to reserve your place or for more information.

The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a monthly webinar on Tuesday, February 12^th at 2pm. The webinar is titled, “Exploring the Records of the Freedmen’s Bureau.”  The webinar is free and easy to use and you can sign up here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm

by Aspasia Luster

Sign up now for the Heritage Scrapbooking Class. It will be held Saturday, February 9th at 2:00 in the Georgia Room on the third floor of the Augusta-Richmond Public Library. Preregistration is required. Aspasia Luster will lead the class. She has a lot of examples of Heritage Scrapbook pages to stimulate your creativity.

Bring a to 3 copies of your original pictures to scrapbook. This class is free. We will provide all the materials. See you there!

Georgia Heritage Room – 706-826-1511

If you have Irish ancestry, IrishCentral.com announced some exciting news! On Thursday, January 24th, findmypast.ie will release millions of free Irish records for the public to search online. You can read more about the records here: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Online-Irish-History-Day-launched-with-21-million-birth-marriage-and-death-records-released-187578211.html#ixzz2IcG0VRqa
To start searching on January 24th, 2013 or after, click here: http://www.findmypast.ie/

This January, Reese Library will host Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience exhibit. The traveling exhibition opening on Friday, January 18, examines the challenges faced by African-American baseball players as they sought equal opportunities in the sport beginning in the post-Civil War era.

Please join us for our opening night and reception on Friday, January 18 at 5:30. We will screen a special excerpt from Ken Burns’ Baseball that examines the early organization of African-American baseball. A panel discussion will immediately follow. Guest speakers will include former Negro American League baseball players, Carl Long and Cliff Layton. Chris Kane, Sports Director for WJBF News Channel 6, will moderate discussion. A reception and special unveiling of the exhibition will follow on the second floor of Reese Library.

Reese Library is only one of 25 libraries that has received the $2,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and we are very excited to bring such exciting programming to our new GRU community!

Please share this wonderful program with your students, friends, and family. All events are free and open to the public.