Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

In 2005, the Augusta Public Library received an unexpected but significant donation from local genealogist and author, Gloria Ramsey Lucas. The donation comprised nearly 300 funeral programs of extended family and friends that her aunt Eula Mae Ramsey Johnson had collected over her lifetime. An avid genealogist and former president of the Augusta Genealogical Society, Ms. Lucas is known for her award-winning work, Slave Records of Edgefield County, an exhaustively researched index listing slaves and slaveholders in Edgefield County, South Carolina gleaned from probate, property, and tax records. The book is a boon to family history researchers with enslaved ancestors in South Carolina.

Understanding the challenges and brick walls many African Americans face when researching the lives of their ancestors, Gloria Lucas knew that funeral programs could provide valuable clues. While traditional genealogy records like birth, marriage, and death certificates give us critical information in terms of dates and locations, funeral programs paint a more personal picture of our deceased loved ones. We learn about a person’s relationships, community or religious ties, social circles they traveled in, churches they attended, as well as occupational information, and interests and hobbies. Sometimes the obituary found in a funeral program is the only biographical information that exists for a person, giving them an added significance.

Shown here are two images from the full-color program of Deacon Willie Murray, better known as Mickey Murray who grew up in North Augusta and went on to become one of the nation’s top soul singers in the 1960s. Mickey Murray’s recording of Otis Redding’s, Shout Bamalama in 1967, sold over one million copies and propelled him to stardom. While this program chronicles the life of a well known musician, the majority of the funeral programs in the library’s collection document the lives of lesser known folks who led equally remarkable lives. What comes to mind as one reads through the obituaries is how deeply personal they are, how they offer a window into the hopes and dreams of that individual, their many accomplishments over a lifetime, and how they are remembered by loved ones.

Family members searching for clues about Cordia Ruth Moore’s life would be delighted at the details given in her funeral program. Like most programs, we learn when and where she was born, who her parents are, who she married, the names of her children, and her many grandchildren. But, Cordia’s beautifully written obituary also tells us her many hobbies, among them, horseback riding, candle and soap making, and gardening. We are also given her religious affiliations, educational history, and membership in organizations. While knowing a loved ones birth, marriage, and death dates as well as locations of these events is important, it’s the personal details that reveal the richness of their lives, and connect them with our own.

The two earliest programs in the library’s collection are of Lucy Craft Laney, founder and principle of Haines Normal and Industrial School, and the program of a woman who was born a slave and died at 113 years of age. Both programs contain valuable information about these two women. They also offer insight into the time period in which they were created. Examining several different funeral programs from a specific time period can reveal historical themes and trends, making them not only important for genealogical research, but a valuable primary source for historians as well. For example, Ms. Laney’s program lists other important figures in Augusta at the time of her death (1933) who were active in the political, educational, and religious arenas of Augusta’s African American community.

Unfortunately, funeral programs can be hard to find, tucked away and sometimes scattered in personal collections or at local churches and funeral homes. Over the last twenty years however, libraries throughout Georgia have been inspired by the Augusta Public Library Funeral Program Collection-believed to be the first of its kind- to build their own collections. Tamika Strong at the Auburn Avenue Research Library has played an integral role in building their collection from the ground up. After reading an article written in 2009 by Dottie Demarest-former Local History Librarian of Augusta Public Library- in the Georgia Library Quarterly about the funeral program collection, Ms. Strong stated, “if Augusta can do it, so could Atlanta.” To date, Auburn Avenue has amassed over 3,000 funeral programs. Other libraries in Georgia with growing collections are, Thomas County Public Library System and Moultree-Colquitt County Library System.

Each above funeral program collection, including the Augusta Public Library collection can be found in the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG). The DLG partners and provides funding to libraries throughout Georgia to have their archival collections digitized and made freely available to a wider audience. Follow the links below to learn more about these collections.

The Augusta Public Library depends on the local community to donate funeral programs to our collection. The programs are housed in the Georgia Heritage Room on the third floor of the headquarters library at 823 Telfair Street. We currently have around 4,000 of which about 3,600 have been digitized. Corey Rogers, Director of the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, and Diversity Scholar, Joyce G. D. Law have been instrumental in building the library’s collection and have our gratitude. Please consider donating. If you wish to keep your programs, Georgia Room staff will happily make copies and return the originals. To contact us, please call 706-826-1511 or email Tina Monaco at monacot@arcpls.org.

https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/dlg_fpro?f%5Bprovenance_facet%5D%5B%5D=Augusta-Richmond+County+Public+Library

https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/aarl_afpc?f%5Bprovenance_facet%5D%5B%5D=Auburn+Avenue+Research+Library+on+African-American+Culture+and+History

https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/zhu_funprg?f%5Bprovenance_facet%5D%5B%5D=Thomas+County+Public+Library+System+%28Thomasville%2C+Ga.%29

https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/zgz_zgz-aafp?f%5Bprovenance_facet%5D%5B%5D=Moultrie-Colquitt+County+Library+System

The Georgia Room is pleased to hold two manuscripts by the prolific, popular author Edison Marshall, the original draft of West With The Vikings as well as an editor’s copy of the same work. We’ve set up an exhibit on it, and we invite you to visit and take a look. 

Despite being born in Rensselaer Indiana in 1894, by virtue of marriage to Agnes Sharpe Flythe and calling Augusta home from the 1920s until his death on October 29, 1967 Augusta laid claim to Edison Marshall. And Marshall laid claim to Augusta.  Marshall was a figure in its cultural life, as a member of the Augusta Authors’ Club.  He was constantly in the public eye serving on local commissions or as a speaker at local clubs and charity events.  And his entertainments and gatherings at his home Breetholm were sure to be a snippet in the society news column.

 Augusta didn’t mind being associated with success either. Marshall was worth claiming as a resident.

Marshall had published works in almost every conceivable genre. First writing short stories and serialized articles, Marshall branched out into historical novels.  While these were the mainstay of his work, he also had a science fiction novel and screenwriting credits to add to his writing resume. Marshall turned his hand to so many genres and so many titles, because as he put it, “I write to be read.”

As a popular author, by 1964, Marshall’s books reached sales of 10 million in hardback alone and were translated into eight languages. Several of his titles, among them Benjamin Blake, Yankee Pasha and The Viking – not to be confused with West with the Vikings – were made into blockbuster movies with some of the most popular stars of the day.

So, why did the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library end up with the original manuscript of West With The Vikings?

The donation was part of a project proposed by a past president of the library board of directors, Rabbi Norman Goldberg. Goldberg hoped that the Augusta Public Library would come to house more manuscripts by Augusta authors resulting in a large collection. At the board meeting held in February of 1962, Goldberg announced Marshall’s intention of donating several of his manuscripts to the Augusta Public Library. The manuscript of West With The Vikings was considered the inaugural deposit and the celebration accompanying its donation was titled, “Foundation Day of Richmond County-Augusta Library’s Collection of Original Manuscripts.” At this celebration, the manuscript was presented to the library on April 20, 1962.

The Augusta Chronicle, in an article published on August 11, 1962, mentioned that the University of Oregon, considered Marshall’s alma mater, had approached Marshall over the donation of his personal papers and manuscripts to that institution. The paper reported Marshall as saying he could only comply with part of the request since his present and future manuscripts were committed to the Augusta Public Library.

And yet, the Georgia Room has only West With The Vikings in its collection. By Marshall’s death on October 29^th, 1967, no further deposits had been made. Who knows where the breakdown in the gifting process occurred.

Could Marshall have done more to safeguard his intent to give other materials to the Augusta Public Library? A public declaration wasn’t enough to secure this. One thing Marshall should have done was to leave a formal deed of gift to the library. A deed of gift would have guaranteed that the relationship between Marshall, the library, and the items he wished to donate would have been preserved.  

Have you, like Edison Marshall, considered leaving material that could be historically significant to a library or archives? What could you do to make this happen?

A good first step is to read through these two brochures by the Society of American Archivists:

Donating Your Personal or Family Records to a Repository https://www2.archivists.org/publications/brochures/donating-familyrecs

A Guide to Deeds of Gift https://www2.archivists.org/publications/brochures/deeds-of-gift

If you decide to donate your materials, consider making the Georgia Room your first stop for more information.  We are happy to talk over the donation potential of your collections and whether our repository is the most logical one to house them. We only ask that you call 706-826-1511 to arrange for a visit so we can give your donation the attention it deserves

In Kind by Mel Cearley

An exhibit of mixed media collage preserving and honoring the memory of Augusta natives Arthur Bleakley, Mary Alice Pughe, and Josephine Sibley. Augusta artist Mel Cearley finds her inspiration in the collected ephemera discovered at local estate sales. Through historical research and artistic process, Ms. Cearley pieces together found materials in such a way that past lives are illuminated. In the case of Arthur Bleakley and Josephine Sibley and family, in a light of community and kindness. It is the artist’s aim that viewers are encouraged to carry the same kindness forward, as we endeavor to be “in kind” with one other.

To learn more about Mel Cearley and her art, please visit her website:

https://www.studio2025.com/about

The exhibit can be viewed through August 2024 in the Georgia Heritage Room on the third floor of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library at 823 Telfair Street. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Gather up your outdoor chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets and join us on the lawn of Appleby Branch Library this Tuesday, June 4th for the inaugural concert of the Appleby Concert Series, a free cultural event Augusta Public Library has offered the public every summer for almost 70 years!

The idea for the concert series sprang up shortly after the home was gifted to the city of Augusta by Scott B. Appleby in memory of his wife, Annie de Prairie Appleby. Mr. Appleby and his son James presented the home with the stipulation that it would be a library. The palatial Greek Revival residence was formally dedicated as the Annie de Prairie Appleby Memorial Library on May 30, 1955 and a month later, on Tuesday, June 12th “Evenings in the Appleby Gardens” was born. Nestled in the heart of Summerville, the grounds of Appleby are shaded by fragrant magnolias and old oaks draped with Spanish moss, a perfect venue for lazing under a darkening sky to enjoy music and theater. While the summer months can be brutal, Summerville is situated at a higher elevation than the rest of the low-lying city, so it offers breezy afternoons and balmy nights.

For the opening program on that first summer evening, Augusta Public Library co-partnered with the Augusta Music Club to present a concert of recorded classical music and a musical film. According to the Augusta Chronicle, Appleby Library had just received a state-of-the-art “high-fidelity record player” on which the audience heard Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, Haydn’s Symphony No. 54 in G Major and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. And to finish the night a musical film entitled, Trio was shown featuring a pianist, violinist, and cellist playing selections from Schumann and Mendelssohn. Promoting the event, the Augusta Chronicle noted, “The garden is ideally suited to outdoor concerts. The spacious veranda can serve as a stage in fair weather, while a grassy terrace and lawn will accommodate a large audience. In the event of inclement weather, the veranda can be used for the audience and the program given in the adjoining rooms which is reached by French doors. Informality will be the keynote, with those attending bringing their favorite cushion or blanket as a ‘reserved seat’.”

Concerts of recorded music quickly gave way to live performances, showcasing some of Augusta’s preeminent talent in the music, dance, and theater worlds, as well as visiting artists from around the country and sometimes the world. Another seven concerts were scheduled during the summer of 1955. The second concert of the series was performed by a group from the Augusta Civic Orchestra which attracted an audience of over 300. The images below show a program for the concert series in 1956 featuring a performance by The Madrigal Singers performing a program of early secular music and a ballet performed by Alexis Dolinoff who was a soloist with the Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and danced with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York before opening the Dolinoff Ballet School on Walton Way in Augusta.

The special collections department of the Georgia Heritage Room is the repository for Augusta Public Library history. Included within this archival collection is seventy years worth of material chronicling the Appleby Concert Series. Among the records are programs like the one below, offering a detailed look at the high level of cultural entertainment the Augusta Public Library was putting on display for the public. Over the years, summer nights on the lawn of Appleby Branch Library was the place to be and became a performance venue for such prestigious groups as the Augusta Choral Society, Augusta Symphony, Augusta Civic Ballet, Georgia Dance Theatre, and Augusta Players. The bar was set quite high and on any give Tuesday evening, folks might be regaled with a dramatic reading of Shakespearean monologues and on another night an academic lecture from a visiting scholar. The variety was endless.

In recent years, the Augusta Public Library has expanded the musical selections from solely classical performances to include jazz, soul, country, and rock, gaining a wider appeal. On the ticket for this summer season are The Dulcimer Guy (June 4th), De Ceadaoin (June 11th), Doug Flowers Band (June 18th), Goodnight Lizzy (June 25th) and AE the Cool (July 9th).

Please join us tomorrow, rain or shine, as Augusta Public Library kicks off another season of concerts on the beautiful lawn of the Appleby Branch Library.

Follow the link to learn more: https://arcpls.org/concerts/

Newspapers.com is offering free access starting now to millions of pages of newspapers through Mother’s Day (May 12th)! Newspapers are such a wonderful resource for family historians searching for information about ancestors. You never know what you might find! It could be a birth, marriage, or death notice, or social news about your family. Use this free access to Newspapers.com to surprise your mother, an aunt, your grandmother or another female relative this Mother’s Day with an interesting tidbit of information about her family! Follow the link below for free access. Happy hunting!

https://go.newspapers.com/moms/?xid=6507

Did you know public libraries are the place to go when you are searching for information about your hometown history or tracing ancestors that may have lived in a certain locale. Most public libraries in Georgia collect and preserve unique, rare, and hard-to-find primary sources that reveal interesting facts about past events and the human beings who once called our state home.

The Georgia Heritage Room of the Augusta Public Library is one stop shop for all things local history and genealogy. Many of the resources we have cannot be found anywhere else! If you are curious to learn more about your family tree or hometown history, please visit us on the third floor of the Headquarters Library at 823 Telfair Street in downtown Augusta, Georgia.

During Preservation Week, staff in the Georgia Room are highlighting what we do to preserve our local history collections. Visit us this week or anytime to learn more about our collections and for free advice on how to preserve family records and other valuable materials. Please follow the link below to learn more about our special collections department.

If you are ready to dive deeper into your genealogy or explore the countless historical collections freely available in Georgia libraries, please check out the resources below.

Join us for our workshop Putting The Leaves On The Tree With Family Search May 2nd, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. on the third floor of the HQ Library in the computer lab. Email genealogy@arcpls.org or call 706-826-1511 to make your reservation, space is limited. Please set up your free account in Family Search prior to the class.

Join us for a presentation and discussion on Hamburg, South Carolina with historian and collector Milledge Murray, and author Barbara Seaborn. While your here view the exhibit on Hamburg curated by Milledge Murray.

This year National Library Week will run from April 7^th through April 13^th 2024. For sixty-six years, National Library Week shines a spotlight on the importance of literacy and the value of libraries and library professions.

Prior to 1958, library celebrations were a bit of an ad hoc affair.  Held on various dates with local objectives, and no overarching theme it can still be assumed all library weeks had the ultimate goal of luring in new patrons to see what wonders could be found in the library.

In 1957, the American Library Association and the National Book Committee Inc. (now defunct) joined forces to promote libraries on a national level. The result was the first National Library Week March 16-22 1958.

The national response was robust. President Eisenhower signed a proclamation endorsing National Library week. Former presidents Hoover and Truman issued a joint statement in support of the development. “…the right to think means the right to read – anything written anywhere by any man at any time.” This statement supported the 1958 theme for the celebration, “for a better read, better informed America.”

The Augusta Library used the week to encourage the return of missing items by declaring a “Fines Forgotten Week” as part of their National Library Week observance. This effort to recover over 4,000 missing books could only add to the items available to the public. The Augusta Friends of the Library used the occasion to focus on a membership drive to enable it to “promote the welfare and growth of the library as a cultural and [re]search center”.

Sixty-six years later, the goals of this year’s National Library Week continue to expand on its first theme. The 66^th theme, Ready, Set, Library, illustrates “that in our always-online world, libraries give a green light to something truly special, a place to connect with others, learn new skills, and focus on what matters most.”

Here in the Georgia Room, we hope we are this green light to something truly special by connecting Augusta with its rich past. One past we are naturally interested in is the history of our own library.

MS 179 Young Men’s Library Association (YMLA) History is a collection of materials which documents the Young Men’s Library Association established in 1848. This organization has long been considered a precursor our own Augusta-Richmond County Library. The papers contain, among other documents copies of the rules and regulation of the YMLA and later revisions. The connection between the libraries is represented by a Memorandum of Agreement between the Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County and the YMLA, dated 11 July 1933, for the continuance of a lease established on 28 July 1928, granting Augusta Library’s tenancy of the Old Richmond Academy building. This building was used by the Augusta Library until the headquarters removal in 1960 to what is now the Public Defender’s building on Greene Street. The move to the present headquarters occurred in 2010 to 823 Telfair St.

Another collection that documents our library history is MS 55 Augusta Public Library History.  The material consists of reports, newsletters, photographs, booklets, and scrapbooks documenting the history of the Augusta-Richmond County Library System. In this collection, we gain some perspective as we watch our predecessors deal with many of the challenges we face today. This collection is especially rich in material documenting one of our longest running programs The Appleby Concert Series, but almost anything can spark associations: pictures of past staff or old buildings, snippets of summer reading programs past or a ten-year-old newsletter.

So celebrate your Augusta-Richmond County Libraries by paying a visit to your local branch during National Library Week and see what wonderous things, both print and digital, you can discover there.

Genealogists and researchers lament that women’s stories are often lost to history through a lack of documentary evidence. Often, very little remains to point to individual women’s hopes, dreams and accomplishments. Because of this, fragments can play a part in each individual story. 

The Georgia Room is able to preserve pieces of women’s stories which may open the door to later research and discovery.   Let’s take a look at some of the fragments left behind in our collection which show women as mourners, moral examples, city representatives, or accomplished writers with established careers.

Barely 21, Sarah “Lallie” Adams Bulkley perished in the sinking of the Ville De Harvre on November 22, 1873.  Sarah Adams Bulkley: In Memoriam captures the grief of her mother Mary Keziah Bulkley as she writes the details of the shipwreck and relates her daughter’s last words. This missive, written to preserve Lallie’s memory, has succeeded in its task only by being preserved. The Georgia Room holds a copy of this booklet, along with newspaper clippings.

In 1901 we have another In Memoriam memorializing Lallie’s mother Mary Keziah Adams Bulkley and her grandmother Sarah Susanna Adams. Less desperately sad, the occasion of their memorial is centered on the dedication of the altar at the Church of the Good Shepherd in the Summerville area of Augusta, Georgia. The text is a reprint of the sermon preached at the event. At the close of the sermon, the lives of both ladies are commented on, praising their strong belief in God and their dedication to the church. Having been described as living and working in the domestic sphere, this dedication was a very public acknowledgement of women living very private lives.  This fragile piece of memory is in another small booklet preserved in the Georgia Room.

When living her “15 minutes of fame”, Evelyn McDaniel Kennedy was a young graduate of Converse College, Spartenburg, South Carolina and, as the Augusta Chronicle mentioned, “a popular Augusta girl”.  Apprised of her appointment as the sponsor of the USS Augusta on January 4, 1930, Evelyn McDaniel expressed thanks over the honor and wondered if she could represent the city to its credit. “I have never had the chance to break a bottle of any kind over anything, especially to christen a ship, but am happy to be selected as sponsor for Augusta.” She admirably carried out her christening duties on February 1, 1930, by breaking a bottle of Savannah River water on the ship.  The traditional champagne could not be used since this was the height of prohibition.  [4] The Georgia Room holds newspaper clippings of the event, as well as some photographs of Evelyn McDaniel Kennedy and her husband.

Elizabeth Willis DeHuff (1886-1983) was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up in Beech Island, South Carolina. She graduated from Tubman High School and Lucy Cobb College in Atlanta, Georgia. Having met her husband John DeHuff in the Philippines, she went with him to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she developed a great interest in Native American culture and started her writing career with children’s plays, stories and magazine articles. Living later in Augusta, DeHuff served as President of the Augusta Authors club. While Hoppity Bunny’s Hop is an example of her writing for children, she also wrote a number of genealogical works. An accomplished painter, DeHuff left her mark on the art world as the donor of the Elizabeth Willis DeHuff Collection of American Indian Art housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

The Georgia Room holds the copy editor’s draft of Hoppity Bunny’s Hop and a copy of the published work, inscribed by the author.

Ruby Lorraine Radford (1891-1971) was a resident of Augusta, Georgia. Valedictorian of the 1910 class of Tubman High School, she authored more than 50 books, often based around Georgia history. Many of her works featured females as lead protagonists. She also wrote under the pen names Marcia Ford and Matilda Bailey. She was a teacher, an active member of the Augusta community, a member of the Friends of the Augusta Library, and several arts groups. Radford is credited with being a co-founder of the Augusta Authors Club, and was honored as Author of the Year by the Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists in 1969.

 The Georgia Room holds the edited first draft of her book, Secret of the Peach Orchard Plantation, as well as correspondence pertaining to its publication. Included also are 25 of her titles which cover her work in both fiction and non-fiction, though our holdings of her works are not complete.

One of the most famous of Augustans, Jessye Norman (1945-2019), the world-renowned operatic diva, has left an unmistakable footprint in history. Acclaimed for her vocal performances and recordings, her accolades are too numerous to list here.  What could a small fragment add to the story of the life of an international icon? This poster, advertises what surely must have been a spellbinding concert. The world-famous star had returned home to sing at Paine College during its 100^th anniversary year in 1982. This poster documents an evening when Augusta shone as the center of the operatic world, serenaded by its native daughter.

This item is part of the Don Rhodes Papers which hold files, binders, and scrapbooks generated by Don while writing his columns and books during his career.

These Women of the Georgia Room provide introductions to 20^th century women who might be lost to time without the preservation of artifacts associated with their lives.  They also stand as colorful examples of the mission of the Georgia Room; to place special emphasis on the rich history of the Central Savannah River Area.  And with a nod to Abigail Adams, we remember the ladies!