Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

Mr. Thomas Hill was kind enough to donate Dr. Adam Littleton’s Latin Dictionary to the library. It was published about 1703 in London and bought the next year. The book was owned by Dr. Beverly Allen Henry, who was a physician in Elberton, Georgia, and purchased by his ancestors.

The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a webinar this Monday, December 12^th at 7pm. The topic will be “Searching the NARA Website” and the webinar will be hosted by Mary Evelyn Tomlin, who works in Public Programs of the National Archives of Atlanta.

The Friends website describes this webinar: “The National Archives can be difficult to use. Mary Evelyn Tomlin will help us solve the mysteries navigating the site and show us effective search methods.” The NARA website may be difficult, but signing up for this webinar is super easy. You can sign up here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm.

by Aspasia Luster

Mark your calendars! Barbara Seaborn, the author of “As Long As the Rivers Run,” will be in the Georgia Room on January 14th at 2:00. Her book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Columbia County.

Please make plans to join us January 14th. Ms. Seaborn will have plenty of copies of her book available for purchase.

Confederate Invention: The Story of the Confederate States Patent Office and Its Inventors offers a unique look at the short-lived Confederate Patent Office. The Confederate Patent Office was flooded with inventions that would help the South in the war and in everyday life as well. Augusta has a connection to this book: On page 212, Patent #60 was issued for Jacob and William Platt, of Augusta, Georgia for Camp Cots.

And if you visit the Georgia Room you can view the Camp Cots patent in person! Be sure to ask at the Georgia Room desk to see it.

by Aspasia Luster

In honor of those who died at Pearl Harbor, Ancestry.com is allowing the public free access to their World War II collections from December 2-December 7.

by Aspasia Luster

Deck the Halls!

On December 7, Greg Boulus of Charleston Street Fine Flowers and Events will demonstrate how to adorn your home with seasonal flora. Each participant will create a beautiful evergreen arrangement to take home. The program will start at 10:30am and again at 5:30pm at Historic Augusta and costs $30 per person.

Christmas During the Civil War in Augusta

December 11th at 2:00pm, Historic Augusta invites you to attend a lecture by Dr. Lee Ann Caldwell, who is the Director of the Center for the Study of Georgia History at Ausgusta State University, on Christmas During the Civil WAr in Augusta. Tickets cost $10.00 and include a tour of the Boyhood Home of President Woodrow Wilson.

President Wilson’s Boyhood Home is displaying the holiday spirit during December with festive evergreen decorations designed by Charleston Street Fine Flowers and Events. The students from C. T. Walker Elementary school created period decorations for the Christmas Tree. Tours of the house cost $5.00 for adults, $4 for seniors and $3 for students K-12. Children under 5 are free.

The African American Historical Committee of Augusta will dedicate a marker to Reverend Samuel Butler Wallace and Mrs. Etta V. Wallace on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 1:00 PM in front of the Wallace Branch Library.

The Wallace Branch Library was the dream and vision of Reverend Samuel Wallace Jr. He embarked on a crusade to create a library for the Black children of Augusta. His letter writing campaign and community efforts helped to establish Augusta’s first African American Library Branch in 1937. The library’s first home was the old abandoned firehouse at 1237 Gwinnett Street. The library occupied this site until the opening of its current location at 1237 Laney Walker Blvd. in April 1958.

On Saturday November 19, 2011 at 1:00 pm the African American Historical Association will honor Rev. S. B Wallace and Judson W. Lyons with plaques at the Wallace Library as part of the Laney Walker History Walk.