Free Access Weekend

Ancestry.com is having a Free Access Weekend. What does this mean? Ancestry will allow non-members to search the “Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970” database from now until July 4th -all for free!
Don’t forget that you can also use Ancestry Library Edition for your genealogical needs at any library branch in the East Central Georgia Regional Library system!

by Aspasia Luster

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1960 Detailed Map of Augusta

We’d like to thank Marsha Cole for donating a notebook that contains detailed fire department maps of Augusta from about 1959-1960. What makes the maps so special is that buildings and parks that have long since disappeared or moved are on the maps, making it a snapshot of Augusta 60 years ago. 

If you are interested in looking at these historical maps, please ask for it in the Georgia Room. We will keep it behind the desk. (Double clicking on the map on the right will make it larger.)

Dottie

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Common Problems and Roadblocks Forum

Just a reminder that we will be having a Genealogy Forum tomorrow, Tuesday, June 21, at 2:00 in the Georgia Room. It will be a round table type discussion about common problems and roadblocks in genealogy research and we’ll discuss ways around them. Please come and bring your problems and help others solve theirs.

Dottie

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Sacred Heart Brides

Calling all brides!
Sacred Heart Cultural Center wants wedding photos that were taken at Sacred Heart from the years 1900 through 2011. Sacred Heart eventually wants to publish these photos in a book that spotlights the Sacred Heart Bride. So dig through your family’s wedding albums and submit your wedding photo and your parents’, grandparents’, and great-grandparents’ wedding photos to Rachel Gregory at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center. For more information please call (706) 826-4701.

by Aspasia Luster

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Superintendent’s House

We had an out-of-town patron visit the Georgia Room yesterday. She was looking for a picture of the Superintendent’s House to the old Augusta Stockade that was located on 15th Street. Her grandfather, Frank Evan Morgan, was Superintendent of the stockade in the 1940s. If anyone has a picture, please bring it into the Georgia Room so that we can scan it and email it to her.
Also, we are looking for any information on a “Gruesome’s Corner” that was located here in Augusta.

by Aspasia Luster

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Summer Genealogy Programs

Here in the Georgia Heritage Room, we have some interesting programs planned for this summer. The first will be held on June 21st at 2:00 with our Genealogy Forum. If you have some experience with genealogy, enough to have reached a roadbock or two,  have questions or would like to help others, come on in! We will hold a round-table type discussion on common problems and ways around them.

On June 23rd at 6:30 we will have another Beginner’s Genealogy Program. This program is for beginners only and requires registration. It will be a small class where participants can get one on one help.

On July 21 we will have a program in the computer room. It is called Tips and Tricks for Ancestry and HeritageQuest. Space is limited and registration in required.

August 16rd we will have program about Researching Your House. Registration will be required because space is limited. Please call the Georgia Heritage Room if you have any questions.

Dottie Demarest

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Open Forum on Genealogy

We are thinking about holding an informal genealogy meeting, an Open Forum on Genealogy, where people who have a genealogy question or problem can discuss it with others who might have ideas about how to solve it. If you are interested in something like this, give us a call at the Georgia Room. This might be a good chance to see any new books and materials, too.

Dottie

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National Genealogical Society Conference

Last week I attended the National Genealogical Society annual conference which was held in Charleston, SC. The conference consists of 4 days of workshops and lectures and is held in a different city each year. Next year it will be in Cincinatti. There were so many interesting workshops held at the same time that is made choosing difficult. I decided to try workshops in the the different tracks rather than stick with just one. The tracks were Military, Ancestry, Ethic Genealogy, Technology and so on. All of the workshops had a syllabus and these were handed out on a cd so that attendees could print them or load them into their computers. If anyone is interested in seeing the sylabi with the bibliographies, please ask me for them. 

In addition to the workshops, there was a large Dealer’s Room filled with genealogy societies, book dealers and internet genealogical companies. Some, like Ancestry and Family Search had banks of computers which could be used to access their products. There were also activies scheduled to explore Charleston and holdings of the local historical and genealogical societies.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in genealogy go to a conference or two, if not this one, then regional, state or local conferences. You will learn so much! More than that, you’ll make contacts and have a good time talking about genealogy with others who have the same interests.

Dottie Demarest

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Augusta’s Connection to the Olympics

Golf isn’t the only sport Augustans are good at.
In 1928, Henry H. Cumming won a spot on the U.S. track and field team for the Olympics which were held in Amsterdam, Holland. In Round One, Cumming earned first place in the Men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 22.4 seconds. During Round Two, he finished in second place which qualified him for the semi-finals. During Heat Two of the semi-finals, Cumming finished fourth with a time of 22.1 seconds.

by Aspasia Luster

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Wanted: Summerville Historic Home Information

We have another historical building trivia question!
A Summerville resident came into the Georgia Room this morning wanting information on her home at 728 Milledge Road. Part of the house originally belonged to John Forsyth, but the actual date it was built is unclear (1810-1818). The Sand Hills cottage that exists today was built in 1857 and has been owned by the Mackie, Dickey, Dennis, and Bennett families. Our patron would like to find any information on the original house before 1857.
Does anyone have any information or pictures they would be willing to share?

by Aspasia Luster

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