Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

Two new books have arrived in the Georgia Room today: The Centennial History of the Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1906-2006 by Charles Adams and Gravely Mistaken: Tales of Medicine, Mishaps, and Body Snatching in Augusta, Georgia by local writer Janis Ann Parks.

 The Centennial History traces the roots of the Court of Appeals in 1906. The state of Georgia was experiencing a population boom at the turn of the twentieth century. More people meant more court cases. The Supreme Court of Georgia was drowning in a case overload, and subsequently, the Georgia legislature created the Court of Appeals in 1906.

 Gravely Mistaken is a book of historical fiction short stories that were inspired by the true-life story of Grandison Harris. Grandison Harris was a slave that was hired by the Medical College of Georgia to dig up cadavers in the local cemetery. The cadavers were then transferred to the college so that the medical students could learn about human anatomy in a hands-on, interactive way.

by Aspasia Luster

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We have just received the most amazing book! It was published 20 years ago but I don’t think many people in the area have seen it. Black Genealogy by Loris D. Cofer has copies of African American obituaries from the 1988 and 1989 newspapers of Augusta and the surrounding counties of Georgia and South Carolina. Additionally, there is a wealth of material that Mrs. Cofer gleaned from old records about African Americans during the slave era and some recommendations about where good sources of information are located.

Come in for a look if you are interested in African American genealogy in this area and be prepared to lose yourself in Black Genealogy for an hour or so. This is definitly a must see.