Mid-20th-century history about Smyrna, Georgia comes alive with its 1953 scrapbook now available online in the Digital Library of Georgia

Selected by statewide cultural heritage stakeholders and funded by the DLG’s competitive digitization grant program, this collection is the Smyrna Public Library’s latest collaboration with the DLG and is available here: 1953 Smyrna scrapbook.

The collection is a 1953 scrapbook created by the Better Home Town Committee of Smyrna, Georgia, for entry into the Georgia Power Better Home Town Contest.

Mary Moore, librarian at the Smyrna Public Library, describes the importance of this content and why digital access to it is so important:

“This scrapbook is a unique snapshot of Smyrna in 1953. It captures an overview of the city with regard to government, economy, religion, housing, recreation, and youth at a time when Smyrna was still segregated but growing. The book contains rare documentation on Davenport Town and Rose Garden Hills, the two neighborhoods that were predominantly inhabited by African Americans. 1953 was a pivotal time in Smyrna; the city was in the midst of the largest period of rapid growth since the Lockheed Corporation had taken over the old Bell Bomber plant and brought unprecedented economic growth to the area that would spur population growth. Because the scrapbook has not aged well (it was made in 1953 and not with long-term materials in mind), it cannot survive frequent handling. Digitization of the materials now offers the only chance for the public to view all the articles and photos within.”

[View the entire collection online]

 ###

About the Smyrna Public Library

Smyrna Public Library is the oldest city-operated library in the state of Georgia. It is fully funded by and serves the city’s residents. The library celebrated the 150th anniversary of its incorporation in 2022. For more information, visit the Smyrna Public Library here.

Selected images from the collection: 

 

Image courtesy of Smyrna Public Library

Title: Scrapbook, Georgia Power Better Home Town Contest Entry, Smyrna, Georgia, 1953.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/satp_ss1953_sbhtc (page 2)

Description: Page 2 of the 1953 scrapbook created by the Better Home Town Committee of Smyrna, Georgia, for entry into the Georgia Power Better Home Town Contest.

 

Image courtesy of Smyrna Public Library

Title: Scrapbook, Georgia Power Better Home Town Contest Entry, Smyrna, Georgia, 1953.

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/satp_ss1953_sbhtc (page 50)

Description: Page 50 of the 1953 scrapbook created by the Better Home Town Committee of Smyrna, Georgia, for entry into the Georgia Power Better Home Town Contest.

 

Share

Materials from the Augusta Jewish Museum documenting more than two centuries of Jewish life, culture, foodways, and tradition are now available online.

Selected by statewide cultural heritage stakeholders and funded by the DLG’s competitive digitization grant program, this collection is the Augusta Jewish Museum’s first collaboration with the DLG and is available here:

Augusta Jewish Museum Collection

The collection contains historical materials dating from 1850 to 2022 that come from a diverse group of Jewish creators, including youth, women, clergy, fraternities, and congregations that offer unique insights into the greater Augusta, Georgia region’s Jewish life, philanthropy, foodways, and experiences.

Rabbi David Sirull of the Adas Yeshurun Synagogue in Augusta emphasizes the importance of making this work accessible freely online.

“It is important that we remember our place in history as we move to the future. The Augusta Jewish Museum allows for valuable content to be procured, preserved, and disseminated that tells the story of Jewish heritage in the Central Savannah River Area that encompasses the Augusta, Georgia area…This content is invaluable to researchers in defining the ways of Jewish life in the Southeast.”

About the Augusta Jewish Museum 

The Augusta Jewish Museum and its programming chronicle the life, history, and contributions of the Jewish community in the Central Savannah River Area. The museum also educates about Jewish traditions, remembering the Holocaust, and Israel–the land and its people. Their website is: https://www.augustajewishmuseum.org/.

About the Digital Library of Georgia

Based at the University of Georgia Libraries, the Digital Library of Georgia is a GALILEO initiative that collaborates with Georgia’s libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions of education and culture to provide access to key information resources on Georgia history, culture, and life. This primary mission is accomplished by developing, maintaining, and preserving digital collections and online digital library resources. DLG also serves as Georgia’s service hub for the Digital Public Library of America and as the home of the Georgia Newspaper Project, the state’s historic newspaper microfilming project. Visit the DLG at dlg.usg.edu.

Selected images from the collections:

Title: Book of Handwritten Poetry, Rosina Hendricks Levy URL: https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2019-003-010 Collection: Augusta Jewish Museum Collection Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum Description: Paper-bound book of poetry bound with twine into a single volume, handwritten pages. Rosina’s Book of Poetry is an essential part of local Jewish history as a rich, female, first-person perspective of the beginning of the Jewish congregation in Augusta. Rosina Hendricks, daughter of the first Jewish family who arrived in Augusta in 1802, authored this book that remains unpublished. Written throughout her adult life, the book includes poems written to her husband and children, on life in Georgia and the South, and on Judaism and her experiences as a Jewish woman. She played a key role in establishing the religious school that would eventually become the Congregation Children of Israel.

 

 

Title: “United for Worship and Charity” by Jack Steinberg
URL: https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2022-005-004
Collection: Augusta Jewish Museum Collection
Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum
Description: Staple-bound booklet about the history and community of Congregation Children of Israel, authored by Jack Steinberg
Title: Daughters of Israel Cook Book, page 8 of 88
URL: https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2021-054-001
Collection: Augusta Jewish Museum Collection
Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum
Description: Synagogue Cookbook (1950s), Paper spiral bound with plastic spine, published by the Adas Yeshurun Synagogue’s (AYS) Daughters of Israel.
Share