The names of enslaved church members may be found inside this collection. It’s possible that these are the sole documents proving that some of these people actually existed. There are also records of famous academics and politicians who lived in Oglethorpe County, Georgia.
Henry Newton grew up in Athens, Georgia, as a Presbyterian preacher. In 1841, he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and in 1845, he received his master’s degree from Columbia Theological Seminary. Newton preached to both enslaved and liberated African Americans throughout the state from 1845 to 1897 in several northeast Georgian churches.
These projects are the Columbia Theological Seminary’s second collaboration with the DLG.
Ashley Simpson, former president of the Athens Historical Society and Georgia historical marker researcher, describes the importance of having these materials available for research freely online:
“Digitization has allowed historians, genealogists, family researchers, and the merely curious to see and use records without harming the originals.
During COVID, we discovered that we could all work with the digitized manuscript simultaneously by working remotely.
Access to digital copies of original documents permits some claims to be verified and some misinformation to be disproven.
Granting digital access to the Henry Newton papers and the Lexington Presbyterian Church records facilitates a greater understanding of daily life and the rich historical background of northeast Georgia. ”
Columbia Theological Seminary exists to educate and nurture faithful, imaginative, and effective leaders for the sake of the church and the world. It is an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a community of theological inquiry, leadership development, and formation for ministry in the service of the church of Jesus Christ. Visit ctsnet.edu for more information.
The University of Georgia Alexander Campbell King Law Library Archive and Special Collections and the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) have made 50 years of UGA School of Law speaker and lecture materials available freely online. The presenters are well-known national and state political figures, influential legal leaders, and current and former School of Law students and professors.
The collection features photographs of U.S. and Georgia political and legal figures during the latter part of the 20th century. Former President Jimmy Carter; U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas; and U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Dean Rusk are among the prominent national figures. Important legal leaders include Lawrence Lessig, Brooksley Born, and Sarah Weddington. Georgia politicians include former Governors Carl Sanders, Roy Barnes, and Zell Miller; U.S. Senators Max Cleland and Sam Nunn; among others.
Christian Lopez, the head of Oral History and Media and the Oral History Program at the Richard B. Russell Library, outlines the significance to those researching Georgia’s legal and political history:
“This free and searchable body of images from Georgia’s oldest law school will aid those studying economics, immigration, education, desegregation, race, gender, and more. The photographs document the School of Law’s historical impact on the state during the period from the 1950s to the early 2000s.”
The King Law Library’s Metadata Services and Special Collections Librarian Rachel Evans welcomes questions about the project and can be reached at rsevans@uga.edu.
About the University of Georgia Alexander Campbell King Law Library Archives & Special Collections
The mission of the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Georgia Alexander Campbell King Law Library is to collect, preserve, and share the history of the University of Georgia School of Law, including all members of its community–students, graduates, faculty, and staff–and their contributions to the state and society. Visit law.uga.edu/library to search the library’s catalog and other resources; explore the School of Law’s institutional repository collections at digitalcommons.law.uga.edu; or browse highlights from the library’s physical and digital collections via the digital exhibit site at digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/exhibit.