New Collections from Peach Public Libraries

Photograph of Contractor Accessing Flood Damage at Wastewater Treatment Pond, Byron, Peach County, Georgia, 1994 July 8
Photograph of Contractor Accessing Flood Damage at Wastewater Treatment Pond, Byron, Peach County, Georgia, 1994 July 8

The DLG would like to welcome the Peach Public Libraries as a new project partner!

Four new collections have been made available through this partnership:

Everett Square School Photographs (Photographs of the Everett Square School in Fort Valley, Peach County, Georgia. The school was built in 1952 and has since been demolished.)

Fort Valley School Photographs (Collection of class photographs from Fort Valley Primary School in Fort Valley, Georgia, 1958-1969)

Peach County Flood Photographs (Photographs of the 1994 flood in Peach County, Georgia caused by tropical Storm Alberto)

Peach Festival Photographs (Collection of photographs taken in 1922-1924 of the Peach Festival, which took place in Fort Valley, Georgia.)

These collections have been digitized as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Public Libraries Partnerships Project (PLPP).

Andrew Vickers, Assistant Director for the Peach Public Libraries system, values the opportunity that PLPP has provided to make DLG’s collaboration with Peach Public Libraries possible, and appreciates how the program has enabled DLG to “really work with each individual system. Not everyone has the staff, the equipment, or the time and money it takes to undergo such a project.”

Many of the images available in these new collections come from Peach County’s local newspaper, the Leader Tribune, as well as from donations from library patrons and board members. Vickers emphasizes that these collections have had a strong local impact. Speaking of the Peach County Flood Photographs collection, he says: “It’s definitely interesting to see the devastating physical effects, but it also warms your heart to see the local community pulling together to pick up the pieces. I believe that it tends to bring out the best in communities.”

Please take a look and enjoy these new collections!

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Turner Scrapbook Collection

A black and white photograph of the Old Corley House located in Covington, Georgia.
A black and white photograph of the Old Corley House located in Covington, Georgia.

We are pleased to announce the Turner Scrapbook Collection, brought to you courtesy of the Newton County Library System (NCLS). The collection comes to us as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Public Libraries Partnerships Project (PLPP), where the Digital Library of Georgia has been granted the opportunity to work collaboratively with public librarians to provide digital skills training and resources to make their cultural heritage content available online.

Britt Ozburn, Materials Coordinator at the Newton County Library System, tells us: “Newton County has a long, significant history and beautiful architecture.  This scrapbook is a collection of artifacts that contribute to telling our county’s story, as they were seen decades ago in our local community.”

The Turner Scrapbook was donated to NCLS in the 1970s by Nat S. Turner, Jr., a local businessman and three-term mayor of Covington, Georgia. In the 1940s, Turner took several black and white photographs around Covington, including the Oxford campus of Emory University, and compiled them into a scrapbook.

Ozburn notes: “The collection shows many well-known iconic buildings around Newton County, some of which no longer exist.  Many of these buildings date back to before the American Civil War.  They also represent a history of Emory University’s Oxford campus.” The collection also contains images of large homes located adjacent to Covington’s downtown square.

We hope you take a peek at this new collection, and welcome the Newton County Library System as a new project partner!

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