Nineteenth-century ledger and scrapbook that documents the Civil War period in Savannah now available online

The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) is pleased to announce the availability of a nineteenth-century ledger and scrapbook from our partners at the Coastal Heritage Society that features entries from the the Civil War period recorded by employees of the Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia, at https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/chso_cgrc. The ledger was digitized and described as part of the DLG’s 2018 Competitive Digitization grant program, a funding opportunity intended to broaden DLG partner participation for statewide historic digitization projects.

Lydia Moreton, the Curator of Collections for Coastal Heritage Society notes: “The Carpentry Shop ledger is a snapshot in time at one of the busiest industrial railroad complexes in the South just prior to and during the American Civil War. It is a highly prized object in the Coastal Heritage Society collection. This ledger has detailed information spanning four years at the Carpentry Shop in the Central’s Savannah Shops. This includes fabricating weapons for the war effort and construction of the Passenger Shed which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.”

The ledger/scrapbook spans from 1860 to 1864 (for the ledger) and the 1870s to the 1890s (for the scrapbook). Sections of the ledger record the tasks of white employees and laborers, as well as work performed by enslaved African Americans, providing a snapshot in time at one of the busiest industrial railroad complexes in the South just prior to and during the American Civil War. The scrapbook portions of the book feature assorted newspaper clippings from the 1870s to the 1890s that include popular poetry, illustrations, and newspaper articles related to love, death, murder trials, funerals, and topics surrounding bereavement.

Rita Elliott, Education Coordinator and Research Associate at the Lamar Institute in Rincon, Georgia states: “The many types of history the ledger contains make it a unique source for multiple audiences. It can provide content for exhibit design, public outreach programming, history books, and 6-12th grade curricula. Exhibit designers and public outreach professionals will delight in the historical script reflective of important historical themes. History scholars as well as graduate students will find it a potent source to mine for their specific research interests. Railroad buffs will be fascinated with the information it contains. Teachers can benefit from a unique primary document to use in their curricula.”

About the Coastal Heritage Society (Savannah, Ga.)

The mission of Coastal Heritage Society is to provide educational experiences for the public through the preservation and presentation of the historic resources of coastal Georgia and adjacent regions. Coastal Heritage Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation founded in 1975 which operates five historic museums for visitors to explore. These include the Georgia State Railroad Museum, the Savannah Children’s Museum, the Savannah History Museum, Old Fort Jackson, and the Pin Point Heritage Museum. Visit the Coastal Heritage Society at http://www.chsgeorgia.org/

About the Digital Library of Georgia

Based at the University of Georgia Libraries, the Digital Library of Georgia https://dlg.usg.edu/ 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 through the ongoing development, maintenance and preservation of 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.

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Georgia Historic Newspapers Update Summer 2018

Over the summer, the Digital Library of Georgia released several new grant-funded newspaper titles to the Georgia Historic Newspapers website. Included below is a list of the new titles along with titles added from previous newspaper websites.

Titles funded by the R. J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation

Albany Courier (Albany), 1847

American Standard (Albany), 1855

Athens Gazette, 1814-1820

Corner Stone (Columbus), 1853-1861

Carrollton Advocate, 1860-1861

Cartersville Express, 1860

Cassville Standard, 1855-1857

Columbus Daily Times, 1858-1861

Columbus Sentinel, 1837

Columbus Times, 1841-1849

Columbus Weekly Times, 1859-1862

Daily Chronicle & Sentinel (Augusta), 1860

Daily Constitutionalist (Augusta), 1860

Daily Locomotive (Atlanta), 1860

Daily True Democrat (Augusta), 1860

Democratic Platform (Calhoun), 1859

Foreign Correspondent & Georgia Express (Athens), 1809-1810

Georgia Courier (Albany), 1853-1855

Georgia Express (Athens), 1808-1809

Georgia Express (Athens), 1812-1813

Georgia Platform (Calhoun), 1858

National American (Atlanta), 1860

North-east Georgian (Clarkesville), 1857

Richards’ Weekly Gazette (Athens), 1849-1850

Southern Literary Gazette (Athens), 1848-1849

Southern Literary Gazette (Charleston), 1850-1852

South-Western News (Americus), 1856

Weekly Chronicle & Sentinel (Augusta), 1857-1861

Weekly True Democrat (Augusta), 1860

Western Herald, 1833-1834

 

Titles funded by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR):

Clark Atlanta University Panther, 1991-1996; 2017

The Panther, 1965-1980

Spelman Campus Mirror (Atlanta), 1925-1950

 

Titles funded by a National Digital Newspaper Program Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities:

Savannah Morning News, 1881-1887

 

The DLG has also added several previously digitized newspaper titles to the GHN website, including:

Daily Georgian (Savannah), 1835-1847

Daily Morning News (Savannah), 1850-1864

Daily News and Herald (Savannah), 1866-1868

Daily Republican, 1839-1840

Daily Savannah Republican, 1829-1839

Georgian (Savannah), 1819-1823, 1829-1835

Georgian for the County (Savannah), 1822

The Republican; and Savannah Evening Ledger, 1809-1816

Savannah Daily Georgian, 1853-1856

Savannah Daily Georgian & Journal, 1856

Savannah Daily Herald, 1865-1866

Savannah Daily Morning News, 1868

Savannah Daily Republican, 1818-1824, 1840-1853, 1855-1858, 1866-1868

Savannah Georgian, 1825-1829, 1847-1849

Savannah Georgian (tri-weekly), 1822-1831

Savannah Georgian & Journal, 1856

Savannah Morning News, 1868-1880

Savannah Republican, 1816-1818, 1824-1829, 1853-1855, 1858-1865

Weekly Georgian (Savannah), 1839-1841

 

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