DLG Collections – Page 80

Program for the Gainesville High School talent contest, Gainesville, Georgia, 1955 May 17. Hall County Library System Collection, Hall County Library System, Gainesville, Georgia.

We are excited to announce a new collection, the Hall County Library System Collection, which comes from our longtime partner, the Hall County Library System.

It is available at http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/CollectionsA-Z/bgh_search.html

This collection was digitized as part of the DPLA’s Public Library Partnerships Project (PLPP), which connects public librarians and public library collections with the DLG and DPLA. We appreciate the opportunity to work with Georgia’s public libraries and learn more about the communities that they serve.

Ronda Sanders, who oversees the Sybil Wood McRay Genealogy & Local History Collection of the Hall County Library System describes the history of the Hall County Library System, which serves a county population of over 187,700 people.

“Prior to 1933, the ladies of the Grace Episcopal Church started a small community library in the basement of their church. The tornado of 1936 destroyed the Grace Episcopal Church along with the library. Because of this loss to the community, Hall County residents started the groundwork for a public library in Hall County, Georgia. The first meeting of the Hall County Library Board was held in 1937. In March of 1938, the Hall County Library System officially moved into the basement of the courthouse where it remained until a modern two story library building was dedicated on February 8, 1970. The library system has always been involved in the preservation of Hall County’s history.”

Photograph of teenagers at the Debuteen Ball, Gainesville, Georgia, 1953 December 30. Hall County Library System Collection, Hall County Library System, Gainesville, Georgia.

The Hall County Library System Collection contains photographs and memorabilia related to Gainesville, Georgia, Gainesville High School and Riverside Military School, and features photographs, flyers, dance invitations, concert programs, student newspapers and yearbooks belonging to Vera “Buzzie” Bennett, a student at Gainesville High School in the 1950s. The collection also includes a 1819-1926 record book for the Inferior Court in Gainesville, and a 1911 Riverside Military School yearbook.

A large part of the work on the Hall County Library System Collection has been done by library staff and devoted volunteers, including Sybil McRay, Louise White, LoRetta C. Parker, Mary Gallant, Susan Stewart, Tina Dumestre, Adrian Mixson, and Ronda Sanders.

We would like to thank the Hall County Library System for another opportunity to collaborate on bringing their valuable resources to the Digital Library of Georgia, and hope that you enjoy looking through the new Hall County Library System Collection!

Confederate States Patent No. 60, Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System Collection

We are pleased to announce a new collection from our partners at the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System.

The new collection, the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System Collection, includes photographs from the Augusta flood of 1888, nineteenth century stereographs, a 1922 Augusta Motor Club travel guide, and Confederate States Patent No. 60.

Digitization of the collection was made possible by the DPLA’s Public Library Partnerships Project (PLPP), where DPLA service hubs like the DLG collaborate with Georgia public libraries to make their special collections materials accessible to a broader audience online.

The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System serves Augusta-Richmond County and the Central Savannah River Area, including South Carolina. The headquarters library is located in downtown Augusta, Georgia and serves the central business district. In addition, five branch libraries serve the outlying areas, neighborhoods, and districts which surround the city center; Wallace Branch, Friedman Branch, Appleby Branch, Maxwell Branch, and Diamond Lakes Branch.

Tina Monaco, the historian of the Georgia Heritage Room of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library, comments on the strengths of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System collection: “As Augusta is the second oldest city in Georgia, it has a rich history, so having resources available and accessible to the public through the library for the study of history is a benefit for all. Because the Georgia Heritage Room has an extensive collection of print resources and materials on local and Georgia history, as well as genealogy we expand the reach of the library to out-of-town scholars, and family researchers, therefore broadening our purpose.”

The image shown in this post, Confederate States Patent #60, was granted to Jacob B. and William L. Platt of Augusta, Georgia on January 7, 1872 for “Camp Cots.” The invention claimed to be a “new and improved universal cot for camp and hospital purposes” which could be “folded or rolled up into a small space when transported from place to place.”

We hope that you take the time to look through these new resources made available through our partnership with the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System. Let us know what you think!

Category: DLG Collections

New Collection from the Hall County Library System

DLG welcomes the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System Collection