progressive era to World War II (1900-1945) – Page 13

October 2, 2018September 28, 2018

Digitization of the Pinebranch, the first student publication of South Georgia State Normal College and Georgia State Woman’s College (both earlier names for Valdosta State University)

The Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to announce the digitization of the Pinebranch, the first student publication of South Georgia State Normal College and Georgia State Woman’s College (both earlier names for Valdosta State University). The Pinebranch was a literary magazine published from September or October of 1917 to May of 1934. In addition to stories and poetry, the magazine included editorials, and news from campus and alumni. The digitized issues are available at https://vtext.valdosta.edu/xmlui/handle/10428/720/discover thanks in part to the DLG’s 2017 Competitive Digitization grant program, a funding opportunity intended to broaden DLG partner participation for statewide historic digitization projects.

The Pinebranch is important to researchers and teachers of women’s history, southern history, and the history of education, in that the journals reveal details about southern racial, ethnic, and gender specific attitudes in South Georgia’s progressive era, women’s suffrage, World War I, and the Great Depression. The publication’s articles provide first-hand written accounts that provide a detailed look at daily life and attitudes in a southern women’s school of the early twentieth century.

Melanie Byrd, professor in the department of history at Valdosta State University notes: “I can attest that my students who have worked in the university archives with the Pinebranch find the material especially engaging because the articles are products of college students like themselves. While students may not always identify with history in terms of national trends, big events, and abstract ideologies and worldviews, they do connect with the experiences of other college students. Publications like the Pinebranch bring the history of previous eras to life for students in a relatable, humanized manner. Reading the publication also illustrates directly and vividly how attitudes have changed over time.”

About Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections

Valdosta State University (VSU) Archives and Special Collections supports VSU’s commitment to scholarly and creative work, enhances instructional effectiveness, encourages faculty scholarly pursuits, and supports research in selective areas of institutional strength focused on regional need by collecting, preserving, and providing access to records of enduring historical value documenting the history and development of VSU and the surrounding South Georgia region and in support of VSU curriculum. Visit VSU Archives and Special Collections at https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/library/depts/archives-and-special-collections/

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.

September 5, 2018September 13, 2018

Newly digitized Milledgeville State Hospital record book a valuable source of local history

CONTACT: Deborah Hakes, dhakes@georgialibraries.org, 404-852-5547

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga — Over 100 digitized pages of a Milledgeville State Hospital Alumna Association Record Book have been added to the Digital Library of Georgia at https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gv0_csh_alreg through a partnership between the Twin Lakes Regional Library System and Georgia HomePLACE. Spanning 1910-1957, the journal records the graduating classes of the Milledgeville State Hospital Nursing School over the course of its 37-year existence and is a valuable source of information about the mental health students trained by the program.

The Nursing School of the controversial Milledgeville State Hospital, which was also variously known as the Georgia State Lunatic, Idiot, and Epileptic Asylum; the Georgia State Sanitarium; and the Central State Hospital; began as a two-year training program, graduating 286 certified nurses. Following the closure of the Nursing School in 1947, the hospital became the site of a three-month psychiatric nursing rotation for students both in and out of state. At the time of operation, Milledgeville State Hospital was the only mental health facility in the state and drew nurses and patients from across Georgia, though allegations of neglect and mistreatment, as well as a national trend toward deinstitutionalization of patients, eventually led to the hospital’s closure in 2010.

“Twin Lakes Library is committed to preserving and sharing elements of our community’s history, especially ones that offer new insights into the complicated story of Central State Hospital,” says Twin Lakes Library System Director Stephen Houser. “We hope that community members, scholars, and researchers will find great benefit from this fascinating record.”

Sept. 8 discussion to explore history of Nursing at Central State Hospital

Little research has been completed about psychiatric nursing students during this time. To shed further light on the program’s history, the Mary Vinson Memorial Library will host a panel discussion titled “Nursing at Central State,” on Sept. 8, at 11 a.m. in the Local History Room.

The panel, which will include two retired Central State Hospital nurses and Gail Godwin, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Georgia College and co-author of an oral history study on psychiatric clinical experiences, will discuss the history of nursing and how Central State Hospital changed the medical field in Georgia.

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Georgia HomePLACE encourages public libraries and related institutions to participate in the Digital Library of Georgia. HomePLACE offers a highly collaborative model for digitizing primary source collections related to local history and genealogy. HomePLACE is supported with federal Library Services and Technology Act funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System 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 digital access to key information resources on Georgia history, culture and life. 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.