Category: New Collections

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Historical issues of a popular Georgia agricultural bulletin that document decades of farming trends during the 20th century are now available freely online.

Thanks to a partnership with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the University of Georgia Map and Government Information Library (MAGIL), and the Digital Library of Georgia, more than 1,712 issues of the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin dating from 1926-1963 are now available in the Georgia Government Publications online database. 

“We are fortunate that previous generations had the foresight to preserve early copies of the Georgia Market Bulletin, creating an archive that shows the incredible progression of agriculture from mule days to the technology age,”said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black. “We are grateful for the partnership of the University of Georgia’s Map and Government Information Library and the Digital Library of Georgia in helping us preserve this archive in digital form and make it available to all Georgians. It is a valuable record of the tremendous strides we’ve made as both an industry and a society.”

The project began when Amy Carter, editor of the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, reached out to UGA’s Georgia state documents librarian Sarah Causey, asking for help in preserving back issues that had begun to crumble. 

“Amy and I both recognized this as a great opportunity to not only preserve her copies but to also enhance access by adding them to our digital collection of Georgia state publications in the DLG,” said Causey, who partnered with the Digital Library of Georgia to preserve and provide access to government documents and records that are part of MAGIL’s collections.

Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin has published agriculture and consumer news and market information, and facilitated sales for livestock, farm equipment, and other needs for Georgia farmers and others in the industry since 1917.

“Throughout its 103-year history, the paper has served as a means of communication between the Georgia Department of Agriculture and its constituency which, when you think about it, is every Georgian,” Carter said. “The Market Bulletin still connects farmers with consumers seeking farm-fresh goods statewide, but it also serves as a vehicle for other divisions of the department such as Fuel and Measures, Plant Protection, Animal Health, Structural Pest, and the Georgia Grown marketing program to reach consumers with important news and information that directly impacts their daily lives.”

Carter added that the newspaper’s archives demonstrate changing trends in farming over the decades, and a popular recipe feature continues today.

“If you look at today’s paper, you’ll see that the Farm Machinery category of our Classified ads section is very popular. Many people buy and sell second-hand tractors, combines, pickers, and tillers from and to fellow growers through the Market Bulletin. Between the 1920s and the 1950s, however, that was actually a very small percentage of our advertising,” she said. “Livestock, poultry, seeds, flowers, honeybees, and even chewing tobacco were much more in demand. Another popular item advertised for sale from the Great Depression up until the 1960s was ‘sackcloth’ – burlap or cotton feed and seed bags repurposed to make clothes, curtains, towels, all manner of household goods. You can tell by reading those ads that farmers quickly seized upon a lucrative ‘side hustle’ by washing, ironing, and selling the sacks that contained their livestock feed and crop seed.”

About the Georgia Department of Agriculture

The mission of the Georgia Department of Agriculture is to protect consumers, promote agriculture both locally and globally, and assist our customers using education, technology, and a professional workforce.

The vision of the Georgia Department of Agriculture is to continue to be a globally recognized leader in agricultural excellence through a commitment to safety, quality, growth, and innovation.

About the University of Georgia Map and Government Information Library (MAGIL)

The Map and Government Information Library (MAGIL) is located in the sub-basement of the Main Library on North Campus. Its mission is to provide bibliographic, physical, and intellectual access to cartographic and government information in all formats.

The UGA Libraries serves as Georgia’s regional depository for documents published by the Federal government as well as the official depository for documents published by the State of Georgia. Its collections also include select international and United Nations documents. Cartographic resources include maps, aerial photography and remote sensed imagery, atlases, digital spatial data, and reference materials, with a particular emphasis on the state of Georgia. 

Maps and government documents have been an integral part of the University of Georgia Libraries for over 100 years. For more information, read about the history of MAGIL. 

About the Digital Library 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 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. Visit the DLG at dlg.usg.edu.

Farmers and consumers market bulletin, 1926 August 19, featuring ads for honey, bees and bee supplies on page 5 https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_ggpd_i-ga-ba400-b-pp1-bf2-b10-s1
Farmers and consumers market bulletin, 1942 July 8, featuring a recipe for baked peaches on page 4
https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_ggpd_i-ga-ba400-b-pp1-bf2-b25-s42
Farmers and consumers market bulletin, 1948 January 7, featuring ads of burlap sacks for sale on page 6
https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_ggpd_i-ga-ba400-b-pp1-bf2-b31-s17
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Decades of episodes of Augusta, Georgia’s pioneering African American gospel television program Parade of Quartets now available freely online

The Digital Library of Georgia has partnered with the Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia Libraries to digitize part of its collection of Parade of Quartets. This gospel program has aired on WJBF-TV in Augusta, Georgia, for more than 50 years. The collection is available at https://dlg.usg.edu/collection/ugabma_poq.

The footage, which documents decades of regional gospel music performances, religious practices, and political activities. Ruta Abolins, director of the Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, notes that these materials are “part of the largest collection of gospel performance footage at any North American library.” 

Parade of Quartets, broadcast on WJBF-TV in Augusta, Georgia since 1954, is a rare example of a sustained African American media presence on a southern television affiliate. Hundreds of well-known Black gospel musicians such as Shirley Caesar, Dottie Peoples, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Dixie Hummingbirds, and the Swanee Quintet have appeared on the program. In the last few decades, the program’s content has expanded to include local and national African American political leaders’ appearances. Some of them appear in the digitized materials, which cover the period from 1980 to 2011.

This content serves the study of gospel music, religious broadcasting, African American programming, African American community outreach and organization, local television programming, African American politicians, entertainment, musicology, performance studies, African American studies, Southern studies, civil rights history, journalism and media studies, and business.

Dr. Barbara McCaskill, professor of English, associate academic director of the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, and co-director of the Civil Rights Digital Library at the University of Georgia, said that the collection of shows documents a broad spectrum of essential aspects of life for African Americans in the South.

“The name ‘Parade’ in the program’s title alludes to the pageant tradition in Afro-Protestant churches. At Christmas, Easter, and church anniversaries, youth and adults perform brief skits of Bible parables and lessons, sing spirituals, and recite Bible verses,” she said. “Rooted in this important Afro-Protestant pageant tradition, which combines oration, song, and performance in a unique form of worship, Parade of Quartets exemplifies how black Christians used the new medium of television to agitate for social change and honor their communities, as well as showcasing local and regional black gospel artists. 

“Secular-themed church pageants commemorate the patriotism and military service of African American men and women. Additionally, they laud the contributions of African American individuals, communities, and organizations,” she explained. “Many of the artists who guested on the show pitched advertisements for black-owned businesses. So Parade of Quartets is also valuable evidence that southern African Americans recognized the power of television to build community wealth and multigenerational financial stability.”

McCaskill concludes, “For its connections to the Afro-Protestant pageant tradition, its dual functions as an example of musical innovation and civil rights activism, and its effectiveness as a lever for African American business growth, Parade of Quartets is a national treasure.” 

Karlton Howard, who has produced and hosted Parade of Quartets for more than thirty years, adds: “The Howard Family and Parade of Quartets are eternally grateful to the  Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection for the gift of preserving portions of the video history of Parade of Quartets. Your kindness will ensure that the culture of the African American gospel quartet will be enjoyed and cherished for generations to come.”

Link to featured images:

Parade of Quartets. [1995-02-14]. https://bmac.libs.uga.edu/pawtucket2/index.php/Detail/objects/360325
(Still shot of the African American gospel group the Bruesteraires performing on Parade of Quartets)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/ta2BnYr614OJP_QNHJfCwS7g2DDYZdQj35LO-Jo0Gf1lAM1ry6UEnnHR7n_jXQOyR1IRBH0snEo8ki9V3wLmE-Ckj4EveFZdjFdIypEhI9fGPIw8T1NcxHoTBqpzgoEhIX5SohF5
Parade of Quartets. [1998-03-22] https://bmac.libs.uga.edu/pawtucket2/index.php/Detail/objects/360500 
(Still shot of Georgia state representative and former Parade of Quartets host Henry Howard)

About the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection is home to more than 90,000 titles and 5,000,000 feet of newsfilm, making it the third-largest broadcasting archive in the country, behind only the Library of Congress and UCLA. The Archives comprise moving image and sound collections that focus on American television and radio broadcasting, and the music, folklore, and history of Georgia. There are more than 50,000 television programs and more than 39,500 radio programs in the Archives, in addition to audio folk music field tapes and home movies from rural Georgia. Their mission is to preserve, protect, and provide access to the moving image and sound materials that reflect the collective memory of broadcasting and the history of the state of Georgia and its people. Learn more at libs.uga.edu/media/index.html. 

About the Digital Library 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 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. Visit the DLG at dlg.usg.edu.

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