Historic Materials from the Rylander Theatre, President Jimmy Carter’s Childhood Theatre in Rural Americus, Georgia, Now Available Online

The Friends of the Rylander Theatre, winners of a 2021 Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC) grant, have partnered with the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) to make materials documenting the Americus, Georgia theater’s history from 1921 to 1957 available freely online. 

Rylander Theatre Special Collections was digitized and described as part of the DLG’s competitive digitization subgrant program, broadening partner participation amongst nonprofit cultural heritage institutions across the state. 

The items in this collection show the “first life” (1921- c. 1951) of the Rylander Theatre and the various types of entertainment the establishment hosted, including live musicals, vaudeville shows, and movies (both silent and “talkies”). In addition, a 1929 school club card and a 1930 theater coupon book show a detailed picture of Depression-era Americus, the popular tastes of this South Georgia town, and details of how local businesses sought to incentivize commerce in their communities during dire times. 

Other materials, like photographs, programs, and fliers, provide factual information like names and dates on programs, visual and aesthetic information such as the design of movie advertisement floats in the lobby of the Rylander. The interior design and decoration of the soda shop owned by local businessman George Saliba attached to the Rylander Theatre (and identified in the 1937 Americus city directory as “George’s Place”) are essential to researchers who wish to fill in details related to life in south Georgia. There are also key examples of rural southern movie theater culture within the Jim Crow era, where establishments like the Rylander accommodated segregated audiences and the impact of the Hays Code (the motion picture industry’s self-imposed production code implemented between 1934 and 1968). 

Researchers interested in the early life of young Jimmy Carter (the Rylander Theatre’s most famous local patron) would also find the materials in this collection enlightening. Those researchers can dig even deeper into advertisements for Rylander Theatre programming that appear in issues of the Americus Times-Recorder digitized for presentation in Georgia Historic Newspapers. And Carter researchers will be able to connect his lifelong enthusiasm in movies to his presidential daily diary.

Jacob A. Ross, Park Ranger at the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Plains, Georgia, describes the importance of this collection: 

“As a park ranger for the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park, I consider the Rylander Theatre’s history of being part of President Carter’s history, as the young Carter would often attend shows at the Theatre during the same era these items were created. As a historian interested in southern American culture, this collection has been an enlightening and revealing addition to the unique entertainment and racial histories of theater venues in southwest Georgia…These items also appeal to communities looking to perform a similar restoration of their local theater.”

[View the entire collection online]

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About the Friends of the Rylander Theatre (Americus, Ga.) 

The Rylander Theater in Americus, Georgia, provides community and area visitors a theater and meeting hall for dramatic and musical stage performances, motion pictures, and lectures, with its unique architecture, artistic legacy, and social history to be interpreted through tours and other educational presentations. Read more at rylander.org

Selected images from the collection:

A black-and-white photo of the facade of the Rylander Theatre in Americus, Georgia. The marquee reads "Mon Tue Bette Davis Edw[ard] G. Robinson in Kid Galahad." A young man sits on top of a motorcycle as he looks back at the theater, and pedestrians walk along the sidewalk in front of the theater.
Title: Mon Tue Bette Davis Rylander Theatre street view. Credit: Image courtesy of the Rylander Theatre. Description: A photo of the front of the Rylander Theatre when it was owned by the Martin Theatre Company, a chain of more than sixty-five theaters owned by R. E. Martin of Columbus, Georgia. The marquee reads “Mon Tue Bette Davis Edw[ard] G. Robinson in Kid Galahad.”
Black-and-white photograph of man standing in front of a theatre placard. The movies on display include The Thin Man (1934), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy; and The Plainsman (1936), starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The display also announces that the "Imperial Hawaiians," a group of male musicians, were scheduled to perform onstage. The "R" at the top of the display as well as the architectural details at the top of the photograph point to the location of this photo as the Rylander Theatre, in Americus Georgia.
Title: Parade of spring attractions. Credit: Image courtesy of the Rylander Theatre. Description: Original photo of movie display in the entryway of the Rylander Theatre when it was under Martin Theatre management. The Martin Theatre chain was comprised of more than sixty-five theaters in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida owned by R. E. Martin of Columbus, Georgia. The movies on display include After The Thin Man (1936), starring William Powell and Myrna Loy; and The Plainsman (1936), starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The display also announces that the “Imperial Hawaiians,” a group of male musicians, were scheduled to perform onstage. The “R” at the top of the display as well as the architectural details at the top of the photograph point to the location of this photo as the Rylander Theatre, as opposed to the Martin Theatre that opened up across town in 1957.

 

 

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National History Day Georgia 2021 Awards

The Digital Library of Georgia has awarded Source Recognition Digital Certificates and Outstanding Use of the Digital Library of Georgia Resources Special Awards to history students participating in National History Day Georgia, a program of Georgia Humanities and LaGrange College that encourages middle and high school students to engage more deeply in the historical process. 2021’s theme was “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.”

The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) partnered with Georgia Humanities to create the special awards designed to engage students in historical research using DLG resources and to recognize the best examples of student work. Source recognition digital certificates were awarded to students who incorporated primary sources found in DLG’s portals in their projects. DLG staff conferred the “Outstanding Use of the Digital Library of Georgia Resources” special award on exceptional junior and senior individual and group projects.

Sheila McAlister, director of the Digital Library of Georgia, says: 

“Our partnership with Georgia Humanities and National History Day Georgia is one of our most rewarding. Through National History Day Georgia, students have the opportunity to deeply connect with DLG resources as they critically and creatively address their chosen topics and theses. Their work is always impressive, and it’s a pleasure to recognize such excellence.”

The certificates were distributed after the National History Day Georgia 2021 held its virtual award ceremony on April 21, 2021.

Outstanding Use of Digital Library of Georgia Resources Special Award Winners include:

  • Junior  –  Individual Project Winner: Zahira Gray for “WERD RADIO” (Project ID # 11001).
  • Junior – Group Project Winners: Rachael Staskiewicz and Mina Overway for “The Allies War on Hitler” (Project ID # 16014).
  • Senior – Group Project Winners: Eva Cheraisi and Mary C. McCoy for “The Soul of We People Who Are Darker Than Blue” (Project ID # 22004).

Associated images:

DLG National History Day Georgia Special Awards graphic
DLG National History Day Georgia Special Awards graphic

About National History Day Georgia

National History Day in Georgia (NHD GA) is a program of Georgia Humanities and LaGrange College that annually engages over 11,000 middle and high school students from across the state in historical research, interpretation, and creative expression through inquiry and project based learning. For more information on NHD GA, please visit lagrange.edu/nhd

About Georgia Humanities

Founded in 1971, Georgia Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. We collaborate with others to preserve and promote the rich cultural stories, treasures, and values of our state and its people. Our work nurtures Georgians’ understanding of ourselves and of our state’s place in history and in the world, and it fosters thoughtful and engaged citizenship. 

Visit Georgia Humanities at georgiahumanities.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/georgiahumanities/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gahumanities/ 

Twitter: @gahumanities

About LaGrange College

Georgia’s oldest private institution of higher learning, LaGrange College, is consistently ranked among the South’s top colleges by U.S. News & World Report. A four-year liberal arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, LaGrange offers more than 70 areas of study with an emphasis on global engagement and service. For more information, please visit www.lagrange.edu.

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