oral histories – the DLG B

Selected by statewide cultural heritage stakeholders and funded by the DLG’s competitive digitization grant program, this collection is the Augusta Jewish Museum’s first collaboration with the DLG and is available here:

Augusta Jewish Museum Collection

The collection contains historical materials dating from 1850 to 2022 that come from a diverse group of Jewish creators, including youth, women, clergy, fraternities, and congregations that offer unique insights into the greater Augusta, Georgia region’s Jewish life, philanthropy, foodways, and experiences.

Rabbi David Sirull of the Adas Yeshurun Synagogue in Augusta emphasizes the importance of making this work accessible freely online.

“It is important that we remember our place in history as we move to the future. The Augusta Jewish Museum allows for valuable content to be procured, preserved, and disseminated that tells the story of Jewish heritage in the Central Savannah River Area that encompasses the Augusta, Georgia area…This content is invaluable to researchers in defining the ways of Jewish life in the Southeast.”

About the Augusta Jewish Museum

The Augusta Jewish Museum and its programming chronicle the life, history, and contributions of the Jewish community in the Central Savannah River Area. The museum also educates about Jewish traditions, remembering the Holocaust, and Israel–the land and its people. Their website is: https://www.augustajewishmuseum.org/.

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 by developing, maintaining, and preserving 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.

Selected images from the collections:

**Title:** Book of Handwritten Poetry, Rosina Hendricks Levy **URL:** https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2019-003-010 **Collection:** Augusta Jewish Museum Collection **Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum** **Description:** Paper-bound book of poetry bound with twine into a single volume, handwritten pages. Rosina’s Book of Poetry is an essential part of local Jewish history as a rich, female, first-person perspective of the beginning of the Jewish congregation in Augusta. Rosina Hendricks, daughter of the first Jewish family who arrived in Augusta in 1802, authored this book that remains unpublished. Written throughout her adult life, the book includes poems written to her husband and children, on life in Georgia and the South, and on Judaism and her experiences as a Jewish woman. She played a key role in establishing the religious school that would eventually become the Congregation Children of Israel.

**Title:** “United for Worship and Charity” by Jack Steinberg
**URL:** https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2022-005-004
**Collection:** Augusta Jewish Museum Collection
**Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum**
**Description:** Staple-bound booklet about the history and community of Congregation Children of Israel, authored by Jack Steinberg

**Title:** Daughters of Israel Cook Book, page 8 of 88
**URL:** https://dlg.usg.edu/record/augjm_augjmc_2021-054-001
**Collection:** Augusta Jewish Museum Collection
**Courtesy of the Augusta Jewish Museum**
**Description:** Synagogue Cookbook (1950s), Paper spiral bound with plastic spine, published by the Adas Yeshurun Synagogue’s (AYS) Daughters of Israel.

Tags: Acculturation--Georgia-Augusta, Adas Yeshurun Synagogue (Augusta; Ga.), Aiken (S.C.)--History, Aleph Zadik Aleph, American literature--Jewish authors, American Red Cross, anniversaries, Antisemitism--Germany, Ashkenazim, Augusta (Ga.)--Fire; 1916, Augusta (Ga.)--History, Augusta Jewish Museum, B'nai B'rith, B'nai B'rith Girls, Children of Israel Synagogue (Augusta; Ga.), Clergymen, Competitive Digitization Grant program, Congregation Children of Israel (Augusta; Ga.), digitization, DLG, Emigration and immigration--Government policy, floods, foodways, Georgia history, Hadassah; the Women's Zionist Organization of America. Augusta; Georgia Chapter, history, Holocaust; Jewish (1939-1945), Holocaust; Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives, Installation (Rabbis)--Anniversary sermons, Interdenominational cooperation, Israel, Jewish American newspapers, Jewish athletes, Jewish bankers, Jewish capitalists and financiers, Jewish cemeteries--Georgia--Augusta, Jewish community centers--Georgia--Augusta, Jewish cooking, Jewish diaspora, Jewish educators, Jewish ethics, Jewish families--Georgia--Augusta, Jewish farmers--Georgia--Augusta, Jewish learning and scholarship--United States--History--20th century, Jewish philanthropists--Georgia--Augusta, Jewish press--United States--History--20th century, Jewish refugees--United States--History, Jewish servicemen and women, Jewish soldiers--United States, Jewish way of life, Jewish women philanthropists--Georgia--Augusta, Jews--Charities, Jews--Confederate States of America--History--19th century, Jews--Cultural assimilation, Jews--Georgia, Jews--Georgia--Augusta, Jews--Georgia--History, Jews--Persecutions--Europe--History--20th century, Jews--South Carolina--Aiken, Jews--Southern States, Jews--Southern States--History, Jews--Southern States--History--19th century, Jews; European--Government policy--United States--History--20th century, Jews; German, Jews; Russian, Jews; United States--Israel, Judaism--Prayers and devotions, Memorial rites and ceremonies, Merchants, Metal-work, oral histories, Orthodox Jews, Orthodox Judaism, Peddling, Physicians, Rabbis, Rabbis--Georgia--Augusta--History--20th century, Reform Judaism, Relations with Jews, Roosevelt; Franklin D. (Franklin Delano); 1882-1945--Political and social views, Roosevelt; Franklin D. (Franklin Delano); 1882-1945--Relations with Jews, scrapbooks, Small business, Southern States, United Service Organizations (U.S.), United States--Confederate States of America, United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy--20th century, United States--History--Civil War; 1861-1865--Participation; Jewish, women, World War; 1939-1945, World War; 1939-1945--Jews, World War; 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue, World War; 1939-1945--Personal narratives; Jewish

Eight institutions (and nine projects) are recipients of the ninth set of service grants awarded in a program intended to broaden partner participation in the DLG and engage with diverse institutions across the state of Georgia. The DLG solicited proposals for historic digitization projects in a statewide call, and applicants submitted proposals for projects with a cost of up to $7,500.00. In addition, DLG staff will provide free digitization, metadata, and hosting services so that users can find more of Georgia’s diverse history online for free. This subgranting program was presented the 2018 Award for Excellence in Archival Program Development by a State Institution by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC).

Preference in the selection process was given to proposals from institutions that had not yet collaborated with the DLG. As a result, the Rylander Theatre and the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force are new partners for the DLG.

This year’s slate of projects provides something for everyone: art enthusiasts will be able to find information about a vibrant South Georgia community theater. Folklorists will discover materials that focus on rural Georgians and Southern folklife, including African Americans and white people. Genealogists will be able to locate church records that contain perhaps the only information recorded about enslaved people. History researchers will have access to public domain photographs of prominent, high-profile politicians and public servants and periodicals about Southern Baptist women living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Primary sources and publications about Georgia World War II military history and journals documenting how a small group of Methodists served the Freedman’s Aid Society during Reconstruction in Georgia will be available online.

The recipients and their projects include:

University of Georgia Alexander Campbell King Law Library Archives & Special Collections (Athens, Ga.)

DLG will digitize and describe a collection of photographs taken by the University of Georgia School of Law’s staff, including its Communications and Public Relations Department, or by photographers hired to capture prominent event speakers encompassing fifty years of legal and political history.

Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, Ga.)

Digitization of 149 oral history interviews conducted by Georgia State University students enrolled in Dr. John Burrison’s folklore curriculum between 1969 and 1970. These students interviewed rural Georgians and Southeasterners from rural and often isolated areas, where little documentation survives. Interview topics include crafts, storytelling, superstitions, jokes, remedies, songs and ballads, and traditions. The body of interviews provides unique insight into underrepresented Southern cultures during the twentieth century and will contribute to the teaching, study, and presentation of southern folklore.

Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, Ga.)

Digitization of Lexington Presbyterian Church (Lexington, Ga.) records, 1822-1916. The Lexington Presbyterian Church records document the names of enslaved members of the church. It is not unlikely that these are the only existing records that these people ever lived for some of the names provided. There are also records of prominent educators and politicians who resided in Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Digitization of Henry Newton papers, 1842-1900. Henry Newton was a Presbyterian preacher raised in Athens who graduated from the University of Georgia in 1841 and the Columbia Theological Seminary in 1845. He served numerous northeast Georgian churches from 1845-1897.

Mercer University Archives and Special Collections (Macon, Ga.)

Digitization of the Mission Messenger (1895-1921), published by the Women’s Baptist Missionary Union of Georgia. The periodical is a significant source of information about white Baptist women during the Progressive era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (Pooler, Ga.)

Digitization of materials that focus on the activity at Savannah Army Air Base (Hunter Field), Savannah, Georgia, to prepare the Eighth Air Force for combat following its activation on January 28, 1942.

Pitts Theology Library (Decatur, Ga.)

Digitization of bound conference journals dating from 1867 to 1939, produced by the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), a Northern church that established missions in Georgia during the Reconstruction Era. The church worked closely with the Freedman’s Aid Society to find schools and colleges for the formerly enslaved while integrating the then-separate Black and white churches into the same conference. MEC churches were established in both rural and urban areas throughout the state.

Friends of the Rylander Theatre (Americus, Ga.)

Digitization of materials belonging to the Rylander Theatre that document downtown Americus, Georgia, and the role of the local theater in the rural south spanning from 1921-1957, including items related to the Rylander Theatre’s “first life” before it went dark for 40 years in 1951.

University of North Georgia. Special Collections & Archives, Dahlonega Campus (Dahlonega, Ga.)

Digitization of the North Georgia College Cyclops yearbook collection, focusing on volumes dating from 1975-1995. This subgrant will complete the digitization of the last twenty yearbooks for North Georgia College, which ended in 1995 (in 1996, the institution’s name changed to North Georgia College & State University).

More information about our partner institutions is available below:

About the Alexander Campbell King Law Library

The mission of the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Georgia Law Library is to collect, preserve, and share the history of the University of Georgia School of Law, including its students and graduates, their contributions to legal scholarship, politics and government, and the educational and other various events hosted by the school. Visit law.uga.edu/law-library to learn more.

About the Atlanta History Center

The Atlanta History Center, through its collections, facilities, programs, exhibitions, and publications, preserves and interprets historical subjects pertaining to Atlanta and its environs and presents subjects of interest to Atlanta’s diverse audiences. More information is available at the Atlanta History Center’s website at www.atlantahistorycenter.com

About the Columbia Theological Seminary

Columbia Theological Seminary exists to educate and nurture faithful, imaginative, and effective leaders for the sake of the church and the world. It is an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a community of theological inquiry, leadership development, and formation for ministry in the service of the church of Jesus Christ. Visit ctsnet.edu for more information.

About Mercer University Archives and Special Collections

Housed in the Jack Tarver Library on Mercer University’s Macon campus, Special Collections is located on the Library’s 3rd floor and preserves the University’s archives and records from all Baptist traditions. Special Collections staff assist with University faculty, students, and staff as well as patrons from national and international scholarly communities. Visit libraries.mercer.edu/research-tools-help/archives for more information.

About the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force

The National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, located in Pooler, Georgia, preserves for all Americans the stories of courage, character, and patriotism displayed by the men and women of the Eighth Air Force from World War II to the present. Learn more at mightyeighth.org.

About the Pitts Theology Library

Pitts Theology Library, one of Emory University’s six instructional libraries, holds a distinguished collection of theological materials and is one of the premier theological libraries in North America. Supporting the students and faculty of Candler School of Theology at Emory University and researchers from around the world, Pitts is home to superb collections in theology and cognate disciplines, housed in a new state-of-the-art facility and served by a highly trained professional staff. For more information, visit pitts.emory.edu.

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

The Rylander Theater in Americus, Georgia, provides community and area visitors a theatre 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

About the University of North Georgia. Special Collections & Archives, Dahlonega Campus

The Special Collections and Archives serve as the institutional memory of the university and its predecessors, Gainesville State College, and North Georgia College and State University. In addition, the Special Collections and Archives seeks to collect, arrange, preserve and make accessible collections related to the history of Appalachia, Northeast Georgia and the communities surrounding the university’s five campuses. You can find out more at ung.edu/libraries/sc-archives/index.php.

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 by developing, maintaining, and preserving 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.