Georgia College Special Collections

09/03/2025

Calling all SGA members!
Do you know a legislator, administrator, researcher, or organization who has gone above and beyond to share the importance of archives and the archival profession? Do you know an individual or organization that has offered a new perspective on archives or challenged us to critically examine our status quo? Now is the time to submit a nomination!

Each year, the SGA solicits nominations from the membership for the SGA President's Award. The Award recognizes individuals or organizations outside the archival profession who make significant contributions to the archival profession. This is a great way to thank those individuals and organizations that speak up and advocate for archives and help raise awareness of the importance of archives to the wellbeing of our communities and nation. Winners of the award are invited to the annual meeting for the presentation of the award certificate and recognition by the membership.

Due 9/5!-Email: [email protected]

10/01/2024

02/27/2024

Thanks for highlighting our Soul of Georgia exhibit!

🌟 Celebrating Black History Month Spotlight 🌟

Heritage Hall showcases the rich tapestry of Milledgeville/Baldwin County's history, ensuring that the stories and experiences of our diverse communities receive the recognition they deserve.

Within its special collection galleries, the vibrant narratives of our past come to life, documenting the journeys and contributions of generations past and present.
🏛️📜✨

Photo credit to Milledgeville Georgia and more information can be found here: https://www.visitmilledgeville.org/listings/heritage-hall-at-georgia-college/41797/

12/01/2022

Please help us spread the word.

From Dr. Bruce Gentry, Co-Director of the 2023 NEH Summer Institute:

I’m delighted to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities is sponsoring a Summer Institute on Flannery O’Connor, June 1-29, 2023, “Reconsidering Flannery O’Connor.” Professor Robert Donahoo from Sam Houston State University and I will be the co-directors of this Summer Institute at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA.

For four weeks in June of 2023, we will host 25 teacher/scholars and numerous visiting scholars to learn about teaching and scholarship on Flannery O’Connor at the place where she wrote many of her works.

We welcome advanced graduate students, non-tenured or non-tenure track faculty, and tenured faculty who have a significant interest in Flannery O’Connor or topics associated with Flannery O’Connor and would gain from a four-week advanced immersion in Flannery O’Connor. In the past, individuals from a variety of fields and with a variety of interests have participated successfully in this Institute.

Interested? Explore the website at https://oconnorinstitute.gcsu.edu/ to learn more about the opportunity and how to apply.
Questions? Contact us at [email protected] or check out our page (facebook.com/oconnorinstitute2023).

Best, Bruce Gentry, Georgia College

Page for "Reconsidering Flannery O'Connor," a 2023 NEH Summer Institute at Milledgeville, GA

08/31/2022

Students record their memories in different ways now. This is how Miss Ethel Sapp recorded her memories at GN&IC:

08/26/2022

It's almost time for the exhibit to open! Check out this great article featuring research from Evan Leavitt, curator of the exhibit, and stay tuned for our grand opening!

https://www.salvationsouth.com/repeatedly-almost-famous-the-chevelles-milledgeville-georgia/?fbclid=IwAR3x6_P5VNQgyOZZU-jjnvcX3sEd3l-eYYmJTfN4h3-RqIQd-yC9dBMiRtc

In the late 1960s, a soul band called the Chevelles came together in Milledgeville, Georgia. By the time they graduated high school, they already had a hit record and had performed at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater. But they never got their due. Here’s their story.

08/16/2022

Dr. Irene Burgess, Executive Director of the Andalusia Institute at GCSU, has just announced the following great news (below). Please contact Dr. Burgess, Dr. Gentry or Dr. Donahoo for further information:

Dr. Bruce Gentry of GCSU and Dr. Robert Donahoo of Sam Houston State University will serve as Co-Directors with assistance from the Andalusia Institute to host an NEH funded Summer Institute, “Re-Considering Flannery O’Connor” in Summer of 2023. For four weeks in June of 2023, we will host 25 teacher/scholars and numerous visiting scholars to learn about teaching and scholarship on Flannery O’Connor at the place where she wrote many of her works. NEH has provided $235,000 to enable this opportunity.

06/30/2022

We hope you’ve enjoyed our sneak peek into exhibit opening this fall! Be sure to like and follow our page to stay up to date on what’s happening at Special Collections. We look forward to seeing you when the exhibit opens!



[Image description: Collage of images of Georgia’s soul musicians advertising The Soul of Georgia Exhibit opening fall 2022 at Georgia College Special Collections Galleries.]

06/29/2022

When exhibit opens this fall, it will be both in-person and digital! Attendees will be able to click juke joints on a map of Baldwin County to learn more about each location no matter how they choose to visit. While Milledgeville may be small by some folks’ standards, there’s a lot of musical history to explore.



[Image Description: Image of a blue map of Baldwin County in 1940.]

06/28/2022

In 1967, Curtis Davis, acting on his long love of music, decided to start a band. He called upon friends Donzell Reeves, who played keys, and Lonnie West, an accomplished sax player. Both, along with Davis, had recently graduated from J. F. Boddie High School, which served Milledgeville's segregated Black community. To round the band out, they recruited some kids still in the Boddie High School band: Emmitt Green on sax, James Havior on drums, Oscar Havior on guitar, and Julius Edwards on sax, who became a part-time member, and later, Henry "Boot" Mitchell on trumpet.
Davis, desiring a female lead singer, asked the group if they had any suggestions. One name rose to the top...Gloria Walker. In October 1968, Gloria Walker and the Chevelles released their debut single, Talking About My Baby, and before they knew it, they were hearing their song on the radio.



Image: Gloria Walker and Lonnie West performing at the Blue Note, circa 1968. Georgia College Special Collections.

[Image description: Collage of an image of Gloria Walker and Lonnie West mid-performance, images from the Boddie High Yearbook, and text reading Gloria Walker and the Chevelles, Milledgeville, Georgia.]

06/27/2022

Due to the legalized discrimination and Jim Crow laws Black entertainers faced in the United States, artists crafted a loosely connected network of venues that embraced African American performers which came to be called the Chitlin' Circuit. Milledgeville, located between Atlanta, Macon, and Augusta, was a regular stop on the circuit. Musicians such as James Brown, Bobby Bland, B.B. King, Little Richard, Piano Red, and Otis Redding played at local venues such as Ebony Lounge, Shady Rest, and Do-Drop-In.

Don't miss the exhibit opening this fall to learn more about the Chitlin' Circuit in Middle Georgia!

[Image Description: Orange background with edge of records visible with an advertisement for the Do-Drop-In Restaurant in the center.]