28 August 1987: WUGA Brings Public Radio to Athens

On this day in 1987, after several delays, Athens gained her own public radio station, WUGA. The station began broadcasting at 6:00am with National Public Radio's Morning Edition. The Athens Observer urged people to listen to hear something "delightfully different."


The establishment of a public radio station in Athens took years of planning, and by the mid-1980s had become an issue of faculty recruitment for the University of Georgia. The Georgia Center of Education had always intended to have a radio station, and in the mid-1980s, grants for the purpose of addressing this need. The work in Athens coincided with the creation of Peach State Public Radio in 1985, now part of Georgia Public Broadcasting.


The station broadcast at 3,000 watts on 91.7 FM. It now broadcasts at 6,000 watts, and has a coverage area  that includes Elberton, Gainesville, Lawrenceville, Eatonton, Madison, Monroe, and Washington, Georgia. The added translator at 97.9 FM that broadcasts from the University of Georgia campus has a range of only about seven miles, and helps with reception in the western part of Athens where interference from Atlanta radio stations had been an occasional issue.


Since its creation, WUGA has consistently been honored for their local coverage of the Athens area. This spring, News Director Mary Kay Mitchell was awarded for "Best General Reporting" in the radio category by the Georgia Associated Press Association; the station won five other awards, as well: second place awards for "Best Series Reporting," "Best Use of Sound," and "Best Feature." 


WUGA now offers more local programming, such as African Perspectives, Just Off the Radar, Night Music, and Athens News Matters,  along with national programs from NPR and PRI, and international programming, such as BBC's The Changing World and World Service news. The station consistently wins "Best Radio Station" polls in the Athens area.



Learn More:

• Athens Observer, Apr. 1987 - Oct. 1987 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, August 16 - September 15, 1987 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• WUGA Weekly Schedule on the WUGA website.
• The Sound and the Story: NPR and the Art of Radio by Thomas Looker in the general collection.
• This is NPR by Cokie Roberts in the general collection.
• The NPR Classical Music Companion by Miles Hoffman in the Reference collection.
• Nothing with Strings: NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories by Bailey White in the fiction collection.
• Fresh Air with Terry Gross: Just for Laughs, 18 Interviews with Stars of Comedy in the CD collection.
• Car Talk: Why You Should Never Listen to Your Father When It Comes to Cars in the CD collection.
• NPR Curious Listener's Guide to American Folk Music in the CD collection.
• NPR's Funniest Driveway Moments in the CD collection.

26 August 1885: A Sheriff and His Frog.

On this day in 1885, the Daily Banner-Watchman provided this short feature about Clarke County Sheriff John Weir on their front page:

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Jul. 1885 - Jul. 1888 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Sheriff Sales, 1842-1889 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Frogs and Toads of the Southeast by Mike Dorcas and Whit Gibbons in the Heritage and general collections.
• Frogs and Toads of North America by Lang Elliott, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davis in the general collection.
• Keeping and Breeding Amphibians: Caecilians, Newts, Salamanders, Frogs, and Toads by Christopher Mattison in the general collection.
• The Care of Reptiles and Amphibians in Captivity by Christopher Mattison in the general collection.
• Frogs: Inside Their Remarkable World by Ellin Beltz in the general collection.
• The Life Cycle of a Frog by Bobbie Kalman and Kathryn Smithyman in the children's collection.
• Face to Face with Frogs by Mark W. Moffett in the children's collection.
• City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems in the children's picture book collection.
• The Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel in the children's collection.
• Before You Leap: A Frog's-Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons by Kermit the Frog in the general collection.

24 August 1921: "Precarious Quality" White Lightning

On this day in 1921, the Athens Banner ran this small story about a discovery on Clayton Street downtown:

Federal alcohol prohibition had been in effect since 1920, but in Georgia had been in effect since 1908. Even after the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was repealed in December, 1933, Georgia did not allow the sale of alcohol until 1935, with some counties choosing to remain "dry" even today. 

One of the possible additions to the "drink," paregoric, was a common household medication that included opium. By 1921, the ingredients of medicines had to be disclosed to consumers, but it was still available over-the-counter, primarily as a treatment for diarrhea. The drug was used into the 1970s, and is still available as a prescription. 

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jun. 1921 - Oct. 1921 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage in the general collection.
• Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug by Griffith Edwards in the general collection.
• Alcohol: Customs and Rituals by Thomas Babor in the general collection.
• Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent in the general collection.
• Battling Demon Rum: The Struggle for a Dry America, 1800-1933 by Thomas R. Pegram in the general collection.
• Prohibition: Thirteen Years that Changed America by Edward Behr in the general collection.
• Farewell, John Barleycorn: Prohibition in the United States by Martin Hintz in the general collection.
• Prohibition by Renee C. Rebman in the general collection.
• Drugs in America: A Social History, 1800-1980 by H. Wayne Morgan in the general collection.
• Drugs Through the Ages by Jean McBee Knox in the general collection.
• History of the Temperance Movement in Georgia from the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
• Paregoric warning on U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Patient Safety News website.
• Paregoric on the National Center for Biotechnology Information's  PubMed Health website.

20 August 1862: Cook Brothers to Build Armory

On this day in 1862, the following bit of local business news was published in the Southern Watchman:

 

Ferdinand and Francis Cook were brothers who had a contract to produce 30,000 Enfield rifles "complete with sabre-bayonet, sheath and frog" for the Confederate military in 1862. However, they had to flee New Orleans when the city came under occupation by the United States military, and escaped with "most of their armory machinery and a schooner of iron and steel." 


Like many other refugees during the war, the Cooks came to Athens, seeking an out-of-the-way place in which to re-establish their business. They purchased 63 acres of land with access to water power, and began building their factory. The armory was estimated to be worth over $600,000.00 after just six months of operation. Their first inspection was in January, 1863, by General Benjamin Huger, and a follow-up visit in March, 1863, noted that their guns were "the finest I have seen of Southern manufacture."  


The armory made infantry rifles, artillery rifles, and muskatoons; horseshoes for the cavalry; bayonets; and non-military agricultural items such as sorgham mills. Though hopes had been high for the manufacture of 100 guns per day, the reality was that the war had caused a severe labor shortage, and over time, also brought about shortages in basic necessities such as food and clothing.  The armory suspended production in July, 1864, when the Confederate government fell behind on payments. They produced only about 4,000 weapons for the Confederate military. 


The workers at the armory formed the 23rd Battalion, Georgia,  Local Defense, also known as the Athens Battalion, the Enfield Rifle Battalion, or Captain Cook's Battalion. They were a separate force from the Athens Home Guard, Mitchell's Thunderbolts, though some residents were members of both, such as John Gilleland and Jack O'Farrell. They were called into action for the Battle of Griswoldville, Georgia, in November, 1864.


Ferdinand Cook was killed less than a month later during a battle in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Francis Cook tried to keep the armory running, but the war came to an end, and the armory campus was sold for $18,000.00 to Athens Manufacturing Company in 1870. It would later be known in Athens as "the Check Factory," and in 1897 would become the first factory in Georgia to run on electricity. It is now the location of the University of Georgia Physical Plant, Information Technology Outreach Services, Marine Extension Services, and Small Business Development Center.




Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Aug. 1861 - Aug. 1865 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Transition to an Industrial South by Michael John Gagnon in the Heritage and general collections.
• Chicopee Mill History by Olivia Bloomfield Carlisle in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, 1861-1865: As Seen Through Letters in the University of Georgia Libraries by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull via Internet Archive.
• Fields of Gray: The Battle of Griswoldville by Gary Livingston in the Heritage and general collections.
• Griswoldville by William Harris Bragg in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare, edited by Geoffrey Parker in the Reference and general collections.
• Weapons of the Civil War by William C. Davis in the Heritage collection.
• Weapons of the Civil War by Ian V. Hogg in the general collection.
• Arms and Equipment of the Civil War by Jack Coggins in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Service Records for the 23rd Georgia Battalion in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO. (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• Confederate Citizen Files in Fold3 History and Genealogy Archive via GALILEO.   (Fold3 is the new name for Footnote.)
• British Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.
• 1864 Cook and Brother Carbine Rifle on the Smithsonian Institution Civil War website.

Footnote Is Now Called "Fold3"

On this day, we'd like to alert you to a change to the Footnote History and Genealogy Archives available to Athens Regional Library System cardholders via GALILEO. Their new name is Fold3, and when you first enter the site, you will receive this announcement of the change:

The name change is in honor of their new focus, which is primarily United States military records. As this is the vast majority of what they already hold, and why many use their site, the change is merely cosmetic for most history and family researchers who use this database. 

The site will not be eliminating their current non-military collections, such as city directories, U. S. Census documents, Native American records, and naturalization files. However, the site will not be adding new collections to these categories, as they move their focus to their military collections. Among the incomplete military collections that will benefit from the new focus are the War of 1812 Pension Files and several World War II collections.

When you visit the database now, the primary difference is the title of site and collections, as seen here:

Please let us know if you run into any problems, but so far, we've found the site is operating as normal. You can contact us at the Reference Desk by calling (706)613-3650, ext. 356, or emailing us at heritageroom@arlsmail.org.

Learn More:

• Fold3 link from the Athens-Clarke County Library's Genealogy & Georgia database list.
• Footnote is now Fold3 blog post announcement by the company on Thursday, 18 August 2011.
• Questions you may have about Fold3 blog post by the company on Friday, 19 August 2011.
• Footnote.com Announces New Focus on Historical U.S. Military Records and Changes Name to Fold 3 by Dick Eastman in his Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.
• Footnote.com gets a new focus and a new name article by Examiner.com local news site.

Heritage Room Resources Are Now Available!

On this day, we'd like you to know that if pictures like this one make you sad:

Empty Heritage Room Shelves, August, 2011

Then pictures like this one will make you very happy indeed!

Georgia history now available in the Reference area, August, 2011

Despite the temporary reduction in space due to library construction, many of the Heritage Room resources used most by our patrons were able to be moved temporarily to the Reference area. 


We have already pleasantly surprised several researchers who were not only happy to find so much of the collection, but also have come to work during all hours the library is open, rather than our limited Heritage Room hours. Do you only have a couple of hours in the morning, or can't get here until after work? That's no longer a concern!


We've also moved the vast majority of our microfilm and microfiche collections, as well as the digital scanner/printer and a microfilm reader. Whether you want to use our microfilm, or have some from another library via Interlibrary Loan, you can now reserve time on the microfilm machines to ensure they are available when you want to do your research. Just call the Reference desk at (706) 613-3650, ext. 356 to make a reservation. (Reservations are not required, but reservations will take precedence over walk-in patrons while our space is limited to two machines.)


Among the Heritage Room resources now available to you in the Reference area of the library:

• All Athens newspapers on Microfilm
• Newspaper Abstract books
• Athens-Clarke County Local History collection
• Civil War Reference Sets, including Rosters and Pension Index
• Clarke County Deeds & Mortgages (and their Indexes) on Microfilm
• Athens City Directories (some gaps; some on Microfilm only)
• Athens-Clarke County Yearbooks
• General genealogy resources
• Family name histories
• Georgia City Directories on Microfilm
• University of Georgia Pandoras, 1930-1993 (some gaps)
• Passenger List and immigration resources
• Clarke County Wills & Estate Records on Microfilm
• Clarke County Marriage Records on Microfilm
• Native American genealogy resources
• Revolutionary War Indexes and Pension Files
• General Civil War history
• State and some County resources for New England, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and, of course, Georgia

Come by to see us! We think you'll be delighted!