14 January 1903: The Athens Chamber of Commerce Is Organized

On this day in 1903, the initial members of the newly created Athens Chamber of Commerce elected their first officers and formally established the organization and committees. 

The officers were L. F. Edwards, President; W. F. Bryan 1st Vice President; M. G. Michael, 2nd Vice President; T. W. Reed, Secretary; and C. H. Phinizy, treasurer.

Earlier in the month, the Weekly Banner published this list of charter members of the Athens Chamber of Commerce:

Abbott, S. K.

Abney Brothers Co.

Anderson, J. T.

Arnold Grocery Co.

Arnold, John L.

Ash, W. C.

Athens Banner, The

Athens Gas Co.

Athens Hardware Co., The

Boley, Sidney

Bondurant, E. J.

Brandt, R.

Brooks, A. L.

Bryan, W. T.

Burnett, W. B.

Carithers, J. Y.

Collett & Ingle

Conway, H. C.

Cooper, J. C.

Darwin, John A.

Davison, A. H.

Dearing, A. P.

Dornblass, J.

Dorsey & Funkenstein

Dorsey, E. H.

Dorsey, J. H .

Dozier & Co.

DuBose, R. Toombs

Edwards, L. F.

Eppes-Wilkins Co.

Flanigen, C. D.

Fleming, T. & Sons

Fleming, W.

Globe Racket Store

Green, T. F.

Griffeth Implement Co.

Griffeth, J. H.

Griffith, A. E.

Griffith, C. B.

Haselton, D. P.

Head & McMahan

Hodgson Cotton Co.

Hodgson, A. H.

Hodgson, C. N.

Holder, Jr., B. F.

Hulme & Co., Geo.

Humphrey, J. E.

Hunnicutt, J. A.

Johnson, M. C.

Joseph, Max

Kenney, D. M.

King & Co., J. S.

Klein & Martin

Lipscomb, F. A.

Mallory, W. A.

McCurdy, J. M.

McGregor, D. W.

McMahan, J. C. C.

McNeely, W. A.

McWhorter, Hamilton

Michael Bros.

Miller, D. F.

Morton, I. P.

Morton, John White

Moss, R. L., Jr.

Motes, C. W.

Nicholson, G. R.

Nicholson, M. G.

O’Neal, W. B.

Orr Drug Co., The

Palmer, H. R. & Sons

Peeples, W. J.

Petrie, C. B.

Philpot, S. T.

Phinizy, Billups,

Pitner, J. A.

Quillian, D. D.

Reed, T. W.

Rhodes, Alex

Rhodes, J. F.

Shackleford, T. J.

Sizer, R. W.

Skalowski, M. H.

Sledge, E. D.

Smith, E. I.

Stern, Chas. & Co.

Strickland, J. J.

Talmadge Bros. & Co.

Talmadge Hardware Co.

Thomas, W. W.

Tuck, H. C.

Turner & Hodgson

Vincent, T. P.

Vonderau, W. P.

Webb & Crawford

Wilkins, J. J.

Williamson, G. H.

Willis, E. F.

Wingfield, W. C.

Mayor J. F. Rhodes was chairman of the committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the organization, and after his presentation, both passed with "a few minor amendments." 

The meeting schedule would be on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, with quarterly items on the agenda in January, April, July, and October, and their annual meeting in January. 

A total of 17 committees were being formed, covering Agriculture, Education, New Enterprises, Express Service and Railroad Transportation, Advertising and Publicity, Postal and Telegraph Service, and one covering Streets, Roads, and Parks.

The Board of Directors would be the officers and the chairmen from the Arbitration, Finance, and Manufacturers committees. Once committees were organized, they would "take up several matters of importance to the city and discuss and act upon them."

Stated the Weekly Banner, "It is the universal opinion that this new business organization will do much toward advancing the interests of the city."


Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Aug. 1902 - Dec. 1905 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens of Old by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce in the Heritage collection.
• Athens, Georgia: In the Heart of Expansion, a Very Pleasant Place to Live by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce in the Heritage collection.
• Athens, Georgia, the Classic City: Tradition with Progress by Donald A. Smith in the Heritage collection.
• Localvesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From It by Amy Cortese in the general collection.
• World Class: Thriving Locally in the Global Economy by Rosabeth Moss Kanter in the general collection.
• Athens Area Chamber of Commerce website.

14 November 1911: Ty Cobb at the Colonial Theatre

On this day in 1911, the Athens Banner published an overview of the previous night's performance of The College Widow at the Colonial Theatre downtown, starring baseball great Ty Cobb.

Many baseball players took work as actors in the off-season, some appearing in serious plays, others in vaudeville theater acts, and still others in goofy silent films. Cobb, however, believed acting would not fit him, turning down the original offer to do the play by saying, "I'd go out there and make a horse's ass of myself."

Eventually, playwright George Ade and vaudevillian Eddie Foy, both friends of Cobb, convinced him to take the part of Billy Bolton, an All-American halfback. He had a three-month contract worth $10,000.00. 

Large crowds turned out to see Cobb more than the play itself, which was a romantic comedy about an attractive young widow luring athletes to her school to play for the football team. The College Widow was made into a silent film in 1927, and later a talkie in 1930 with the title Eleven Men and a Girl and featuring actual members of 1929 All-American football team.

When The College Widow came to the south, Cobb was honored with dinners and presentations in every town. In Athens, "a Dutch dinner" was given at the Elks Club after his performance, and during the repeated encores after the second act of the play, Cobb was presented with a football sweater emblazoned with a Georgia "G" by the Georgia football team captain, "Kid" Woodruff; Cobb wore the sweater during the third act of the play. Cobb's mother and sister were in the audience at the Colonial, travelling from Royston to see him in the performance.

However, Cobb was right that he did not have the temperament for acting. He would drink between acts, and argued with Ade about how few of the comedy's jokes were his lines, causing rewrites as the play toured. After six weeks, Cobb quit the play in Cleveland, and returned to his home in Detroit. 

1911 was one of Ty Cobb's most successful years as a ball player: he hit .420, had 248 hits, scored 147 runs, had 144 runs batted in, stole 83 bases, and lead the league in doubles and triples. Of his brief foray into acting, Cobb later said, "I looked silly as an actor, but the money was right."

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jul. 1911 - Nov. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Ty Cobb by Charles C. Alexander in the biography collection.
• My Life in Baseball: The True Record by Ty Cobb, with Al Stump in the biography collection.
• Cobb: The  Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball by Al Stump in the biography collection.
• Cooperstown Confidential by Ze'ev Chafets in the general collection.
• 100 Years of Major League Baseball by David Nemec in the general collection.
• Baseball: An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward in the general collection. 

8 November 1913: Veteran "Plainly and Harmlessly Drunk" Not Charged

On this day in 1913, the Athens Banner relayed this story about a police officer who took pity on one of their arrested men:

 

(click to enlarge image)

The "iron badge of honor" likely refers to the Southern Cross of Honor bestowed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, starting in 1900. Few Confederate medals were awarded during the Civil War due to metal shortages, and at veterans reunion in Atlanta in 1898, Mary Ann Lamar Cobb Erwin proposed the UDC bestow honor medals to veterans. Sarah E. Gabbett of Atlanta designed the medal, which was approved the following year by the UDC. 

The first medal was awarded to Mrs. Erwin's husband, Judge Alexander S. Erwin of Athens, who had fought at Gettysburg during the war. The Cobb-Deloney Confederate Veterans passed a resolution that the Judge receive "the No. 1 medal," "this gift of honor to southern heroism and true Confederate gallantry."  

The UDC awarded crosses to 78,761 men between 1900 and 1913. It was against the law in some states (and still in Virginia) to wear a Southern Cross of Honor not bestowed to you, so the "unknown man" was probably a veteran of the Civil War, one who, like many, fell on hard times in the following years. 

Typically, a 360 violation cost the offender a $5.00 fine plus $1.25 in court costs, equivalent to $146.00 today. Many violators would pay such a fine over a period of weeks, $1 or $2 at a time. Those who did not have a steady income would be forced to work off the fine at 50 cents per day on public works projects in town, such as paving roads or installing the city's sewer system.


Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Oct. 1913 - Dec. 1913 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I, by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Roster of Confederate Graves, Georgia Division by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the Heritage collection.
• Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill by Harry W. Pfanz in the general collection.
• The Civil War: The First Year by Those Who Lived It by Brooks D. Simpson in the general collection.
• Mothers of Invention by Drew Gilpin Faust in the general collection.
• Southern Cross of Honor history page.

Are You Reading Our Heritage Room Newsletters?

On this day we'd like to remind you to subscribe to our two fantastic Heritage Room newsletters. They will be delivered to your email Inbox, and are a great way to keep up with all that is going on in genealogy and history throughout the year, and especially during the busy holiday season.

Our Genealogy and History Events newsletter covers everything from Haunted History tours in Athens and Macon to free webinars about Irish ancestor brick walls and getting started with Native American genealogy. Find out where to hear historians talking about their latest books, or when the dedication ceremony for a new historical marker will be held. Autumn is a busy time for cemetery tours, and with the newsletter, you can take your pick of tours in Athens, Cartersville, Atlanta, and McDonough. The commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War continues apace, with a variety of symposia, lectures, programs, and book-related events. Don't regret not doing something because you didn't find out in time--just read our newsletter!

Our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter makes sure you will not miss out on the information you need for your research, even as everyone's schedule speeds up this autumn. We cover practical information, such as the increase in copying fees at all National Archives locations and updates about the status of the Georgia Archives, to new resources online such as Mercer campus newspapers from 1920-1970 and Scottish post office directories. We even include information on how to fit your research into a busy schedule, such as Family Tree magazine's list of "Weekend Warrior" genealogy projects.

Click here (or either newsletter link above) to subscribe. It couldn't be easier, so sign up today!

25 October 1892: "There has always been too little interest in Athletics among Southern colleges..."

On this day in 1892, the Banner newspapers advocated for the students who were "very desirous of entering into collegiate games of football."

 

Football was a relatively new sport, and was seen as a way to ensure young men did not become soft while gaining their education. Physical strength was seen as the basis for mental and moral strength as well. 

Adapted from rugby, football was primarily a running game (the forward pass was not implemented until 1906, as a safety concession), and players wore little padding or other protection during the course of the game.

At the time, Georgia had club and fraternity teams that participated in a variety of sports, including a campus Field Day with races, but also such events as "greased pig chases." Sports had faculty advisors, similar to the way high school sports often operate today. There was a football team that had played two games in the winter of 1892, beating Mercer College 50-0 at what is now Herty Field on North Campus, and losing to Auburn 0-10 at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. 

In 1893, the school had its first real football season with a five-game schedule that ran from November 4th to December 9th. Georgia went 2-2-1.


Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jul. 1892 - Dec. 1893 on Microfilm in the Heritage Collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Ghosts of Herty Field: Early Days on a Southern Gridiron by John F. Stegeman in the Heritage collection.
• The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football by John J. Miller via PINES.
• Between the Hedges: 100 Years of Georgia Football by Loran Smith in the general collection.
• What It Means to Be a Bulldog by Tony Barnhart  in the general collection.
• A Whole New Ball Game:  An Interpretation of American Sports by Allan Guttmann in the general collection.
• A Very Different Age: Americans of the Progressive Era by Steven J. Diner in the general collection.
• Walter Camp biography on the Walter Camp Football Foundation website.
• History of Athletics at the University of Georgia page on the Georgia Athletic Association website. 

Let the Athens Historical Society Know What You Think!

The Athens Historical Society is planning a major renovation of their website this year, and would like input from anyone who is interested in and cares about Athens history.  


Until June 18th, there will be an online survey available at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V9WPBF5


The survey is just 10 questions, and should take less than 5 minutes. Please click here (or the link above) to voice your opinions and offer your suggestions. 

4 May 1921: YMCA Summer Ball Teams Announced

On this day in 1921, the Athens Banner published the members and schedules for the early summer Y.M.C.A. baseball teams:

Y.M.C.A. Ball Clubs Now Organized

 The following is a roster of the teams and the schedule for the season:

      N. G. Slaughter (captain), R. McWhorter, W. F. Pittard, Fred Dean, George Thornton, George Williams, France Price, Tony Costa, Harry Dews, B. Joel, Tom Stokes.

      W. R. Bedgood (captain), Julian Erwin, Henry M. Bacon, Hope Smith, W. H. Owen, Bradberry, Hugh Hodgson, C. D. McDorman, Joel A. Wier, W. A. Clark, Abit Nix, W. T. Dean.

      W. E. Hopkins (captain), J. C. Hutchins, Tom McNiebling, S. R. Cook, Harry Cason, John W. Nicholson, E. F. Porter, R. L. Moss III, O. M. Roberts, Fred Davis, Jr., Hubert Rylee.

      W. K. Meadow (captain), Howard McWhorter, D. D. Quillian, Fred McEntire, Clyde Anderson, Morton Hodgson, Edward Hightower, G. A. Booth, Garland Hulme, P. E. Holliday, T. Marvin Cox.

      "Whitie" Davis (captain), Abe Link, Marion Conolly, E. H. Dorsey, Jr., W. B. Thornton, Ernest Hollingsworth, Paul Conolly, Joe Costa, L. A. Scarborough, J. E. Patman, Jack Wilkins.

      "Starr" Smith (captain), W. T. Forbes, Sr., Abe Goodman, Fleetwood Lanier, Rucker Ginn, M. B. Wingfield, Paul Weatherly, Guy Hancock, Harry Burton, L. A. Booth, I. Myerson.

 -- Athens Banner, 4 May 1921, page 3, columns 2-4.

The early season lasted through the first week of June, when the championship game was played between Captain Slaughter and Captain Davis. According to the Banner, "Slaughter was slaughtered and the crown rests serenely on the heads of Whitey's team-mates." 


A second season began July with new teams comprised of essentially the same group of young men in different groups. For the July season, the teams were given names and new captains, with the Tigers, Bear Cats, Wild Cats, Bull Dogs, Eagles, and Buffaloes sparring against one for approximately one more month. 


The men on the team were all between the ages of 18 and 40, many of them from prominent local families, such as the McWhorters, Costas, and Hodgsons, while others were businessmen of note in their own right, such as Abit Nix, Joel Wier, and W. K. Meadow. 

Most of the young men on the team were familiar names on the Banner society pages, and because most were business and family men, teams sometimes had to play without a full roster to cover all the positions. 


The "Field League" grew in popularity over the summer of 1921, with over 100 men divided into eight teams for the August season. As the Banner noted, "the second larger league is expected to cause some big excitements in local amateur sports circles."




Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Oct. 1920 - May 1921 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of the Y timeline on the YMCA website.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Baseball Scrapbook by Peter C. Bjarkman in the general collection.
• Classic Ballparks by James Buckley in the general collection.
• Total Baseball, edited by John Thorn and Pete Palmer in the Reference collection.
• The Code: Baseball's Unwritten Rules by Ross Bernstein in the general collection
• The Way Baseball Works by Dan Gutman in the general collection.
• The Baseball Anthology: 125 Years of Stories, Poems, Articles, Photographs, Drawings, Interviews, Cartoons, and Other Memorabilia, edited by Joseph Wallace in the general collection.
• Casey at the Bat by Dan Gutman in the children's collection.
• Baseball: A Celebration! by James Buckley in the general collection.

30 March 1909: Spring Cleaning the City

On this day, the following editorial ran in the Athens Banner:

In following years, with support from the Athens Women's Club and other civic organizations, an annual Clean Up Week was held in Athens. People were encouraged to clean around their homes and businesses, and the city would arrange to make sure all the trash was picked up the following week. 

Typically held in late March or early April, Clean Up Weeks were held around the nation, often in association with women's clubs, which were a growing force during the progressive era. A space that was visibly tidy and neat indicated that it was owned or occupied by people who were also tidy and neat, and therefore healthy, both physically and morally. 

Later Banner editorials advised not just straightening up any accumulated trash or unkempt bushes on one's property, but also clearing out closets, cleaning out cellars, adding fresh lime beneath houses, and painting or white washing fences, porches, or other outbuildings. 

Clean Up Weeks put "cleanliness is next to godliness" on a city-wide scale, with a great focus on insect eradication, especially flies, as part of a way to keep the city healthy and free of contagious disease as the city's population grew.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, January - December 1909 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs by J. A. Simpson in the Reference collection.
• A History of Public Health in Georgia, 1733-1950 by T. F. Abercrombie in the Heritage collection.
• Everyday Life Through the Ages by Michael Worth Davison in the general collection.
• Clean It Fast, Clean It Right by Jeff Bredenberg in the general collection.
• The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters by Rose George in the general collection. 
• The Natural History of Flies by Harold Oldroyd via PINES.
• Cleaning Nature Naturally by Kathlyn Gay in the general collection. 
• The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink by Robert D. Morris in the general collection.
• How to Clean Practically Anything by Marjorie Florman and Monte Florman in the Reference collection.
• Plague: A Story of Science, Rivalry, and the Scourge That Won't Go Away by Edward Marriott in the general collection.
• Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain via PINES.
• Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan in the general collection.
• Complete Trash: The Best Way to Get Rid of Practically Everything Around the House by Norm Crampton in the general collection.