What You Can Do About the Closing of the Georgia Archives

On this day we'd like to offer some suggestions about what actions you can take in light of the news that the Georgia State Archives will be closed to citizens as of November 1. 

To start, you can write to our Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State.

Though the Lieutenant Governor did not enact this budget cut, he may run for governor in the future, as may our current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp.  Write to them to ensure they all understand the importance of the Georgia Archives.

Governor Nathan Deal

Mailing Address:
206 Washington Street
Suite 203, State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334

Phone:
404-656-1776

Fax:
404-657-7332

Contact Us form:

http://gov.georgia.gov/contact-us-0

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle

Mailing address:

240 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: 
(404) 656-5030
Fax: 
(404) 656-6739

Contact Us form (at bottom of the page below)

http://ltgov.georgia.gov/contact-lt-governor

Secretary of State Brian Kemp

Mailing address:
214 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
Phone: 
404-656-2881
Fax: 
404-656-0513

Contact Us form:

http://sos.georgia.gov/cgi-bin/email.asp

You can also contact your state representatives. To find the contact information for your State Senator and Representative, use this Find Your Legislator page. Our representatives must know that this budget cut is unacceptable.

This Saturday, September 15th, 2012, is the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Georgia Archives & History at the Archives building in Morrow. The meeting is expected to end around noon, and a brainstorming session will take place afterwards. For more information, contact the organization via email, at FriendsofGeorgiaArchives@yahoo.com, or by phone, at 678-364-3732.

Please also sign the petition to keep the Georgia Archives open to the public, and follow events on the Facebook page, Georgians Against Closing the State Archives. 

PLEASE NOTE: Even if you aren't in Georgia, you are still encouraged to sign the petition and write to our Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of State. Many people had ancestors who came through Georgia and just because you don't live in Georgia, doesn't mean you will never need these Archives. It also sets a terrible precedent that other states may try to follow. Politicians need to know that citizen access to their government records is important.

3 June 1923: Most University Boys Live on $1 per Day

On this day in 1923, the Athens Banner-Herald published the results of a questionnaire the University of Georgia Alumni Record sent to 1,200 UGA male students about their expenses and habits. Enrollment at the time was 1,585, and included women, but the report frequently refers to "the boys" as the responders to the survey. 


At the time, the average net income in the United States was $3,226.70 per year. The Alumni Record came to the conclusion that "A boy can go to Georgia a year for $350.00 or $375.00." At the time, the average net income in the United States was $3,226.70 per year. 


From the 592 replies, the following details of information were gleaned:

• Not including the cost of school itself, most students lived on an average of $30.00 per month. Tuition at the time was $90.00 per year.
• 86% of students spent between $16.50 and $25.00 per month on their boarding costs. The lower end price reflected the cost to use the campus Denmark Dining Hall, while the higher end reflected typical costs for those who ate at their fraternity houses.
• 71% of students spent between $4.00 and $10.00 per month on their rent. Again, the lower end prices reflected the cost of campus dormitories.
• 80% of students went to the movies no more than twice per week.
• 42% of students play sports on teams associated with their dormitory, fraternity, or take regular exercise at the gym; 17% took no regular exercise, and another 30% got all their exercise from military drills on campus.
• 52% of the students used tobacco.
• 86% of the students attended religious services other than University chapel exercises.
• 62% of the students "stated they know how to dance," but only 52% attended dances.

The relative value of the 1923 annual tuition in today's dollars is $2,380.00; students were paying a relative cost of $424.00 - $662.00 per month for boarding costs, and $106.00 - $265.00 for rent. At the time, a college education was not required for most employment.

Current tuition and fees for a nine-month academic year at the undergraduate level at the University of Georgia are $9,472.00 for in-state students, and $27,682.00 for students from outside the state. The "typical residence hall" costs $4,916.00 per academic year, and a seven-day meal plan is $3,792.00. 

Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald, Apr. 1923 - Aug. 1923 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Measuring Worth website.
• Statistics of Income from Returns of Net Income for 1923 (pdf) by the Statistical Division of the Income Tax Unit in 1925 on the Internal Revenue Service website.
• The University of Georgia Under Sixteen Administrations, 1785-1955 by Robert Preston Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• College Life in the Old South: As Seen at the University of Georgia by E. Merton Coulter in the Heritage and general collections.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• College Financing Information for Teens by Elizabeth Magill in the general collection.
• The College Majors Handbook, with Real Career Paths and Payoffs by Neeta P. Fogg, et al, in the general collection.
• Planning for Your Education by James Fischer in the young adult collection.
• How to Pay for College: A Practical Guide for Families by Gen S. Tanabe in the general collection.
• Big Man on Campus: A University President Speaks Out on Higher Education by Stephen J. Trachtenberg in the general collection.

24 November 1910: Thanksgiving at the Athenaeum Cafe

On this day in 1910, the Athenaeum Cafe downtown offered the following reprieve from cooking at home: 

(click image to enlarge)

The price of 50 cents would be equal today to a charge of $11.80.

The Athenaeum Cafe was next door to the Athenaeum pool hall, and both were below the two floors of the Athenaeum Hotel, owned by Victor Petropol. In the 1909 Athens city directory, some travelling salesmen and the hotel's clerk, W. G. McNair, list the hotel as their residence.

Today, the space where the hotel was located has been divided. The pool hall is occupied by Frontier, and the cafe is occupied by Native America Gallery.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, July 1910 - Dec. 1910 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Athens, Georgia via the Digital Library of Georgia.
• 1909 Athens City Directory on Microfilm (1889 - 1927) in the Heritage collection.
• Measuring Worth website.
• Thanksgiving: An American Holiday, An American History by Diana Karter Appelbaum in the general collection.
• Thanksgiving Dinner by Kathryn K. Blue in the general collection.
• The Southern Heritage Pies and Pastry Cookbook by Southern Living in the general collection.
• The Thanksgiving Cookbook by Holly Garrison in the general collection.
• Wild Turkeys: Hunting and Watching by John J. Mettler in the general collection.
• The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum in the general collection. 
• Holiday Feasts: Festive Cooking for Family and Friends by Lou Seibert Pappas in the general collection.
• Turkey Monster Thanksgiving by Anne Warren Smith in the children's fiction collection.
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving by Charles Schulz in the children's DVD collection.

15 May 1856: "In plentitude, and even splendor..."

On this day in the Southern Watchman, the following paid announcement was published on page 4:

John Flournoy was a frequent "correspondent" in the Athens newspapers of the 1850s. Approximately six weeks later, he published another notice on this topic:

NOTICE.

THE public will be re-assured to observe that I will pay nothing not cognisable by me as a debt! My wife alternately leaves me and returns, and is now re-absconded--uncertain whether or not to come home any more. My offence is inability to support her in the extravagance she wants.  I can scarcely call a dollar my own.  The genius of woman is the talent of Satan. She it is, as a tool--that brought all our woes; and she it is that MUST be overmastered! I would not give a thrip for such a society or liberty as we now have, until it be reformed in a thousand condign ways . So, no farther advice on this point.

J. J. FLOURNOY

Beyond requests for local merchants to ignore his "wife, ANY wife, or wives," Mr. Flournoy also had run-ins with local businesses and neighbors that would be aired in overwrought prose amongst the ads for patent medicines, mills for sale, new shipments of goods, and county legal notices. Athens newspapers were not alone; he regularly wrote to papers all over Georgia, including Augusta and Macon, and religious publications.

Mr. Flournoy was a resident of Jackson county. In Jackson county record abstracts, there is reference to both "J. J. Flournoy" and "John Jacobus Flournoy,"never a "John James Flournoy," but they appear to be the same person.

According to Historic Notes on Jackson County, Georgia, John Jacobus Flournoy had been a native of Clarke, but moved to Jackson County in 1839. He lost his hearing and speech when he was young, and is considered instrumental in having the Georgia General Assmbly create the School for the Deaf at Cave Springs, Georgia in 1846; the school still operates today. In the book, Mr. Flournoy is described as "quite eccentric," and notes that he "wrote various articles expressing his dislike for society in general."

In 1858, calling himself "Dr. J. J. Flournoy," he offered a cold preventative method for winter colds only; he admitted he had not yet found a way to prevent summer colds. In 1859, he requested that people not call him "old Flournoy," but rather "old Mr. Flournoy." By the start of the Civil War, his notices were no longer quite so florid, advertising for a lost horse, watch, and a runaway slave, and later being noted by the paper with other contributors to the Sick and Wounded Soldiers Wayside Home in Athens. 


In March, 1874, the Macon newspaper noted that J. J. Flournoy had "perhaps, written more letters, on more subjects, to more people than any man that ever lived or will live to the end of time." By the 1870s, his letters to the Athens papers were somewhat less frequent. An editorial in an 1886 Banner-Watchman mentions Mr. Flournoy as "lately deceased," and calls him "a gentleman of immense personal courage." His exact date of death is unclear, but his age is listed as 61 in the 1870 U. S. Census, so he was approximately 77 years old when he died.


Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, Jan. 1856 - Sep. 1858 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Macon Telegraph Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia. 
• 1870 U. S. Census in the Ancestry Library Edition database in GALILEO.
• Historical Notes on Jackson County, Georgia by Frary Elrod in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Southern Watchman, Athens, Georgia, Civil War Home Front Coverage, 1861-1865, abstracted by Faye Stone Poss in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman in the New Books collection.
• The Frugal Almanac by Melodie Moore in the general collection.
• Thrifty: Living the Frugal Life with Style by Marjorie Harris in the New Books collection.
• The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better by Chris Farrell in the New Books collection.
• Women, Men, & Money by William Francis Devine in the general collection.
• What to Do before "I Do:" The Modern Couple's Guide to Marrige, Money, and Pre-Nups by Nihara Choudhri in the general collection.
• All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren in the general collection.

2 March 1882: A Page in the Life of Athens

On this day, and many others, the Southern Watchman devoted the most of their third page of the newspaper to bits of news that either did not merit or had not been pursued as full news stories. 


Each column would often begin with short, one-sentence pieces that seemed more like small talk than news, then expand to editorial opinions, sarcastic quips about conditions or people in town, and, at times, corrections to stories previously run in the newspaper.


The first column of the page was called "Personal Mention," and devoted to what would later be published in other local papers as "Society Notes" or "News of Interest to the Ladies," and consisted of mostly gossip and the various travels and health situations of locals:

Holman thinks he has the swinney.

Prof. White has the prettiest team in the city.

Major Miller Lumpkin reached Athens this week and is sick.

Hon. H. H. Carlton has returned from a trip to Atlanta.

Joe Hodgson has a six months boy that weighs 25 pounds.

Mrs. Crawford Long has one of the handsomest homes in Athens.

A highly aesthete whisky-poker club has been organized in Athens.

Miss Emma Mell will assist Mrs. Crawford with her school.

Ed Potter can look in a chicken's mouth and tell its age to a day. 

A Hancock avenue belle will be the next victim to Cupid, so Madam Rumor says.

Miss America Carlton has returned from a pleasant visit to friends in Oglethorpe.

Policeman Arnold, the boys say, arrested a little contraband for appearing on the street with her shoes unbuttoned.

Frank Rhodes says he is thinking seriously of joining the church. When Frank reforms the devil will go into bankruptcy.

Tom Hampton gets excited every time a pretty girl enters his store and has been known to tie up a gallon of molasses in a paper sack and put a dollars' worth of sugar in a jug.

Policeman Pierson's mustach [sic} looks like some fellow had just "hollered" boo! and woke it up; while Ben Culp reminds us of a man who suffers with hereditary nightmare.

The second column was "A Bird's-Eye View of the City," and covered more general topics:

Mule trade lively.

Flower garden work progresseth slowly.

Athens needs about 1,000,000 pounds of paint.

The twittering of the blue bird is heard in the land.

A number of new buildings are contracted for in Cobbham.

Our Jewish friends have a large and flourishing Sabbath-school.

The Athens Foundry has four new apprentices. This is a fine business.

Brooklyn, a large colored village near the city, speaks of incorporating.

A number of our citizens have contracted for windmills, to pump water.

We have engaged the services of a first-class society editor, young ladies.

Col. Huggins says with $10,000 he will build a street railroad in Athens.

Mr. Gleason died at the house of his sister, and not in jail, as reported to us.

The students from the Agricultural College ought to pay frequent visits to Mr. Meeker's farm.

Manager Jones has lost money on the Opera House this season, which is a reflection on Athens.

An Athens gentleman is working on some Northern capitalists to get them to build another factory in or near our city.

What policeman was it that the other night listened for two hours to water dripping on a tin roof, under the impression that he had found a burglar?

The next three columns were short items that each had a short headline: 

A SECRET.

Our police force have been for several days working up a highly interesting and sensational case, but they want it suppressed until the affair ripens.

PRINCETON BRIDGE.

This work was completed last week and is pronounced one of the best in the county. Its cost is about $3,900. King, the builder, has a contract to build another bridge in Fulton county.

THE ROADS.

The roads leading to Athens are badly cut up, and it is almost impossible for wagons to travel them. Farmers are getting short of supplies and unless the weather breaks starvation will stare some sections in the face.

NO ACTION.

There was called a meeting of Council Monday evening to take some action in regard to the Oconee Cemetery; but owing to the absence of the Mayor no official action was taken. Council will doubtless take charge of this cemetery, and elect a regular keeper.

IMPROVING.

We are happy to announce that Mrs. Julius Cohen, who has been very low for some time, is somewhat better at last accounts.

MORE RAIN.

It seems like the very floodgates of heaven have been raised this winter. There has been almost continuous rainfall since Christmas, with very few clear days. It is injurious to business and ruinous to our farmers, who have no opportunity to break or prepare their lands.

MONEY SCARCE.

We never knew money matters so tight. The bad roads have quarantined our trade, and even some of our best men find it hard to collect enough to meet their monthly bills. There seems now, however, to be a break in the weather, and if it will only stay clear for a few days our streets will be filled with wagons and the blockade raised.

R. H. LAMPKIN.

In connection with his first-class bar Mr. R. H. Lampkin has opened a fine restaurant and has also nice beds for his patrons. This is the best equipped bar in the city, and only the purest liquors sold. The old Gibson rye and Maxey's corn specialties. His rooms have just been newly furnished, and the public will be well cared for. Now don't forget the place. The only ten-pin alley in the city.

SUFFERING.

There is no disguising the fact that there is great want and destitution in our midst. Not only many blacks, but even some whites, are actually suffering for the necessaries of life. Owing to the wretched weather they could not get work, and both their money and credit are gone. A gentleman remarked to us the other day that he had a load of wood thrown off at his door, and in less than an hour had seventeen applications to cut it up. And yet hundreds of negroes leave the farms to seek employment in the city.

THREE CHEERS.

On Monday last an unbroken schedule went into effect, extending over the Northeastern Railroad to Clarkesville. There is no change of cars between Athens and that point. This shows that the R. & D. intends to act in good faith toward our city and our people are joyous.

Learn More:

• Southern Watchman, 1882 - 1885 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Strolls About Athens During the Early Seventies by Sylvanus Morris in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection on the Digital Library of Georgia website.

24 August 1827: Professor of Penmenship Promotes Employment

On this day in 1827, the Athenian published the following advertisement:

J. TUCKER,

Professor of Penmanship,

Respectfully informs the inhabitants of Athens, that he intends opening a School for the purpose of instructing young Ladies and Gentlemen in the plain and ornamental branches of Penmanship. Mr. T. flatters himself from the liberal encouragement he has received in Savannah and Augusta, that the citizens of Athens, when acquainted with his system and method of instruction, will not be unwilling to patronize him. Mr. T will teach the Round, Running, Secretary, and Italian Hands--also, German Text, Old English, and Roman Print; likewise, Pen-making.

The cost for the 15 penmanship lessons was $5.00, approximately $111.00 by today's rates. For an extra 50 cents, "Mr. T" would also provide stationery for his students. Classes were held at the Female Academy (which "despite its name, instruction ... was not limited to girls"). The penmanship classes were divided by gender: ladies would be taught from 8am to 9:30am, and gentlemen from 5pm to 6:30pm. As proof of his expertise, "Specimens of writing may be seen at the Post-Office."

Though it is unclear how long "Mr. T" stayed in Athens, all references to J. or Joshua Tucker in the newspaper abstract books end by the fall of 1828, and he did not appear to pay any taxes in Clarke County during his time here. By 1833, writing was part of the standard curriculum at the Female Academy, at a far lower rate than charged as an extra course in 1827.

Learn More:

• Athenian, January 26, 1827 - March 13, 1832 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Antebellum Athens and Clarke County by Ernest C. Hynds in the Heritage and general collections.
  
• Traditional Penmanship by Anne Trudgill in the general collection.
• Horizons Penmanship 1 by Mary Ellen Quint in the children's collection.
  
• Better Handwriting in 30 Days: Developing a More Attractive, Readable Script for Business, School, and Personal Satisfaction by Paula A. Sassi in the general collection.
• The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting: Cursive and Calligraphic by Fred Eager in the general collection.
  
• Calligraphy Stroke by Stroke: A New Illustrated Guide to Calligraphy Techniques with Eleven Calligraphic Alphabets by Annie Moring in the general collection.
• The Handwriting of American Records for a Period of 300 Years by E. Kay Kirham in the Heritage collection.
• Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry in the Heritage and general collection.
• Understanding Colonial Handwriting by Harriet Stryker-Rodda in the Heritage collection.
  
• The Art of Writing by John Jenkins, part of the 19th Century Schoolbook Collection at the University of Pittsburgh Digital Research Library.
• How to Make a Quill Pen (pdf) from the New Hampshire Historical Society website.
  

19 June 2009: Georgia Theatre Destroyed By Fire

On this day in 2009, Athenians gathered downtown to watch as a fire gutted the Georgia Theatre. The exterior walls are almost all that survived of the recently renovated historic building, and only remain standing today due to an investment by the property's owner, Wilmot Greene, to protect what is left of the original building because "there's just so much history here."

Before the ashes had cooled on the corner of Clayton and Lumpkin Streets, the imperative demand for reconstruction of the Georgia Theatre began. Fundraisers were held throughout the year, both for the building and for the employees who had suddenly lost their jobs. The sentiment that Athens would not be the same without the Georgia Theatre goes back to the days when it was, as it is now, merely a set of blueprints.

One of the earliest mentions of the building came in January of 1889, when the Weekly Banner-Watchman included the new Young Men's Christian Association building "is soon to be erected, and will be one of the prettiest buildings in the city."

Later that year, the Weekly Banner-Watchman described the day the cornerstone was laid for the building, on May 6th, 1889. According to the paper, "fully twelve hundred persons" came to the 3 o'clock ceremony. The "orator of the occasion" was Henry C. Tuck, a local attorney, a member of the Y. M. C. A., and, in 1889, Clarke County's representative to the Georgia Legislature.

He began his address by stating

No building was ever erected in Athens in which the people felt a deeper or more abiding interest than this--certainly none was ever erected before, in which the spirit and purpose of the work has so attracted and seized upon the hearts of the whole people.

The ceremonies had begun with a procession of 60 Y. M. C. A. members to the Masonic Hall, from where they then walked with 70 Masons, members of Mt. Vernon Lodge and visiting members, to the new building. A prayer was read, a choir sang with organ accompaniment, and it is reported that "The singing was remarkably good."

After Mr. Tuck spoke to the crowd, the Masonic ceremonies for laying the cornerstone followed, including the many items to be deposited within the stone. Some of the reported items were:

A list of members of the Y. M. C. A. engraved on a tablet of lead

Constitution and by-laws of the different secret orders in the city

List of subscribers in the Y. M. C. A. building

Various bills of Confederate money

Copies of the Athens Daily and Weekly Chronicle

Copy of the Banner-Watchman containing a profile of Judge Y. L. G. Harris

The newspaper reported that the cost of the new building in 1889 was $10,000 (approximately $1.24 million in today's costs). The rebuilding of the Georgia Theatre is estimated to cost $4 million, and construction is expected to start by the end of this June now that a loan has been secured from Athens First Bank & Trust.

Fundraising is still needed to meet the costs of the loan and reconstruction. The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is collecting all donations for rebuilding in their Georgia Theatre Rehabilitation Fund, and Georgia Theatre t-shirts are available through the theatre's website.

Terrapin Ale is issuing a Terrapin Georgia Theatre Sessions series, with proceeds going to the rebuilding effort. In each release, one box will contain a golden ticket, entitling the owner to a lifetime of free shows at the new theatre. Local band Venice Is Sinking has just released Sand & Lines, an album recorded entirely in the Georgia Theatre in 2008, and will donate funds from sales to the Rehabilitation Fund.

Today, on the one year anniversary of the fire, the Georgia Theatre has opened an e-Bay store as a way to raise money, with such items as a master tape of Widespread Panic's first studio recording, salvaged posters from the fire, posters from benefit concerts, Band Together bracelets, and pens made from the charred 300-year-old pine beams of the Theatre roof. Other items will be added to the auction site over time.

Mr. Greene hopes to have the venue reopen by Spring, 2011.

Learn More:

• Athens Southern Watchman, Aug. 1888 - Dec. 1889 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Flagpole Magazine (June, July, November 2009; June 2010) in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, June 16 - June 30, 2009 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Red & Black Archives online.
• Flagpole Magazine Archives online.
• Fire Destroys Georgia Theatre page on the Athens Banner-Herald website.
• Inside the Historic Georgia Theatre photo gallery on the Athens Banner-Herald website.
• Measuring Worth website.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, Georgia: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• A Guide to Architectural Styles in Athens, Georgia by John C. Waters in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia Theatre website.

20 April 1847: Ice Cream.

On this day in 1847, the following ad ran on page three of the Southern Banner:

Ice Cream.

THE undersigned would respectfully inform his friends and the public generally, and is now prepared to accommodate those who may wish to indulge in that LUXURY.

Single glasses...........................................12 1/2 cents.

Tickets 10 for ...........................................1.00

Cream warranted to be as good as can be made. Persons wishing cream by the gallon can be supplied at any time with Lemon, Vanilla, Almond, Rose, and when in season, Strawberry and Raspberry Creams. Separate Rooms for Ladies and Gentlemen. Fresh Confectionery, &c. &ct. by A. BRYDIE.

Learn More:

• Southern Banner, Mar. 13, 1845 - Nov. 1848 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens, Georgia Newspaper Clippings Volume VI 1844-1847 by Tad Evans and Elizabeth Evans Kilbourne in the Heritage collection.
• Annals of Athens, Georgia 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• The Great American Ice Cream Book by Paul Dickson in the general collection.
• Ice Cream Cones for Sale! by Elaine Greenstein in the children's collection.
• The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by David Lebovitz in the general collection.
• Ice Cream Larry by Daniel M. Pinkwater in the children's collection.

7 March 1857: Howell Cobb Appointed Secretary of the Treasury

On this day in 1857, Athenian Howell Cobb joined the Cabinet of newly inaugurated President James Buchanan, by accepting the position of Secretary of the Treasury. He had recently been re-elected to his 6th District seat in the House of Representatives, but had also campaigned strongly for Buchanan in other parts of the nation. The Southern Banner reprinted a glowing editorial from the Pennsylvanian, extolling Cobb for his campaign efforts in Buchanan's home state, noting that Cobb "rises by the wisdom and sagacity which distinguish his remarks, above the wordy din of ordinary Congressional speakers" and that he "possesses a firm and powerful hold on the affections of the people of (Pennsylvania)."

The Southern Watchman was less keen on Cobb's appointment to the Buchanan Administration. Still bothered by his work to pass the Compromise of 1850 when he was Speaker of the House, the Watchman stated that the "The Southern Rights wing of the Democratic party can never admire Mr. Cobb as a politician so long as they remember his declaration that the compromise was 'fair, liberal and just,'" and predicted his new position would be "a blighting influence on the prospects of Mr. Cobb."

During his first year as Treasury Secretary, Cobb faced the Panic of 1857, considered "the first worldwide economic crisis." Though the panic itself was brief, and fueled, in part, by the new technology of the telegraph, the recession that followed caused a severe drop in U. S. government income. Cobb wanted an increase in tariffs to fill the gap, but Congress did not pass the increase until 1860. Northern industries were harder hit than the South, since the cotton market had remained fairly stable through the panic, but the ripple effect was felt throughout the world.

Cobb would resign his post in December, 1860, a month after the election of Abraham Lincoln, a result he knew his home state of Georgia would not accept. However, before leaving Washington D.C., he insisted on fulfilling his duty to submit the Treasury Department's annual report to Congress.

Learn More:

• Southern Banner, Mar. 15, 1855 - Mar. 4, 1858 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Southern Watchman, Jan. 1856 - Sep. 1858 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Monetary Policy in the United States by Richard H. Timberlake in the Heritage collection.
• Papers of the Athens Historical Society, Athens, Georgia, Volume I in the Heritage collection.
• History of the State of Georgia from 1850 - 1881 by I. W. Avery in the Heritage collection.
• Howell Cobb's Confederate Career by Horace Montgomery in the Heritage collection.
• Howell Cobb: The Politics of Ambition by John Eddins Simpson in the Heritage collection.
• The Department of Treasury website.

10 December 1862 - "Who Wants a Substitute?"

On this day in 1862, a notice was published in the Athens, Georgia newspaper Southern Watchman under the heading "Who Wants a Substitute?" James Monore, at the time residing in Snow Creek, SC, placed the ad, volunteering to substitute himself as a volunteer for the Confederate Army for any "gentleman in Georgia who will pay him four thousand dollars." In today's dollars, that's more than $88,000.00.

In April of 1862, the Confederate Congress, after much debate, passed a law creating the first military draft in North America. Initially including all white men between the ages of 18 and 35 for a three-year term in the Confederate military, by September, the age range extended to 45. This provision was unpopular in some quarters, so the law also allowed anyone who could "by their own arrangements...hire as substitutes any able-bodied men not subject to the law."

Those exempt from conscription were engaged in professions needed to keep the war machine and home front working, such as rail road employees, educators, miners, clerics, some medical personnel, foundry workers, and of course, state and national office holders. Georgia Governor Joe Brown fought the draft, even taking the law to court, where he lost the case, but continued to grant exceptions and withhold troops to defend his state.

Learn More:

• The Southern Watchman, Athens, Georgia: Civil War Home Front Coverage 1861-1865 by Faye Stone Poss in the Heritage collection.
• Southern Watchman Aug., 1861 - Aug., 1864 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Antebellum Athens and Clarke County Georgia by Ernest Hynds in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Confederate Congress by Wilfred Buck Years in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Confederate Nation: 1861-1865 by Emory M. Thomas in the Heritage and general collections.
• Measuring Worth website.

7 December 1921 - "The Realm of the Unexpected"

On this day in 1921, the Athens Banner published a story from "the realm of the unexpected"--the University of Georgia registrar's office was offereing reimbursements of $2.60 to each student had paid a fee the previous year "to be used arranging temporary quarters for the dormitory overflow students."

The endeavor had created a surplus of $2,250.00, and the students had to come to the registrar's office to receive their checks. According to the Banner, "the line of students waiting to get in the registrar's office resembled that when a run is being made on a bank."

Living quarters on the campus were tight in the early 1920s. Men's dorms needed repair, and in 1918, the University began enrolling female undergraduate students for the first time. Ground was broken for a female dormitory that year, but Soule Hall (named for Andrew M. Soule, then President of the Georgia College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts) was not completed until 1920.

Learn More:

• University of Georgia Pandora 1921 in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner Nov. 1921 - Feb. 1922 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A Pictorial History of the University of Georgia by F. N. Boney in the Heritage and general collections.
• University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Walking Tour of the University of Georgia by F. N. Boney in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Red and Black archives in the Digital Library of Georgia.