Heritage Holiday Hours

On this day, we'd like you to know that the Athens-Clarke Library (and therefore the Heritage Room) will be closed on Friday, December 31st, 2010, and Saturday, January 1st, 2011, for the New Year holiday.

Both the library and the Heritage Room will reopen on Sunday, January 2nd, 2011, at 2:00 pm.

We hope to see you then, and Happy New Year!

Heritage Room Newsletters Help Start the Year Right!

On this day, we'd like to remind you to sign up for the Heritage Room newsletters that are delivered directly to your email Inbox.

Our Genealogy and History Events newsletter covers everything from the Genealogy Lock-in at Oconee County Library to the Georgia Historical Society unveiling of the new Secession Convention historic marker in Milledgeville to author and historian Edmund Morris speaking about Theodore Roosevelt at the Atlanta History Center, with basic genealogy classes, booksales, meeting and tours inbetween. You don't want to miss it, or you'll miss out on the great programs and events for the curious, the researcher, and the entire family!

Our Genealogy News and Tips newsletter makes sure you are kept up-to-date with the world of genealogy and history, covering topics ranging from how to introduce kids to genealogy and new collections added to the Ancestry Library Edition database to television shows about genealogy and redesigned sites such as FamilySearch.org and Archives.gov. There's something for everyone in the News and Tips newsletter!

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

24 December 1907: Vaudeville on Christmas Day

On this day in 1907, the Athens Banner reported that two vaudeville shows would appear at the Colonial Theatre on Christmas day:

The Colonial Theatre was on Washington Street near the intersection with Jackson Street downtown. The building was demolished in 1932.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Mar. 1906 - Dec. 1907 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1909 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• A Postcard History of Athens by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Black Vaudeville, the TOBA, and the Morton Theatre: Recovering the History 1910-1930 by Thomas L. Riis in the Heritage and general collections.
• Encyclopedia of Vaudeville by Anthony Slide in the Reference collection.
• Vaudeville: The Birth of Show Business by Judy Alter in the children's collection.
• With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830 by LeRoy Ashby in the general collection.
• Chekhov: "The Vaudevilles" and Other Short Works in the general collection.
• Christmas Stories from the South's Best Writers, edited by Charline R. McCord in the fiction collection.
• The Official Guide to Christmas in the South, or If You Can't Fry It, Spray Paint It Gold by David C. Barnette in the general collection.

22 December 1915: No Advance Admission!

On this day in 1915, the Elite Theatre showed this sensational film:

The Caveman was a silent picture, produced by Vitagraph, a company that started making and distributing movies in 1898. It's star, Robert Edeson, was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, 29 years after his death. In 1926, The Caveman was remade as a comedy starring Irish actor Matthew Moore.

The Elite Theatre was later renamed the Georgia Theatre.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Herald, Dec. 1915 - May, 1916 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Caveman page on the Independent Movie Database.
• A Postcard History of Athens by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Silent Stars by Jeanine Basinger in the general collection.
• Hollywood: When Silents Were Golden by Evelyn F. Scott in the general collection.
• The Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr in the general collection.
• The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution, 1926-1930 by Scott Eyeman in the general collection.
• The Film Experience: Elements of Motion Picture Art by Roy Huss in the general collection.

20 December 1978: Downtown Varsity Closes Its Doors

On this day in 1978, the Varsity's downtown location served its last meals. Though the Varsity Drive-In on the corner of Broad Street and Milledge Avenue would remain open, the downtown location was packed in its last days as people returned to relive memories at what had been an Athens institution for over 46 years.

The Varsity opened in 1932 on the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street, across from the Arch (where Five Guys Burgers and Fries are today). The 1850s building had originally been built by Elizur L. Newton as the Newton House hotel, considered the most "pretentious and commodious" in town. In 1854, the University of Georgia hosted their commencement ball in the Newton Hotel Saloon. The building had a bellfry and "a bell almost the size of a locomotive bell" that would alert local residents at noon each day that dinner was being served.

At the time of the Varsity's opening, the buildings on North Campus included dormitories, and the Varsity would stay open to the wee hours of the morning to cater to their student customers. Though "ladies didn't come in" to the establishment when it first opened, they were served by car hops or would have their dates bring the food back to the car.

However, over the years, the buildings on North Campus were converted to Administration buildings while dormitories were built on South Campus and near Baxter Street. Parking became "a rare downtown commodity," according to Varsity owner Frank Gordy, and without nearby students, it was too expensive to stay open late. He repeatedly told reporters that "it breaks his heart to close the restaurant," but he didn't have a choice.

Gordy announced the closing on December 1st, the day before Georgia Tech came to town to lose 29-28 to the Bulldogs on national television. He thought closing before the Tech game "would be a little bit rude." The downtown location stayed open until December 20th, when lines of people caused waits of up to half an hour for lunches of chili dogs, hamburgers, chicken salad sandwiches, onion rings, grilled cheese sandwiches, milkshakes, pc drinks, and frosted oranges.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald, November - December 15, 1978 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, December 16, 1978 - January 31, 1979 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Observer, Sept. 1978 - Dec. 1978 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia vs. Georgia Tech: Gridiron Grudge Since 1893 by John Chandler Griffin in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens, A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• Annals of Athens by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• History of Athens and Clarke County by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Burger and the Hot Dog by Jim Aylesworth in the children's fiction collection.
• The Pigeon Finda a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems in the children's fiction collection.
• The Varsity website.

18 December 1918: "Too old for a toy and too young for a gun"

On this day in 1918, and throughout the week, Athens Cycle Company ran this clever rhyming advertisement in the Athens Banner encouraging parents to buy their children bicycles for Christmas:

Athens Cycle Company was located at 279 Lumpkin Street in downtown Athens, in the building where The Arch Bar is today. Besides bicycles, Athens Cycle Company also sold motorcycles and sewing machine motors.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Dec. 1918 - July 1919 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Bicycling Magazine's New Bike Owners Guide in the general collection.
• Cyclist BikeList: The Book for Every Rider by Laura Robinson in the children's collection.
• The Complete Book of Bicycling by Eugene A. Sloane in the general collection.
• A Kid's Guide to Stay Safe on Bikes by Maribeth Boelts in the children's collection.
• The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes by Todd Downs in the general collection.
• The Noblest Invention: An Illustrated History of the Bicycle by Lance Armstrong in the general collection.
• Bicycling Magazine in GALILEO. (call 706-613-3650 for current password) 
• Around the World on a Bicycle by Fred A. Birchmore in the Heritage and general collections.
• Yesterday's Motorcycles by Robert F. Karolevitz in the general collection.
• Sewing Short Cuts: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques by Pamela J. Hastings in the general collection.
• The Practical Book of American Guns by John Houston Craige in the general collection.
• Toys and Games by Helen McNiven in the children's collection.
• A Christmas Story in the DVD collection.
• Bike Athens website.

15 December 1897: For Sale. My Home, "Cloverhurst"

On this day, as he had all week, new Athens Daily Banner editor Henry H. Carlton ran the following advertisement for his Queen Anne Victorian on Milledge Avenue (click to enlarge image):

Also for sale were the Bobbin Mill, and "the best Fence-Making Machine in all the land."

Henry H. Carlton had bought the 200-acre Cloverhurst property in 1885 from New Jersey native John A. Meeker for $11,000 (approximately $253,000 in today's dollars). The farm was called Cloverhurst because Meeker had planted the depleted lands with clover to stop further erosion and revitalize the nitrogen levels in the soil. Carlton built the house for his family and named it Cloverhurst after the property.

Carlton led an active life, and was described by Augustus Longstreet Hull as "warm-hearted and short-tempered," and "liked to be in the thickest of every fight, whether political or otherwise." He began his adult life as a doctor, serving in the Civil War, then later passing the bar and starting a successful law practice. In 1880, he took over the weekly North-East Georgian newspaper because he had become interested in politics, and eventually served as a state senator and state representative, and as a U. S. Congressional representative for the 8th District of Georgia. In 1897, Carlton returned to newspaper publishing, turning the Banner into Athens's first daily newspaper, and in 1898, volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War.

Carlton sold the Cloverhurst property in 1901 to Judge Hamilton McWhorter who was moving his family from Lexington, Georgia, to Athens. He lived in the house until his death in 1929, when the house was razed and the land divided into lots for a subdivision. The wide driveway featured in the illustration above became the Cloverhurst Avenue that intersects with Milledge Avenue today.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, Nov. 1, 1894 - Nov. 3, 1897 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Clarke County (Ga.) Superior Court. Deeds & Mortgages Vol. KK 1891-1897 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• A Portrait of Athens and Clarke County by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• Athens Historian, Volume 6 (Fall, 2001) in the Heritage collection.
• A Guide to Architectural Styles in Athens by John C. Waters in the Heritage collection.
• West Cloverhurst/Springdale Historic District Walk, sponsored by Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation.

12 December 1899: $2.50 Buys Seven Nights of Enlightened Entertainment at Lucy Cobb

On this day in 1899, the first of seven lectures/performances were delivered at the Lucy Cobb Institute. The series had been advertised for weeks in the Athens Daily Banner:

The initial lecture was offered by Alfred Taylor of Tennessee, a former Congressman who had run against (and lost to) his own brother for the Governorship of Tennessee in 1886. He had left politics to go on the lecture circuit, often with his brother, who had also retired from public service. In 1920, Alfred Taylor would finally become the Governor of Tennessee.

Most of the other men on the lecture schedule were nationally known for their oration and performances. The Athens newspapers for the month of March, 1900, are missing, so the subject of University of Georgia Department of Chemistry head Dr. H. C. White's talk is unknown.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, July 1899 - Dec. 1899 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Higher Education for Women in the South: A History of Lucy Cobb Institute, 1858-1994 by Phinizy Spalding in the Heritage collection.
• The Tennessee Almanac and Book of Facts by James A. Crutchfield in the Heritage collection.
• Tennessee: A Short History by Robert Ewing Corlew in the general collection.
• History of Tennessee (no author) in the Heritage collection.
• American Fairy Tales from Rip Van Winkle to the Rootabaga Stories by Neil Phillip in the young adult and children's collections.
• The Oxford History of the Classical World by John Boardman in the Reference and general collections.
• Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand in the general collection.
• Robert E. Lee: A Biography by Emory M. Thomas in the biography collection.

9 December 1916: "A Brilliant Finale" to America's Electrical Week

On this day in 1916, Athens Railway & Electric Company, located at the corner of College and Hancock Avenues, advertised the last day of demonstrations and programs for America's Electrical Week:

America's Electrical Week was an outreach campaign by the Society for Electrical Development, a trade industry organization formed in 1912 to "establish co-operative relations among the different electrical interests in the United States." The celebration week was intended to show "what electricity has accomplished abroad and in the United States since the European war began," with a goal to "electrify the entire country with special illuminations, parades, and pagentry." 

As part of the 1916 promotion, a poster contest was held during the summer. Of the 800 designs submitted, 125 were chosen as finalists for a traveling exhibition to allow the public to vote for the poster to use in the campaign. The winning logo was part of many window displays around the nation, and is in the upper corners of this ad, showing a genie summoned not from an oil lamp but with an electric light button. The Banner explained the theme as "Aladdin's lamp accomplished wonderful things, but the electric button does everything the lamp did and much more. Instead of the genie serving one person, the up-to-date genie, electricity, serves everybody everywhere."

The official celebration started in New York on December 2nd, with President Woodrow Wilson pushing the button to "bathe" the Statue of Liberty in electricity-powered light, stating, "I light this statue as a symbol of our purpose to throw upon our life as a nation the light which shall reveal its dignity, serene power, benignant hope, and its spirit of guidance."

All week in Athens, the Banner ran front page stories about the crowds that gathered to see the demonstrations of various electrical products for the home at the Athens Railway & Electric Company, noting that "most of the ladies were especially interested in the vacuum cleaner." The store also offered special sale items, and served "delicious luncheons from the elegant electric kitchen."

Other local retailers of electric appliances also had sales during the week:  Talmadge Hardware Company offered two electric stoves for sale at $18.50 each, and these ads were run by Athens Engineering Company throughout the week:

At the end of America's Electrical Week, the Banner declared the enterprise "a great success" because "interest has been aroused in the intelligent selection of the various forms of appliances which will lessen drudgery, advance cleanliness in the home, make the dark places lighter and the light places even brighter."

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Nov. 1916 - Mar. 1917 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World by Jill Jonnes in the general collection.
• America Enters the World: A People's History of the Progressive Era and World War I by Page Smith in the general collection.
• How Electronic Things Work and What to Do When They Don't by Robert L. Goodman in the general collection.
• The Science Book of Electricity by Neil Ardley in the children's collection.
• The Electricity Story: 2,500 Years of Experiments and Discoveries by George deLucenay Leon on the children's collection.
• The Electric Railway Journal available through Google Books.
• Fall 1916 Sears, Roebuck, & Co. Catalog in the Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck, and Company collection in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO. (available at any library computer)

Last Chance This Year to Discover Genealogy on the Internet!

On this day, we'd like to let you know there are still spaces available for our Genealogy on the Internet class, Thursday, December 16th, from 10am to 1pm, in the library's Educational Technology Center upstairs.

The class is an introduction to the many and growing resources for researching your family history online, and includes handouts that provide descriptions of the various sites available and their offerings. Time to explore on your own and ask questions is provided in the last part of the session. These resources are not limited to Georgia, or even to the United States. This class is not intended for beginners in computers or genealogy.

The class is free, but space is limited, so registration is required. Call us at (706) 613-3650, ext. 350, or email us at heritageroom@arlsmail.org to reserve your space. We hope to see you there!