Important News about the Heritage Room Collection during the Last Part of the Library Renovation

On this day, we'd like to provide notice for some changes that are coming quite soon that could affect your research plans.


In the next few weeks, most of the library will be on the move to enable the last phases of construction. At the end of July, the Reference area is scheduled to move into the renovated side of the second floor, and, at that time, the Heritage Room book collection will become closed stacks through the end of the year. 


The books in this collection will still be available to patrons, but you will need to ask a librarian to retrieve the title or titles you wish to use. This situation is temporary, merely a side effect of space constraints while the other half of the second floor is being updated.
 
The Heritage Room microfilm, reader, and digital scanner will remain in the new Reference area until the end of construction. We still urge you to call to reserve the machine you want to use in advance, to ensure it is available when you arrive. All aspects of the microform collection will return to the Heritage Room space once the room reopens, with great fanfare, in early 2013. (It really is sooner than it sounds!)


Among the features of the new Heritage Room space will be 

• more microfilm readers and printers (plus the old dinosaurs with their loud mechanical Thu-THUNK! when you hit the Print button), 
• a conference room that will be used for classes but can also be reserved for use by local organizations for meetings, 
• more computers, 
• more individual work tables, 
• more shelves full of books, 
• lockers for you to stash your bags securely, 
• an easier-to-find location,
• a more accessible and browsable magazine area, 
• a more comfortable ambient temperature in the reading room,
• a larger vault, and 
• work spaces for staff so there will be fewer piles of boxes and papers and ledgers and maps in the room, which means more room for you to spread out while researching.

Here are some pictures of the room in progress, courtesy of our public relations guru, Rhiannon Eades:

(click to enlarge image)

In the picture above, you can see the light coming from the new meeting room doorway on the right that was once a window! And on the topic of windows, you can see we still have the large one at the end of the room that always filled the space with such gorgeous golden sunlight in late afternoon.

(click to enlarge image)

Hooray! Carpet padding! 

No, not really exciting, but it is the first step toward getting carpet in the new space. (All steps forward are to be celebrated.) You can also see new walls where the microfilm reader alcove used to be (but is now office space for Heritage Room and Information Services staff), and the knocked out wall where there used to be file drawers filled with microfilm and boxes filled with maps.

(click to enlarge image)

A nice low line of shelves with enough power to handle, according to the diagram of the new second floor layout, seven microform readers and reader-printers. At long last, the digital scanner will be at a comfortable height for long periods of research. 

Please let us know at the Reference desk if you have any concerns, or have questions about using the collection. We understand that having access to the materials you need is important, and we are here to make this temporary inconvenience as little trouble as possible. 

In the mean time, we appreciate your patience, and hope you are as excited about the prospect of a renewed Heritage Room as we are. We miss it, too!

Learn More:

• Athens-Clarke County Library Renovation blog.
• Renovation plans for the Athens-Clarke County library.
• Second floor layout of the renovated Athens-Clarke County library (.pdf file).

25 May 1901: County Donates Convict Labor to UGA

On this day in 1901, the Athens Daily Banner reported that work had begun on the University of Georgia campus for two new buildings, a dining hall and a dormitory, using convict labor provided by the Clarke County Commission to grade the land.

The dining hall would open in the fall as Denmark Hall, named for prominent Savannah attorney and business executive Brantley A. Denmark (UGA Class of 1871), who had died just days before the cornerstone for the building was laid on June 14th. 


The dormitory was completed in January, 1902, as Candler Hall, in honor of Georgia Governor Allen Daniel Candler. It was the third dormitory built on campus, along with Old College and New College. Residents of Candler called it "Buckingham Palace" and referred to themselves as the "Buckingham Barons." Rivalries between dormitories often went beyond mere athletic contests on Herty Field between the buildings.


Convict labor was a common solution to the need for cheap workers in the post-war South. Prisoners were often leased to private individuals to work on the farm, in their factories, or do other labor, such as railroad infrastructure, at a far cheaper rate than workers hired from the unincarcerated labor force. Convict laborers were disproportionately African-American, and it was not unusual for men to be literally worked to death. 


Though outlawed in 1908 in Georgia, chain gangs to work on public roads and other projects still existed. Clarke County often required labor when fines for misdemeanors such as disorderly behavior could not be paid, sentencing the convicted to work on the paving of the streets or installation of the city's sewer system at a rate of 50 cents per day. 


Governor Ellis Arnall instituted comprehensive prison reform during his term in the 1940s, and chain gangs were no longer permitted. Today, some prisoner work is still done on state and county levels, including basic building maintenance and litter clean-up along major roads.




Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, Feb. 1901 - Oct. 1901 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• The Red and Black Archive on the University of Georgia Libraries website.
• A Walking Tour of the University of Georgia by F. N. Boney in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black People in America from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon in the general collection.
• I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! by Robert Elliott Burns in the biography collection.
• Convict Lease System in the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

17 April 1976: Boy Scouts Host Open House at Franklin Hotel

On this day in 1976, Boy Scout Troop 76 hosted an open house at the old Franklin Hotel on Broad Street. The building had been left empty since 1972 when the Athens Hardware Company, formerly the Childs-Nickerson Hardware Company, moved from the site after 107 years at the same location.


The Franklin Hotel was built in 1845 by William L. Mitchell*, a trustee of the University of Georgia who purchased the property from UGA in 1843. On the first floor were retail businesses while the upper levels, which were built later, were used as hotel space. For many years, one of the stores in the Franklin Hotel served as the local post office. In 1974, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.


Two members of Troop 76, David Griffin, who was looking for an Eagle project, and Greg Curtis, who was looking for a Life project decided to team up to clean up the mess left behind in the building. At the time of the Open House, the Franklin Hotel was for sale by the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation, which had bought and stabilized the structure through fundraising from citizens and a grant from the National Park Service. There were no plans in place to renovate or restore the space, but the work of the Scouts had peaked the interest of residents. The Scouts felt the Open House would be an opportunity to tell people about the Franklin Hotel's significance to Athens, as well as show some of the old items found inside.


In 1977, the Franklin Hotel was sold to Hugh Fowler, then later to a business property company. The space was restored as office spaces, and won recognition for the work by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, businesses such as general contractors and advertisers occupy the building, as well as SunO Desserts.


* CORRECTION: The William Letcher Mitchell who owned the Franklin Hotel was the less illustrious cousin of the William Letcher Mitchell who was a University of Georgia trustee. The two led very different lives, but are often confused in histories of the University and city of Athens. The blog apologizes for the mistake, as it is aware this confusion is often an issue, yet succumbed to the common error anyway.


Learn More:

• Athens Observer, Jan. 1976 - Jun. 1976 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Antebellum Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by Ernest C. Hynds in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• History of Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by H. J. Rowe in the Heritage and general collections.
• Franklin House page on the Vinson Institute of Government website.
• Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation website.
• The Georgia Trust website.
• Historic American Buildings collection on the Library of Congress website.
• National Register of Historic Places website.

19 November 1953: Opening of the Ilah Dunlap Little Memorial Library

On this day in 1953, the new Ilah Dunlap Little Memorial library opened on the North Campus of the University of Georgia. 


Ilah Dunlap was born in February of 1874 to Mary Anne and Samuel Scott Dunlap in Bibb County, Georgia. She was the fifth daughter in a family of six children. Her father was a Captain in Phillips Legion during the Civil War, who started out as a farmer, then later became a successful merchant and city alderman in Macon. 


In 1896, Miss Dunlap married Leonidas A. Jordan.  Mr. Jordan owned Oakland Plantation in Lee County, Georgia, and died within four years of their marriage. In 1900, Mrs. Ilah Jordan is listed as the 26-year-old widowed head of a household in Macon that included her brother Samuel S. Dunlap, Jr.; her profession listed as "Capitalist." She was regularly featured in the Macon Telegraph Society page, often in relation to bridge club meetings or trips to Atlanta and New York. 


In 1906, she married John D. Little, an Atlanta lawyer, and moved to Fulton County. She was already widowed when she died in late July, 1939, on a vacation with a friend in German-occupied Czechoslovakia, just one month before Hitler's invasion of Poland and the start of World War II.  Though her will left $400,000.00 to the University of Georgia for a library, the settlement of the estate took a prolonged period of time.  Much of her jewelry and effects took more than a year to be returned to her executor in Macon, as both the American consulate and German officials had greater priorities than her estate, and faced disruption in communication, the latter sometimes noted in the communiques between various government agencies.


Mrs. Little's bequest gave the impetus to fund a much-needed upgrading of University of Georgia library facilities. UGA had only 185,000 volumes, compared with 751,000 at the University of Texas and 352,000 at the University of Kentucky. The cost to build the library was $2,000,000.00, and the operating budget for the library was increased dramatically as well. The University of Georgia President, Harmon Caldwell, argued that a $1,000,000.000 operating budget was necessary to make the library one that could compete with other southern schools after World War II.

The day after UGA's library opened , the Georgia Institute of Technology had the grand opening of their new Price Gilbert Memorial Library, and the weekend was a series of festivities in both cities to celebrate the events. 


Among those who participated in the celebrations were now University System Chancellor Harmon Caldwell; University of Georgia President O. C. Aderhold; Georgia Attorney General Eugene Cook; and members of the University Board of Trustees. Invited guests included Dr. K. Y. Metcalf of Harvard University; Derner Clapp, Acting Librarian of the Library of Congress; and Ralph Ellsworth, Director of Libraries for Iowa State University. Claude Davidson, Jr., director of the UGA news bureau, even composed a poem for the occasion.


In his dedication address, Dr. Ellsworth praised Georgia for opening two major libraries, stating that, "Only a vigorous University can overcome the terrible inertia that always seems to develop when a new library building is needed. Universities that are on the decline don't build new libraries."


UGA recently completed construction on a new Special Collections Library on Hull Street. Such collections as the Richard B. Russell Library, the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and the Peabody Awards collection are in the process of moving into their new space. The building will open officially in January, 2012.



Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald, August - December, 1953 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• University of Georgia Libraries website.
• History of Macon, Georgia: 1823-1949 by Ida Young, et al. in the Heritage collection.
• Lee County, Georgia: A History by the Lee County Historical Society in the Heritage collection.
• Civil War Macon: The History of a Confederate City by Richard W. Iobst in the Heritage collection.
• Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis in the Heritage collection.
• Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974 collection in the Ancestry Library Edition database via GALILEO.
• Confederate Service Records collection in the Fold3 database via GALILEO.
• U.S. Census collection in the Ancestry Library Edition database via GALILEO.
• Georgia Marriages collection via FamilySearch.org.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collection.
• The University of Georgia under Sixteen Administrations, 1785-1955 by Robert P. Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson in the New Books collection.
• The Dedication of the Ilah Dunlap Little Memorial Library in the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.
• MS 3357: Account Book 1939-1964 for the Estate of Ilah Dunlap Little in the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia.

16 October 1908: Note in a Bottle Found in Old College Wall

On this day in 1908, the Weekly Banner reported an interesting discovery from the renovation of Old College on the University of Georgia campus:

Old College was built in 1806, and spent most of its years housing students and suffering for such service. The first attempt to remedy the constant wear and tear came in 1824, when the foundation and large cracks in the interior walls were repaired, and "fixed two belts of iron bars to go round the house fastened and united together at the corners of the house by screws to keep the four walls in 'status quo.'" 

The building's use as a Wayside Home for injured soldiers during the Civil War did not improve the structure's soundness, and in 1888, underwent a major renovation that included tearing down the interior walls and adding indoor bathrooms for the dormitory.  A. O. Lyndon, who placed the note into the wall while working on the building, was an Atlanta plumber.

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Jan. 1906 - Dec. 1908 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Old College Compendium on the Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript website.
• 1900 and 1910 U. S. Censuses in the Ancestry Library Edition database via GALILEO.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• College Life in the Old South by E. Merton Coulter in the Heritage and general collections.
• An Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia Under Sixteen Administrations, 1785-1955 by Robert Preston Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• The 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.
• Antebellum Athens by Ernest C. Hynds in the Heritage and general collection.
• Confederate Athens by Kenneth C. Coleman in the Heritage and general collections.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• Story about the most recent Old College renovation in 2006.

27 September 1881: A Chapel for Lucy Cobb Institute

On this day in 1881, the Southern Banner told of the path forward to building a chapel at the girls' school, Lucy Cobb Institute:

Nellie Stovall wrote her letter as part of a class exercise where all the students wrote letters to philanthropists in hopes of raising money to build the chapel. She chose New York banker and philanthropist George Ingraham Seney, who had given $130,000 to Emory University just a few years earlier. 

As luck would have it, her letter arrived at Seney's desk while Reverend T. S. Burke of Macon was visiting, and extolled the reputation of the Institute, thus encouraging Mr. Seney to reply to Miss Stovall with the proposition to donate $5,000 if the friends of the school could raise $4,000 "before the expiration of this year, 1881." 

The funds were raised, and Mr. Seney later donated another $5,000 to the chapel project. The design, "an octagonal building with an exquisite Victorian interior," was created by architect W. W. Thomas, who would later build the  Thomas-Carithurs House, aka "The Wedding Cake House," at the corner of Milledge Avenue and Baxter Street. The cornerstone for the chapel was laid on Mr. Seney's birthday, May 12th, in 1882. 

Seney-Stovall chapel was dedicated in 1885, by which time Mr. Seney had lost his fortune to the Panic of 1884 and was in the process of selling off his assets, including his beloved art collection, to pay his creditors. One of his largest philanthropic projects, a Methodist hospital in Brooklyn, New York, was temporarily put on hold until 1887 when more funds could be raised to complete it. Though the New York press was somewhat hostile to Mr. Seney's predicament, in Athens, he remained an honored patron of education. He expressed his thanks after an 1884 visit to Athens in a letter to Nellie Stovall, telling her,

I came into Georgia somewhat depressed & reserved, but every where have met such uniform kindness and delicate attention that the culmination at Athens quite overwhelm(ed) me. 

Suffice it to say that Athens places a glorious crown to the steady and magnificent ovation that has accompanied me since my entrance within your borders.

Georgia has vastly exceeded my anticipation in all that goes to make the elements of a happy home.

The Lucy Cobb Institute kept in contact with their patron, observing his birthday and sending Christmas packages each year of cakes, magnolias, holly, and smilax. In later years, he would also donate a pipe organ, eighteen paintings from his reconstituted art collection, and provide scholarships to worthy students. 


Miss Stovall kept in touch with Mr. Seney, and after writing to him to tell him of her engagement to Billups Phinizy, he responded that,

My recollections of Georgia and especially of Athens are of the most pleasant nature. Although my acquaintance is so limited, I have become very attached to the people of Athens to our lovely "Lucy Cobb." I don't know whether Georgia girls are brighter than average, or wither the instructors at Lucy Cobb are more competent, but certain it is a more sasisfactory exhibition of scholarship I have never witnessed than that at your Alma Mater.

The Seney family attended the wedding of Nellie Stovall and Billups Phinizy in April, 1886, as guests of the Lucy Cobb Institute. George Seney later rebuilt his fortune by investing in railroads, and died in 1893.

The Seney-Stovall chapel was somewhat abandoned after World War II, and was acquired by the University of Georgia in 1953. In 1961 it was saved from being razed, but a partial restoration was not completed until 1982. A group of alumnae and friends of Lucy Cobb raised the rest of the funds required, and a full restoration was completed in 1997. 

The chapel is now used by local theater and choral groups for performances, and as a venue for weddings as well.

Learn More:

•  Southern Banner, Nov. 6, 1877 - Mar. 14, 1882 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Higher Education for Women in Georgia: A History of the Lucy Cobb Institute, edited by Phinizy Spalding in the Heritage collection.
• Remembering Athens by Susan Frances Barrow Tate in the general collection.
• Once Apunce a Time by Maude Talmage Wood in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage, Reference, and general collections.
• Athens, Georgia: A Treasury of Historic Architecture by Mari L. Berry and Lisa Vogel in the Heritage and general collections.
• Historic Houses of Athens by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Guide to Architectural Styles in Athens, Georgia by John C. Waters in the Heritage collection.
• Annals of Athens, 1801-1901 by Augustus Longstreet Hull in the Heritage collection.
• REM video for Swan Swan H shot in the partially restored Seney-Stovall chapel in 1986.

1 April 1964: Autographing Party for Athens Book

On this day in 1964, The McGregor Company bookstore on East Clayton Street hosted an autographing party for the authors and contributors to the newly published book, Athens: Georgia's Columned City by Kenneth and Blanche Marsh. McGregor Company, located where The Firehouse bar is today, sold each hard-backed, 84-page volume for $3.25.

The Marshes were not Athens natives, but from Greenville, South Carolina. Kenneth Marsh took the photographs of the buildings and his wife Blanche Marsh wrote the commentary for each published image. In their Acknowledgments page, they thank the  many locals who assisted them with the book, including Mary Claire Warren, who was also present at the signing and appeared on the front page photograph of the party in the Athens Banner-Herald the following day.

Several of the homes featured in the book have since been acquired, restored, and put to practical use by the University of Georgia, such as the Cobb-Treanor House on Lumpkin Street, the Joseph Henry Lumpkin House on Prince Avenue, and the Wray-Nicholson House on Hull Street. Interior shots of antique furniture and chandeliers in the Stevens Thomas House on the corner of Hancock and Pulaski Streets provide a glimpse into the building's past as home to the Young Women's Christian Association, before it was converted into the office space it is today.

Other buildings in the book are now gone, including the Thurmond-Cofer House on Dearing Street, which was torn down to build Dearing Garden Apartments in 1965; the Mell House on the corner of Rutherford Street and Milledge Avenue, which was torn down in the 1960s and is now the location of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority house; and the Hull-Morton-Snelling House on Hull Street, which was torn down in 1990 to build an extra parking lot for the Holiday Inn. 

The Marshes published similar books together about Greenville, South Carolina; Charlotte, Bath, and Flat Rock, North Carolina throughout the 1960s. Their Athens book was the only one written about a Georgia location.

Learn More:

• Athens: Georgia's Columned City by Kenneth and Blanche Marsh in the Heritage and general collections.
• Historic Houses of Athens by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• Athens: A Pictorial History, 1801-2001 by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Guide to Architectural Styles in Athens, Georgia by the John C. Waters in the Heritage collection.
• Athens, Georgia: A Treasury of Historic Architecture by Mari L. Berry and Lisa Vogel in the Heritage and general collections.
• Souvenir of Athens, Ga. by Albin Hajos in the Heritage and general collections.
• The Columns of Athens: Georgia's Classic City by William Columbus Davis in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, Apr. 1964 - Jun. 16, 1964 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation website.
• Athens Historical Society website.

25 February 1900: One Immigrant's Story

On this day in Athens, and throughout the week, Albin Hajos Gallery ran this advertisement in the Daily Banner:

 

Albin Hajos spent only a few years in Athens, but made quite an impression while he was here. He was born in Austria on 4 November 1867, and arrived in the United States on Christmas Day, 1886, on the S. S. Aller, just two months after the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. On his passenger list, his age entered as 23, and his occupation as "Merchant."

After three years in Ohio, Hajos moved to Tennessee. The same week he became a naturalized citizen in 1892, he applied for a United States passport for himself and his 20-year-old wife, Jennie. In the application, he is described as being approximately 5'5" tall with a high forehead, small nose and mouth on a round face with a fair complexion with dark brown hair and gray eyes. He listed his occupation as "Book keeper."

In April, 1896, Hajos moved his family, which by then included a daughter, Emily, and a son, Charley, to Athens, where he set up his photography studio and gallery above the grocery store of George Williamson at 31 East Clayton Street. According to the Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Athens from 1898, his office appears to be in the same location as Cillie's Clothing is today.

Hajos advertised regularly in the Athens newspaper, typically simple one or two sentence ads about sales or feature products, such as "photo buttons." He made many photographs of the buildings in Athens, and in 1901 published a book, Souvenir of Athens, featuring homes and businesses from around the city. The interior photos of the Lucy Cobb Institute may have been made for submission to the Ladies Home Journal in 1897, when they requested images for their series of the "different interiors" of 100 American homes. The book was reissued in 2001, noting that half of the structures Hajos had included had since been torn down.

In 1902, Hajos moved his family to St. Louis, Missouri, and by 1910, was living in Chattanooga, Tennessee again. For several years after he left Athens, the dentist who leased his old space on Clayton Street would list "Hajos Gallery" has his location rather than the street address. In the 1920 and 1930 United States censuses, he and Jennie are living in Atlanta, where he works for Kodak as an "xray man;" there are occasional mentions in the society section of the Athens newspapers after 1910s of his wife coming back to Athens to visit friends, or Athens friends staying with the Hajos family in Atlanta. By the 1935 Florida state census, he is living in Miami, and lists his occupation as retired. He died there in 1939.

Learn More:

• Athens Daily Banner, Feb. 1900 - Dec. 1908 Supplementary on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Weekly Banner, Nov. 1899 - Jul. 12, 1902 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• U. S. Census, 1910, 1920, 1930 on HeritageQuest online. (call 706-613-3650 for password)
• U. S. Passport Applications, 1795 -1905 on Footnote Library Edition. (call 706-613-3650 for password)
• Florida Census, 1935 on Ancestry Library Edition.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps collection on the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Souvenir of Athens by Albin Hajos in the Heritage collection.
• Strangers at the Door: Ellis Island, Castle Garden, and the Great Migration to America by Ann Novotny in the general collection.
• The Pioneering Image: Celebrating 150 Years of American Photography by Jerald C. Maddox in the general collection. 
• Reading American Photographs: Images as History by Alan Trachtenberg in the general collection.
• The Portrait: Professional Techniques and Practices in Portrait Photography by Don Blair in the general collection.
• A Handful of Dust: Photographs of Disappearing America by David Plowden in the general collection.
• Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900 by Joan L. Severa in the Heritage 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.

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.

22 September 1909: Artist Lamar Dodd is Born

On this day in 1909, Lamar Dodd was born in Fairburn, Georgia. He grew up in LaGrange, and at age 12, made an arrangement to mow the lawns at the LaGrange Female Academy, then an all-girls college, in exchange for taking art classes at the school. At 19, after a year of studying architecture at Georgia Tech, he went to New York to study at the Art Students League of New York and also took private lessons with George Luks of the Ashcan School, a movement of artists who believed in realism as a way to express the energy and changing images of the city around them.

Though well-received in New York, Dodd returned to the south in 1933, working in an art supply store in Birmingham, Alabama, and painting at night. In 1936, he received the Norman Wait Harris Prize at the Art Institute of Chicago's 47th exhibition for his painting Railroad Cut, now part of the permanent collection of the Georgia Museum of Art. The next year, Dodd was invited to be artist-in-residence at the University of Georgia, part of a national trend of sponsoring working artists on campuses as the universities attempted to establish fine arts programs.

In 1938, at the age of 27, Dodd was asked to head the department and build it into a national program. He created an active program of artists-in-residence, and invited others to guest lecture at the University throughout his tenure. The mural on the front of the recently restored Fine Arts building was painted by Jean Charlot in 1941 when the art department was housed there with the music and drama departments. Dodd advocated art as an important part of the human experience in everyday life, not something rarefied or exclusionary.

During Dodd's time at the helm, the School of Art expanded their programs to include printmaking and ceramics, as well as enhancing the existing programs of decorative art. The Georgia Museum of Art opened to the public in 1948, and growth of the art school throughout the 1950s necessitated a move to its own building, which opened in January, 1963, on Jackson Street. The modern style was not beloved, but was open to natural light for both studio and exhibit space, and was needed for the 800 students who used the building each day.

As the art school grew, so did Dodd's career. He continued to paint and exhibit, and also serve as President and Vice President of the College Art Association of America. In the 1950s, he was named U.S. Specialist to Europe for the State Department, and was an envoy in the first cultural exchange between the United States and Soviet Union. In 1963, he was one of nine artists invited to participate in the NASA Art Program. He watched the moon landing in 1969 from mission control in Houston, and worked with NASA through 1974, resulting in his Cosmos series of paintings. In 1972, Dodd was the official artist for the Department of the Interior, working in Colorado and Washington state.

In 1970, the Art School established the Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair of Art "to honor artists of international standing who have maintained a distinguished record of exhibition," and began the University's first study abroad opportunity for students in Cortona, Italy. Dodd retired in 1972, but continued to paint for the rest of his life. In April, 1996, UGA renamed the School of Art the Lamar Dodd School of Art. Dodd died later that year, the day before his 87th birthday.

Today, the Lamar Dodd School of Art is one of the largest university art programs in the United States. In addition to semesters in Cortona, Italy, the school sponsors Maymester study abroad programs in Costa Rica and Ghana. They offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in Art History, Art Education, Studio Art, and Fine Arts with concentrations in visual media from metalwork to interior design to scientific illustration to photography. Over 1,000 students are enrolled in the school, with a mission of not just creating art, but also "create a receptive environment for the visual arts."

Learn More:

• The Truth in Things: The Life and Career of Lamar Dodd by William U. Eiland in the Heritage and biography collections.
• Lamar Dodd: The C. L. Morehead, Jr. Collection, edited by Emily Ann Arthur in the Heritage and general collections.
• Lamar Dodd: A Retrospective Exhibition in the Heritage and general collections.
• Charlot Murals in Georgia by Jean Charlot in the Heritage collection.
• American Paintings at the High Museum of Art in the general collection.
  
• Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists and Their New York by Rebecca Zurier in the general collection.
• The Age of Modernism: Art in the 20th Century by Christos M. Joachimides in the general collection.
• Lamar Dodd paintings available online.
  

31 July 1856: Monroe Bowers Morton Is Born

On this day in 1856, according to the 1900 Federal Census, Monroe Bowers "Pink" Morton was born a slave in Athens, Georgia. Over the next 63 years, he would become a well-known entrepreneur and "one of the leaders of the republican party in Georgia."

Morton started earning his own money at age 6 by working as a hotel porter during the Civil War. Once Morton and his family were emancipated, there is little evidence he received any formal education, though the Freedman's Bureau did open the Knox School in Athens in 1868. In the 1870 U. S. Census he is listed as living with his mother, two brothers (Willie, age 10, and Albert, age 6) and two sisters (Sue, age 5, and Emma, 2), but none of them are mentioned as having jobs or attending school. By the 1880 Census, he was married and was working in "Retail Grocery."

Morton eventually went into the construction and real estate business, at one point owning between 25 and 30 houses in Athens. He was active in Republican politics, and attended the 1896 Republican Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. He was elected to be the Georgia representative on the committee that notified William McKinley of Ohio that he had won the party's nomination. After McKinley's inauguration in March, 1897, Morton was appointed postmaster of Athens, a position he held until 1902.

After leaving government service, he returned to construction. He was involved in the construction of the Wilkes County courthouse in Washington, Georgia in 1904, and built his most famous building, the Morton Theatre, in 1909. He also built "a $10,000 marble building on Clayton Street," which is now home to Helix gifts. Two other Athens buildings on "hot corner," the Samaritan Building and Union Hall, have been torn down. In 1914, Morton purchased a local African-American newspaper, the Progressive Era, from W. D. Johnson, an A. M. E. bishop, and W. H. Harris, a dentist with offices in the Morton building. Morton was listed as editor and publisher of the paper, but no copies from his time as publisher have survived.

Morton, his wife Lula, and their four children lived in a large home at the corner of Milledge and Prince Avenues, where Flowerland florist is located today. He lived there from the 1880s until his death on February 12, 1919, "as a result of chronic heart trouble." In his will, he leaves a piece of property and cash to his two sisters, Susie and Emma, and the rest of his estate to his wife and children. He is buried in a fenced family lot in Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery in Athens.


Learn More:

• Black Vaudeville, the TOBA, and the Morton Theatre by Thomas L. Riis in the Heritage and general collections.
  
• A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History by Michael Thurmond in the Heritage, young adult, and general collections.
• Athens: A Pictorial History 1801-2001 by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery: An African-American Historic Site by Al Hester in the Heritage collection.
• Morton Theatre, Athens, Georgia: Adaptive Rehabilitation of a 1910 Theatre in the Heritage collection.
  
• A Portrait of Athens and Clarke County, Georgia by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in the Heritage and general collections.
• Black Georgia in the Progressive Era, 1900-1920 by John Dittmer in the Heritage and general collections.
• 1860 Federal Census Slave Schedules on Microfilm in the Heritage collection and via Ancestry Library Edition in GALILEO.
• 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 Federal Census on Microfilm in the Heritage collection and via HeritageQuest in GALILEO. (please call for password)
• Athens City Directory, 1912 - 1913 in the Heritage collection.
• Clarke County, Georgia Ordinary Estate Records-3 (Will Book F, 1912-1927) on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner, Dec. 1918 - Jul. 1919 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Morton Theatre website.
  

27 July 1882: Michael Brothers Open for Business

On this day in 1882, Simon and Moses G. Michael went into the dry goods business as Michael Brothers. Simon was 23 and M. G. was 20. Their store was on the corner of Jackson and Broad Streets, taking half a floor of a two-story wooden building that also housed the city jail and police court.

Within three years, their business grew large enough that they needed the whole building, so the police court and jail moved. They added wholesale to their retail business, and hired traveling salesmen to visit stores in smaller towns in the region. Five years later they built a larger, three-story brick building on the site, staying open during construction by renting sales space in the Athens Hardware building.

In 1893, they moved to the corner of Jackson and Clayton Streets. They had razed the two-story wooden laundry building on the lot to erect a five-story stone building that took up one-third of the block along Clayton Street. The first two floors were dedicated to department-store style retail, and the rest of the building used for wholesale goods. They shared the block between Jackson and Wall Streets with the Athens post office. The new building featured gas lighting and an hydraulic elevator.

When the post office moved in 1905, the Michael Brothers bought the lot and built another two-story building, taking up another third of the block facing Clayton Street. They moved their retail business to the smaller building so they could devote all five stories of the 1893 building to their wholesale business. Their slogan was "Michael Brothers: Since 1882, the Store Good Goods Made Popular."

In 1921, a fire began in the Max Joseph building at the corner of Clayton and Wall Streets. Also present in that building was automobile retailer Denny Motor Company, which had drums of petroleum stored on the first floor. Within 45 minutes, the fire had consumed the Joseph building and both Michael Brothers establishments, even melting coins held in the safe. The brothers noted after the fire that "The commercial monument which we have striven through thirty-nine years to erect was licked up in almost thirty-nine minutes by the cruel tongue of fire and flame."

Total losses to downtown businesses was estimated at $2 million, with at least half borne by Simon and M.G Michael. They announced immediately that they would rebuild, and that they needed more space anyway. Never ones to let construction interfere with the business, they set up temporary offices at the Georgian Hotel within a week of the fire, announcing their location in newspaper ads that noted, "We have lost our store buildings and our stock of merchandise--we are deeply thankful that we have not lost a single friend." They also promised that "The Michael method of merchandising will be maintained in every respect."

The new building opened in summer of 1922. It was Athens' first building with overhead sprinklers. It also featured a classic design with giant, electrically illuminated display windows and walnut paneling on the walls, showcases, counters, and back storage units. Men's furnishings were to the immediate left of the front door, with stationery and books in the section behind; women's cosmetics, jewelry, and accessories were to the immediate right of the door. The building also featured large ceiling and wall fans to keep the air circulating and cool.

Each brother focused on a different area of the business. Simon ran the wholesale side, managing sales to other stores of ready-to-wear clothing, sewing items, accessories, and home furnishings. M. G. ran the public department store with sales of clothing, furs, millinery, costume jewelry, sewing supplies and notions, books, stationery, linens, glassware, lamps, rugs, drapes, toys, and small appliances. Their tailoring department employed in-house seamstresses who could alter or create clothing for customers, and do customized upholstery and other items for the home. Certain departments, such as women's shoes, leased space to outside companies. By the 1930s, the Mezzanine level added a hairdressing department. Every July, they had a store-wide anniversary sale.

Many employees of the Michael Brothers stayed with the organization for their entire careers. They found Simon and M.G. to be "fair, honest, and concerned about employees individually, as people with their own lives to lead." They treated all their customers with respect and kindness, allowing them to add to their unpaid account balances during the lean years of the boll weevil and the Depression, even as Georgia's economic decline brought the end to their wholesale business.

Both brothers were involved in Athens' civic life and were strong advocates for the city. Simon was a member of the City Bond Commission, and M.G. spent many years on the Board of Education, served as president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, and helped organize Athens Lodge 790 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. Both families were active members of the Congregation Children of Israel and the Red Cross. They also had other business interests in Athens, purchasing and running the Colonial Theatre, owning other commercial real estate in town, and Simon served as Director of the National Bank of Athens.

During WWII, the third floor of the department store was converted for housing cadets from the U. S. Navy pre-flight base and soldiers brought to town for the signal training corp by installing bathrooms with showers. Michael Brothers Department Store also acted as a blood bank, hosted meetings and collection drives, and promoted War Bonds.

Sons of the original owners took over the business in 1942, but the third generation of Michaels were not interested in retail. The business was sold to Davison's in April, 1953. The 1921 building now houses private offices, Doc Chey's Noodle House, Mellow Mushroom pizza, the UGA Graduate School, and a mezzanine level event space.

Learn More:

• A Postcard History of Athens, Georgia by Gary L. Doster in the Heritage and general collections.
• Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, Georgia, Volume I by Charlotte Thomas Marshall in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Store's Story: Michael Brothers Inc. of Athens, Georgia by Leroy Michael, Jr., soon to be in the Heritage collection.
• Athens: A Pictorial History by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Portrait of Athens and Clarke County by Frances Taliaferro Thomas in the Heritage and general collections.
• July issues of the Southern Banner, Clarke County Courier, Athens Daily Herald, Athens Banner-Watchman, Athens Daily Banner, Athens Weekly Banner, or Athens Banner-Herald between 1883 and 1953 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A History of the Department Store by John William Ferry in the general collection.
• Start and Run a Profitable Retail Business: A Step-by-Step Business Plan by Michael M. Coltman in the general collection.
• Entrepreneur Magazine's How to Start a Wholesale Distribution Business: A Step-by-Step Guide to Success by Bridget McCrea in the Business Reference collection.
• Michael Brothers building website.
• Fire Destroys Downtown Businesses blog post.