GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION COLLECTION

COMPILED BY CHARLOTTE C BARE, 1999

PREFACE

The Alumni Association papers are available, without restriction, to all qualified researchers.

HISTORICAL NOTE

1895 P E CLASS

In 1894, several members of the graduating classes of 1892 and 1893 came together for the sole purpose of forming an Alumnae Association for the alumnae of Georgia Normal & Industrial College (GN&IC). According to Dr. Robin O. Harris' book on the history of the Alumni Association, entitled The First Hundred Years, only two names appear to be listed on record at the initial meeting: Mattie B. Hines and Mattie Lee Moore. Both of these women served as President and Secretary over the course of the early years. The group of women set up a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws. In 1896, the alumnae voted and accepted the constitution and bylaws.The constitution stated the purpose of the Association was to "extend the influence of the Institution and to bring successive classes into closer sympathy with each other and their Alma Mater." The motto selected was "freely ye have received, freely give." The Association promoted the interest of the college through planning and implementing programs and activities designed to support the college and its goals and objectives. The Association, also, promoted programs and activities designed to benefit the college alumni.

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The Alumni Association has clubs throughout Georgia and the United States. Most every county in Georgia, including the city of Atlanta, has local clubs. These local Clubs began forming in 1920 and can be found in Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville, Florida; New York City; Washington DC; Cincinnati, Ohio; Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina; and Columbia, South Carolina. The local clubs form the backbone of the Alumni Association.

For more information on the history of the Alumni Association, please read:

Harris, Robin O. The First Hundred Years: Georgia College Alumni Association. Milledgeville: Georgia College Printing Services, 1995.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Georgia College & State University Alumni Association Collection consists of four cubic feet. There are no restrictions on the collection. The inclusive dates of the collection range from photographs dating from 1895 to 1983, newspaper clippings dating from 1920 to 1978, and correspondence between alumnae dating from 1936 to 1985. The bulk dates of the collection are 1955 to 1968. The bulk dates pertain to newspaper clippings found in two scrapbooks. Photographs found in all four boxes correlate with the bulk dates of the collection. There are notable gaps in the collection. There is very little material from the 1970's, 1980s, 1990s, and the1920s. There are public relation scrapbooks in the closed stack area that features some of the missing years in these four boxes.

Box one contains photographs. The photographs feature Alumni Weekends, Golden Slipper, Homecoming and other photographs relating to Association activities. There are numerous photographs of alumnae and many are identified. The names and graduation dates of the alumnae featured in the newspaper clippings are in Folder 60 of Box one. Many alumnae are not mentioned because graduation dates or names could not be found. Box two contains member lists of various Alumni Clubs including the Clubs in Atlanta, Bibb County, Baldwin County, and Houston County. The Alumnae Clubs of Miami, Florida and Washington, DC are in the box, also. Box two contains minutes of the Clubs and an enormous amount of correspondence. The box includes the "Save the Atkinson" campaign.

The 1921 issue, The Girl Graduate, belonging to Marjorie Anita Manson '21 is in box three. The Girl Graduate is a book that contains memories of one's college experience. The book contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and handwritten notes from Ms. Manson's friends and classmates. The book also contains the graduation program for 1921. The book was left in it's original condition and housed in box three (See Note on Provenance and Arrangement for other items in box three).

Box four contained four scrapbooks. Due to time constraints the majority of newspaper clippings remains in their original condition and placed in folders. One scrapbook contains an abundance of material relating to Sue Myrick's '11 work on the filming of Gone With The Wind and her visits to Charlotte, NC. The scrapbook contains officers and activities of the Alumnae Association and the Charlotte, NC Club. The fourth scrapbook contains photographs of the 1993 Alumnae Weekend and the "Kickoff to 1994." The Alumni Association celebrated it's one-hundredth birthday in 1994.

The artifacts in box four include two VCR tapes, three plaques, and a 1904 volume of Snapshots, belonging to Anne Harris Whitfield '04. The two VCR tapes contain the "Memorial Service for Rosa Lee Walston," November 4, 1995. One copy is the complete master footage containing the church service and lunch. The second copy is the edited version. The three photographs were placed in a folder in box four. A set of landscape blue prints, dated 1990, for the improvements of the front campus stayed within box four.

NOTE ON PROVENANCE AND ARRANGEMENT

The Georgia College & State University Alumni Collection arrived from the Alumni Association in four boxes. Original order was hard to maintain in the collection. Boxes one and two contained re-foldered material consisting of minutes from the Alumni Association's various Chapters throughout Georgia and other states (as listed in the History of Alumni Association). These boxes also contain photographs and memoranda from the various Alumni Clubs in the college and Alumni Association history. Lists of officers and minutes from various meetings are in the boxes.

Box three contained abundant material on the accomplishments of certain alumna and resulted in separate folders relating to the particular alumna. Box three housed five folders stuffed with photographs, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. The folders had no consistent order. Box three, also, contained loose photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and complete sections of newspapers in the bottom of the box. The most logical decision was to arrange the material in chronological order.

Special Collections houses the collections of two alumnae: Bernice Brown McCullar and Nelle Womack Hines. A vertical file on Anne (Wells) Branscomb is, also, located in Special Collections.

BOX AND FOLDER LIST