August 2023 Journal Newsletter
Gainesville Reads Receives $25,000 Grant
We are thrilled to share that the North Georgia Community Foundation has awarded our children’s reading program, Gainesville Reads, with a $25,000 grant from an anonymous donor. Since January of 2020, Gainesville Reads has provided free one-on-one tutoring and virtual group tutoring for local students who struggle with reading. This contribution will sustain the program and its needs for another year including new books, learning resources, supplies, and more.
We are so grateful to the anonymous donor who recognized the impact of Gainesville Reads, our Program Managers and volunteer tutors, and our wonderful students who have made so much progress through their hard work (and lots of fun too!)
If you would like to learn more about Gainesville Reads, please visit www.negahc.org/gainesvillereads.
N.C. White Exhibit: Debuting Education Theme
In commemoration of Northeast Georgia’s educational institutions, the Northeast Georgia History Center is debuting a new theme for the N.C. White & Son Photography special exhibit to showcase individuals from Riverside Military Academy, Brenau University, and North Georgia Agricultural College.
These beautiful portraitures span the late 1800s to the early 1900s and will offer visitors a chance to explore the history, impact, and evolution of higher education in our region.
This special exhibit will debut on Friday, September 1st and will remain on display through October 2023.
Consider contributing to this important collection so that we may continue processing the thousands of glass plate negatives that have yet to be debuted to the public. Processing these fragile negatives, restoring the photographs, and printing them for public display is a costly endeavor, but with your support we can continue to share this incredible collection for generations to come.
Upcoming Events
Check out our upcoming events in August! Members receive free admission or discounts to events throughout the year. Become a Member today.
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Tuesday, August 8th at 7 PM
Meet Major-General Nathanael Greene during New Gainesville Chautauqua. Major-General Greene will be portrayed by professional living history interpreter Dan McMichael on Tuesday, August 8th at 7 PM at the Northeast Georgia History Center.
Nathanael Greene was a prominent military figure during the American Revolution where he rose from private to major-general within the Continental Army. He commanded the Southern Department and led effective strategies that led to the British withdrawal from the Carolinas, which profoundly impacted the course of the war. After the war, Greene chose Georgia as his new home living in Savannah, Georgia at Mulberry Grove Plantation.
Our program will begin with a special Baroque-style dance demonstration by Kat Nagar of Atlanta Historic Dance. Audience members will also have a chance to ask Major-General Greene questions!
This program is free to Members of the Northeast Georgia History Center, $10 for non-Members, and $8 for students. Become a Member today to receive free/discounted admission to events throughout the year!
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Saturday, August 19th at 1 PM & 4 PM
The Northeast Georgia History Center is hosting its second annual historic fashion show: Promenade on Saturday, August 19th at 1 PM and 4 PM.
Learn the history behind the fashions you see in shows like Queen Charlotte, Outlander, Marie Antoinette, Hamilton the Musical, and more as historically accurate recreations walk the runway.
All proceeds from Promenade will go toward supporting the museum's archival collection of historic fashions.
Promenade is sponsored by Sweet Magnolias Bakery & Café, locally owned and located on the Gainesville Square. Enjoy a delicious variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, baked goods and more!
Members of the Northeast Georgia History Center receive free or discounted admission to events throughout the year. It's a great deal and a great way to support your local history museum. Details at www.negahc.org/member.
Special Thanks
Our educational programs are made possible by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center. To learn more about the AMI Education Center, please visit www.negahc.org/ivester.
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Thursday, August 24th from 10 AM - 1 PM
The Northeast Georiga History Center is excited to invite our homeschooling families and folks to our first Homeschool Day of the school year, The Founding of Georgia, on Thursday, August 24th from 10 AM - 1 PM.
Learn how the Georgia colony was founded during presentations with General James Oglethorpe and Mary Musgrove portrayed by professional living history interpreters.
Explore the everyday lives of colonists with an open-fire cooking demonstration. Make a trade at Mary Musgrove's trading post to learn about the items traded between the colonists and the Creek tribes.
Try your hand at weaving with our kid-friendly loom activity.
Learn about the religious life and missions within the colony.
Discover historical artifacts during a Kids Scavenger Hunt in the exhibits.
Homeschool Days are free for Members of the Northeast Georgia History Center. Become a Member at www.negahc.org/member.
Brought to you by the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center
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Members of the Northeast Georgia History Center have exclusive access to our “From the Archives” episodes featuring artifacts from the archives spanning hundreds of years.
In our fourth episode, we share the history of Whatley’s Pharmacy in Gainesville and the story behind a mysterious medical device that was once in the pharmacy.
Become a Member to enjoy From the Archives and more at www.negahc.org/member.
Members can access this program through our Members Portal at www.negahc.org/members-only. Check your email too!
Limited tickets are available for our popular historic fashion show, Promenade, on Saturday, August 19th at 1 PM & 4 PM.
“Fiction of Northeast Georgia” Theme Featured in Museum Shop
During the month of August, we’re highlighting a great selection of books by local fiction authors. Stop by in person or shop online!
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With her husband Devereaux Rousseau now a captain commanding Savannah's elite Oglethorpe Light Infantry on the Civil War battlefields of Virginia, Carolyn Calhoun Rousseau must prove her own backbone as she operates the family's last functioning farm in the hills of Habersham County. She draws on the support of her best friend, Mahala Franklin, half-Cherokee granddaughter of a local inn owner. Mahala battles her own frustrations with Jack Randall, rival hotel owner and coastal shipping magnate. Jack's continued reluctance to commit threatens to drive Mahala into the arms of her Cherokee childhood sweetheart, Clay Fraser. Then, tragedy brings Mahala and Carolyn to Savannah just as Sherman advances on the city -- and forces everyone to confront their true feelings. Will Jack abandon his ship and its profits to the Yankees in Wilmington Harbor in order to guide them on a perilous wagon journey across Georgia, or will he abandon the woman he claims to love, but whom he now knows also has feelings for another? And even if Mahala reaches safety, could her discovery about her father's long-ago murder and missing gold prove far more dangerous than the war?
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Mathew Weldon is a headstong young American in England. A very spoiled young man who on the eve of the outbreak of World War II is sent to London on a mission for his Father's large New York Bank. There he meets a magically enchanting, beautiful, yet mysterious, young woman at a party shortly after his arrival. In being with her he learns more than he ever expected to know about himself, about what really matters in life... and about love and war. FIELDS OF GOLD is an exciting and moving historical novel filled with emotion, romance, and the painful reality of World War II. Matt is faced with the heart-breaking necessity of having to choose when fate sends a second attractive young woman back into his life, A book written with authority and outstanding research, this novel will take you deep into the heart of combat and asks the question: how long can love last and what does "forever" mean? The story of two loves which will live with you long after you have finished reading the book. It is truly a novel you will not want to end. A candidate to become a classic. You may find yourself reading FIELDS OF GOLD again and again.
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The first novel in the Balfour Mystery series by KC Pearcey finds local psychologist Cora Stone unwillingly pulled into the investigation of a gruesome murder in her small town just as she brings a young foster child into her home.
A lovely recluse who knows what she cannot possibly know, Cora has the answers to the questions everyone is asking.
But none of the quirky citizens of Balfour are going to believe her. They all have secrets of their own.
The only one who can help her is a hotshot detective from New Orleans from her past. The problem is that he’s her ex-husband. And he doesn’t want to be involved any more than she does.
Cora and Charlie find themselves with a dead body and a crime to solve -- again. Charlie, the detective. And Cora, the dreamcatcher.”
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What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke remains a mystery, but the women who descended from Eleanor Dare have long known that the truth lies in what she left behind: a message carved onto a large stone and the contents of her treasured commonplace book. Brought from England on Eleanor’s fateful voyage to the New World, her book was passed down through the fifteen generations of daughters who followed as they came of age. Thirteen-year-old Alice had been next in line to receive it, but her mother’s tragic death fractured the unbroken legacy and the Dare Stone and the shadowy history recorded in the book faded into memory. Or so Alice hoped.
In the waning days of World War II, Alice is a young widow and a mother herself when she is unexpectedly presented with her birthright: the deed to Evertell, her abandoned family home and the history she thought forgotten. Determined to sell the property and step into a future free of the past, Alice returns to Savannah with her own thirteen-year-old daughter, Penn, in tow. But when Penn’s curiosity over the lineage she never knew begins to unveil secrets from beneath every stone and bone and shell of the old house and Eleanor’s book is finally found, Alice is forced to reckon with the sacrifices made for love and the realities of their true inheritance as daughters of Eleanor Dare.
In this sweeping tale from award-winning author Kimberly Brock, the answers to a real-life mystery may be found in the pages of a story that was always waiting to be written.
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Karen White invites you to explore the brick-walked streets of Charleston in her fifth Tradd Street novel, where historic mansions house the memories of years gone by, and restless spirits refuse to fade away...
With her extended maternity leave at its end, Melanie Trenholm is less than thrilled to leave her new husband and beautiful twins to return to work, especially when she’s awoken by a phone call with no voice on the other end—and the uneasy feeling that the ghostly apparitions that have stayed silent for more than a year are about to invade her life once more.
But her return to the realty office goes better than she could have hoped, with a new client eager to sell the home she recently inherited on South Battery. Most would treasure living in one of the grandest old homes in the famous historic district of Charleston, but Jayne Smith would rather sell hers as soon as possible, guaranteeing Melanie a quick commission.
Despite her stroke of luck, Melanie can’t deny that spirits—both malevolent and benign—have started to show themselves to her again. One is shrouded from sight, but appears whenever Jayne is near. Another arrives when an old cistern is discovered in Melanie’s backyard on Tradd Street.
Melanie knows nothing good can come from unearthing the past. But some secrets refuse to stay buried...
Welcome to the Board of Directors, Dr. Natasha Iszard!
The History Center is pleased to welcome Dr. Natasha Iszard, Assistant Professor of Education at Brenau University, to the Board of Directors. Dr. Iszard received her Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of South Alabama and obtained her Doctor of Education at Argosy University Atlanta.
“Impacting K-12 educators and students is my passion. We have to understand where we came from in order to get where we're going. My eagerness to impact the community drives my passion to highlight the mission and vision of the History Center.”
- Dr. Natasha Iszard
July Highlights at the History Center
We had great groups of Summer Camp students visit in July for our popular field trip programs. Our Early American Daily Life field trip includes activity stations, historic demonstrations, a Kids Scavenger Hunt in the exhibits, and a Q&A with our Education Director Marie Bartlett.
Our Family Night was so much fun as our exhibits came to life to greet visitors and share the history of Northeast Georgia. We would like to thank all of our historic interpreters and our vendors Peyton’s Pies Pizza and Magnolia Willow Farms for helping us create a memorable night of history!
Audiences met Colonial Georgia’s Mary Musgrove during our New Gainesville Chautauqua living history series. Mary Musgrove was portrayed by living history interpreter Nicole Castoreno who brought this fascinating story to life. Join us for our last Chautauqua performance on Tuesday, August 8th at 7 PM with Major-General Nathanael Greene!
Oral History Project: The Mills of Gainesville
We are working on a great oral history project with our Digital Studio Interns and the help of researcher and former Gainesville Mill employee Ron Hooper. We are currently seeking folks who worked at or had family who worked at any of Gainesville’s mills (Gainesville Mill, Chicopee Mill, and New Holland Mill.) This project will document the experiences of mill workers and those who lived in the mill villages as well as explore the impact of the mills on Gainesville’s economy and growth since the early 1900s.
Our Digital Studio Interns are Henry Rosenberger and Tyler Kinsey, both film students at the University of North Georgia. Henry and Tyler have been working with Ron Hooper who has conducted great research on the mills of Gainesville.
We look forward to sharing updates with you! For now, if you have any recommendations about who we should interview, please email Libba at libba@negahc.org.
New Small Business Memberships!
The Northeast Georgia History Center now offers Small Business Memberships for local businesses.
Our Small Business Memberships are just $300/year and include:
Two passes to share among staff
Each pass offers admission for up to 6 guests each visit to Northeast Georgia History Center exhibits & galleries
One guided tour of the Exhibit Galleries for up to 20 guests
Business name highlighted in the atrium
Business name listed in the monthly e-newsletter
Become a Small Business Member at www.negahc.org/member.
We would like to thank our first Small Business Member Blair C. Diaz CPA for their support!
“Since 2004, Blair Diaz CPA, PC has served North Georgia individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits. The founder and principal, Blair C. Diaz CPA, leads a small but professional team dedicated to providing expert financial services. Housed in the historic Garner Hulsey House on Gainesville’s Green Street, our company is a local business committed to serving our community. We believe in serving others by providing professional services to nonprofits throughout North Georgia. While nonprofits are our specialty, we also provide quality accounting services to small businesses and individuals including audits, bookkeeping, payroll, compilations, Quickbooks® consulting, tax planning and tax preparation. Our seasoned staff provides personalized help to each and every client. Through reliable communication and quality accounting, we create accurate financial reports that limit surprises and improve your financial decisions.”
Then Again Podcast
Check out the latest episodes of our podcast Then Again below. Join the History Center team as they explore history with special guest experts.
Listen now at www.thenagainpodcast.com.
Take our listener survey at this link: Then Again Listener Survey
Special Thanks
Our programs would not be possible without the support of the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center. More information on the Ada Mae Ivester Education Center: AMIEC
We would like to thank our new and renewing Partners whose contributions help sustain the Northeast Georgia History Center’s operations:
Philip & Mary Hart Wilheit
Kathy & Richard Oates
Cheryl & Jerry Vandiver
Dr. Jim Southerland