Athens History Project Part IV
Jul. 21st, 2009 08:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fleaThe last part of my spring project for library school.
Athens History and Reminiscence
Athens Historical Society (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaahs/)
Sylvanus Morris, Strolls About Athens During the Early Seventies (reprint, Athens Historical Society, Athens, GA, 1969 [1912]).
William Tate, Strolls Around Athens (The Observer Press, Athens, GA, 1975).
Ernest C. Hynds, Antebellum Athens and Clarke County Georgia. (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1974).
Kenneth Coleman, Confederate Athens. (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1967).
Frances Taliaferro Thomas, A Portrait of Historic Athens and Clarke County (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1992).
Frances Taliaferro Thomas, New Georgia Encyclopedia: Athens (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/CitiesCounties/Cities&id=h-2210)
Michael L. Thurmond, A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History (Clarke County School District, Athens, GA, 1978).
The History Makers, Michael Thurmond Biography, (http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=929&category=PoliticalMakers )
I struggled the most putting this section together. The broad histories of Athens I have found have frustrated me, not because they are poorly researched or written, but because they are fairly traditional in scope and don't address the issues that are most interesting to me at this point: the broader social and economic forces that shaped Athens and the South, and the lives of the non-elite whites and blacks who together made up the majority of the population. I included the web site of the Athens Historical Society because although many of the works discussed below were not published by them, the Historical Society seems to be deeply involved in the type of scholarship that many of the works below represent: history told by newspapers and letters of prominent citizens, and therefore focused on their concerns and viewing public events through their eyes. The publications of the AHS over the years reflect this bias in favor of the powerful of Athens; the only articles in their annual journal (which apparently ceased publication as of 2007) that concern the black community are reprints of material written by Thurmond in his book, discussed at more length below.
Morris' and Tate's books are the sort of primary sources that most historians of Athens seem to be drawing on. Both were originally published as serialized memoirs in the Athens Banner Herald newspaper, Morris' in 1912, and Tate's, in apparent direct emulation of Morris' "strolls", in 1975. Morris reflects on his days as a student in Athens in the period from1872-1876; he later became a University professor and spent the rest of his life in Athens. Tate, the famous "Dean Tate," also spent his entire life affiliated with UGA. His "strolls" reflect on his student days in Athens in the 1920s. Both works are structured by the geography of the town, as the writer "strolls" down a given street or through a neighborhood and reminisces based on the buildings and their inhabitants. As a result, there is a lot of discussion of architecture - Morris' work was surely instrumental in the book by Marshall discussed above on Athenian architecture. There is also a lot of gossip about the public lives and activities of University faculty and other notable Athenian families. Tate does include some fascinating discussion of the merchants of downtown Athens, including an amusing anecdote about a Greek immigrant who came to Athens as a child, not speaking English, and ended up having lengthy conversations with the UGA Greek professor. The "urchin" later went on to own a general store downtown that was a frequent haunt of students in the 1920s. But his memoirs too are mostly the reflections of a member of the privileged class about his life, and rarely touch on other Athenian lifestyles.
Hynds and Coleman are historians, and provide good but very traditional accounts of, respectively, Athens from 1801 to 1860, and from 1860-1865. Both rely heavily on contemporary newspapers and letters. Hynds summarizes the growth of the city and surrounding county, with chapters on business and industry in the early and late antebellum periods (cotton became king, as elsewhere), the University, newspapers, churches, and “How the people lived.” During the civil war, Athens was not the location of any direct military action; Athens provided many soldiers, but Coleman's goal was to focus on life in Athens itself during the war. He provides almost a day-by-day account of activity during the war, especially of the tumultuous period between the election of Lincoln and secession, but also devotes several chapters to themes such as farming, industry, and education. His account stops at the end of the war, thus bypassing some of the most fundamental changes in Athenian life as former slaves became aware of their freedom (the emancipation proclamation had been published in the newspapers in 1862, but with no resulting change in status for Athens's slaves until the war ended).
Thomas is the author of both the most comprehensive, well-rounded, and modern history of Athens, as well as the brief article about Athens in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. These resources do emphasize economic transformation as a driving factor in Athenian history (especially the development of industrial mills for spinning cotton in the 1830s) and cover Athenian history in the 20th century. Most notable to me were their coverage of the development of a black middle class and Athens’ role as a center for black education in Georgia between 1870 and 1920.
I was very happy when, rather late in my research, I finally laid hands on Thurmond's book on notable black Athenians. The existence of the book itself tells a story; note that it was published by the Clarke County School District and not, for example, the Athens Historical Society. It was published when Thurmond was a 25 year old college graduate, enrolled in law school, and the founder of a black newspaper for Athens, the Athens Voice (which ended up having a short run of circulation, from 1975 to 1980; UGA has it on microfilm but I haven’t seen it yet). Thurmond is a native of Athens, and graduated from a high school that was desegregated only for his senior year. While public school desegregation in Athens began in 1963, the high school was not integrated until 1970 (UGA was famously desegregated when Hunter and Holmes enrolled in 1961; rioting ensued, but the actions of Dean Tate prevented worse disruption.)
Thurmond's book is a series of short essays, starting with an account of "jubilee" - the day Athenian slaves learned of their emancipation - and continuing with biographical sketches of notable black Athenians (doctors, dentists, educators). It includes some of the only historic photographs of black Athenians I have seen in my research, but also includes some images of apparently contemporary schoolchildren. This feature, and the fact that the book was published by the School District, suggests to me that part of the impetus for the book was to encourage student achievement in the public schools (which suffered from white flight after desegregation) by celebrating the accomplishments of nonwhite Athenian citizens. Thurmond has gone on the great success in Georgia; he was elected the first black representative to the State House from Clarke County since reconstruction in 1986, and he has been the State Commissioner of Labor since 1998. He still lives in Athens, and still has an interest in African-American history, publishing another book, Freedom: An African American History of Georgia, in 2003 (I have not yet looked at this). His own biography can now serve as an inspiration to Athenian and Georgian schoolchildren - the public schools in the city being to this day heavily minority in enrollment.
Athens History and Reminiscence
Athens Historical Society (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaahs/)
Sylvanus Morris, Strolls About Athens During the Early Seventies (reprint, Athens Historical Society, Athens, GA, 1969 [1912]).
William Tate, Strolls Around Athens (The Observer Press, Athens, GA, 1975).
Ernest C. Hynds, Antebellum Athens and Clarke County Georgia. (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1974).
Kenneth Coleman, Confederate Athens. (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1967).
Frances Taliaferro Thomas, A Portrait of Historic Athens and Clarke County (University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA, 1992).
Frances Taliaferro Thomas, New Georgia Encyclopedia: Athens (http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/CitiesCounties/Cities&id=h-2210)
Michael L. Thurmond, A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History (Clarke County School District, Athens, GA, 1978).
The History Makers, Michael Thurmond Biography, (http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=929&category=PoliticalMakers )
I struggled the most putting this section together. The broad histories of Athens I have found have frustrated me, not because they are poorly researched or written, but because they are fairly traditional in scope and don't address the issues that are most interesting to me at this point: the broader social and economic forces that shaped Athens and the South, and the lives of the non-elite whites and blacks who together made up the majority of the population. I included the web site of the Athens Historical Society because although many of the works discussed below were not published by them, the Historical Society seems to be deeply involved in the type of scholarship that many of the works below represent: history told by newspapers and letters of prominent citizens, and therefore focused on their concerns and viewing public events through their eyes. The publications of the AHS over the years reflect this bias in favor of the powerful of Athens; the only articles in their annual journal (which apparently ceased publication as of 2007) that concern the black community are reprints of material written by Thurmond in his book, discussed at more length below.
Morris' and Tate's books are the sort of primary sources that most historians of Athens seem to be drawing on. Both were originally published as serialized memoirs in the Athens Banner Herald newspaper, Morris' in 1912, and Tate's, in apparent direct emulation of Morris' "strolls", in 1975. Morris reflects on his days as a student in Athens in the period from1872-1876; he later became a University professor and spent the rest of his life in Athens. Tate, the famous "Dean Tate," also spent his entire life affiliated with UGA. His "strolls" reflect on his student days in Athens in the 1920s. Both works are structured by the geography of the town, as the writer "strolls" down a given street or through a neighborhood and reminisces based on the buildings and their inhabitants. As a result, there is a lot of discussion of architecture - Morris' work was surely instrumental in the book by Marshall discussed above on Athenian architecture. There is also a lot of gossip about the public lives and activities of University faculty and other notable Athenian families. Tate does include some fascinating discussion of the merchants of downtown Athens, including an amusing anecdote about a Greek immigrant who came to Athens as a child, not speaking English, and ended up having lengthy conversations with the UGA Greek professor. The "urchin" later went on to own a general store downtown that was a frequent haunt of students in the 1920s. But his memoirs too are mostly the reflections of a member of the privileged class about his life, and rarely touch on other Athenian lifestyles.
Hynds and Coleman are historians, and provide good but very traditional accounts of, respectively, Athens from 1801 to 1860, and from 1860-1865. Both rely heavily on contemporary newspapers and letters. Hynds summarizes the growth of the city and surrounding county, with chapters on business and industry in the early and late antebellum periods (cotton became king, as elsewhere), the University, newspapers, churches, and “How the people lived.” During the civil war, Athens was not the location of any direct military action; Athens provided many soldiers, but Coleman's goal was to focus on life in Athens itself during the war. He provides almost a day-by-day account of activity during the war, especially of the tumultuous period between the election of Lincoln and secession, but also devotes several chapters to themes such as farming, industry, and education. His account stops at the end of the war, thus bypassing some of the most fundamental changes in Athenian life as former slaves became aware of their freedom (the emancipation proclamation had been published in the newspapers in 1862, but with no resulting change in status for Athens's slaves until the war ended).
Thomas is the author of both the most comprehensive, well-rounded, and modern history of Athens, as well as the brief article about Athens in the New Georgia Encyclopedia. These resources do emphasize economic transformation as a driving factor in Athenian history (especially the development of industrial mills for spinning cotton in the 1830s) and cover Athenian history in the 20th century. Most notable to me were their coverage of the development of a black middle class and Athens’ role as a center for black education in Georgia between 1870 and 1920.
I was very happy when, rather late in my research, I finally laid hands on Thurmond's book on notable black Athenians. The existence of the book itself tells a story; note that it was published by the Clarke County School District and not, for example, the Athens Historical Society. It was published when Thurmond was a 25 year old college graduate, enrolled in law school, and the founder of a black newspaper for Athens, the Athens Voice (which ended up having a short run of circulation, from 1975 to 1980; UGA has it on microfilm but I haven’t seen it yet). Thurmond is a native of Athens, and graduated from a high school that was desegregated only for his senior year. While public school desegregation in Athens began in 1963, the high school was not integrated until 1970 (UGA was famously desegregated when Hunter and Holmes enrolled in 1961; rioting ensued, but the actions of Dean Tate prevented worse disruption.)
Thurmond's book is a series of short essays, starting with an account of "jubilee" - the day Athenian slaves learned of their emancipation - and continuing with biographical sketches of notable black Athenians (doctors, dentists, educators). It includes some of the only historic photographs of black Athenians I have seen in my research, but also includes some images of apparently contemporary schoolchildren. This feature, and the fact that the book was published by the School District, suggests to me that part of the impetus for the book was to encourage student achievement in the public schools (which suffered from white flight after desegregation) by celebrating the accomplishments of nonwhite Athenian citizens. Thurmond has gone on the great success in Georgia; he was elected the first black representative to the State House from Clarke County since reconstruction in 1986, and he has been the State Commissioner of Labor since 1998. He still lives in Athens, and still has an interest in African-American history, publishing another book, Freedom: An African American History of Georgia, in 2003 (I have not yet looked at this). His own biography can now serve as an inspiration to Athenian and Georgian schoolchildren - the public schools in the city being to this day heavily minority in enrollment.