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Center for Public History
Located on the campus of the University of West Georgia, The Center for Public History provides opportunities for research, community outreach, and civic engagement while providing hands-on work experience for our graduate and undergraduate students.
News from the Center
Bremen History Day
Students enrolled in public history courses at the University of West
Georgia routinely carry their expertise outside of the campus and into
neighboring communities. On June 23, students enrolled in Dr. Keith
S. Hebert's State and Local history class helped the City of Bremen
conduct its first Bremen History Day program. The city is
developing a museum that will document Bremen's rich history. The
Bremen History Day program encouraged local residents to bring their
historic photographs and documents that related to the city's history
to Sewell Mill to be professionally scanned by UWG students and
faculty. The event helped the museum collect additional documents
that can be used in upcoming exhibits and programs. UWG students
Meghan Donahue, Mary Walker, and James Robinson used the skills they
have acquired in class to identify, document, and scan a wide array of
historic documents. Bremen-resident William Nails's collection was
the highlight of the event. In 1961, he served aboard the U.S.S. Lake
Champlain on a mission to recover Alan Shephard's Mercury space
capsule--the first manned American space flight. Nails's collection
contains an assortment of photographs taken during that historic
mission including images of Shephard and the recovered capsule.
Events such as Bremen History Day are just another example of public
history students and faculty working with local partners to expand our
understanding of the past.
