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
Award-Winning Work
In 2009, the Center for Public History received two awards for excellence in archival program development from the Georgia Archives.
For one project, the Center partnered with the City of Powder Springs, Seven Springs Museum, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Federal Highway Administration document the history of an African American neighborhood known as "The Hill and The Flat." Researchers conducted conduct oral histories and other fieldwork that led to the creation of an archival collection housed at the University of West Georgia, a traveling exhibit, and a history publication to bring the research to both academic and public audiences interested in African American and southern history.
Another project, undertaken in partnership with the Georgia Humanities Council, was launched in conjunction with the tour of the Smithsonian travelling exhibit "Key Ingredients: America by Food." Center staff visited twelve rural communities that hosted the exhibit and interviewed over 100 informants, collecting approximately 150 hours of oral history interviews as well as historic and contemporary photographs and recipies. These interviews and photographs are housed in an archival collection at the University of West Georgia that is available for researchers and public programs.
West Georgia student Catherine Hendricks was also
recognized by the Georgia Archives with the 2009 Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records at the graduate level. Her thesis, "Creating Community in the Jim Crow South," provides a case study of how African American communities evolved in small Georgia towns during the late Jim Crow era, demonstrating how African Americans were able to create and find community and sustain themselves in the face of increasing restrictions.
