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.
The Smithsonian exhibit "Key Ingredients" is finishing up its last few weeks in Georgia, and will be at the Haralson County Courthouse in Buchanan through February 14. Don't miss it! Also on display is the Center for Public History's "Biscuits, Cornbread, and Teacakes" exhibit, which has been travelling with Key Ingredients over the past year.
A visitor peruses the "Biscuits, Cornbread, and Teacake" exhibit in Buchanan.
News From The Center
Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries Recognizes Work for “Key Ingredients: America By Food”
On January 22, the Center and the Georgia Humanities Council received an award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries for "Special Projects" in recognition of the work towards the two-year statewide tour of the Smithsonian exhibit "Key Ingredients: America by Food." This exhibit is part of the Museum on Main Street program, which brings Smithsonian exhibits to small towns throughout the country.
The Center's work on the project involved extensive collaboration between faculty and students at the Center, a hallmark of the University of West
Georgia's mission towards faculty-student research. Dr. Ann McCleary, Director of the Center for Public History and professor of history, served as state scholar for the project. Working with history graduate students Kristina Hartmann Ferguson and Katherine Hicks, McCleary traveled to all twelve exhibit sites, conducted oral histories with over one hundred residents of those communities, and compiled a catalog of Georgia foodways. This catalog, "Food, Family and Community: A Collection of Georgia Memories", is available at the exhibit sites and through the Center for Public History and the Georgia Humanities Council.
In addition to the catalog, McCleary, Ferguson, and Hicks presented training sessions for the exhibit sites on creating educational programs and local exhibits, developed podcasts using the oral histories, and archived the results of the oral histories and project fieldwork for the project at the Center for Public History. The podcasts are currently available on the Smithsonian website at http://www.museumonmainstreet.org/.
The Center's outreach into the community reflects West Georgia's commitment to civic engagement and the Center for Public History's mission to documenting, preserving, and presenting the history and culture of the West Georgia region. "Key Ingredients" is the first statewide project for the Center, but more are planned in upcoming years. Already, the Center is beginning to assist the Georgia Humanities Council with another Smithsonian exhibit coming to Georgia in 2012. Entitled "New Harmonies," the exibit will focus on American "roots" music.
