Irvine S. Ingram Papers Open for Research

The papers of Irvine S. Ingram, West Georgia president from 1933 to 1960, have been processed and are now open for research in Ingram Library’s Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections. The Irvine S. Ingram papers contain a wealth of information not only on the educator who led the college for nearly forty years, but also on the development of higher education in Georgia during the twentieth century.

Irvine S. Ingram became principal of the Fourth District A&M School, the predecessor of the University of West Georgia, in 1920. In 1933, he was appointed president of West Georgia College, a two-year teachers’ college, when the A&M system of schools was abolished by the state legislature.

Concurrent with the release of Ingram’s papers is the conversion to DVD of a 1975 film entitled “I.S. Ingram a Great Georgian.” Narrated by actor Lorne Greene, the film reviews Ingram’s life, including interviews with Ingram himself, his family and other educators, and also offers a good overview of the University of West Georgia’s history. The thirty-minute film was part of a University of Georgia series on “Great Georgians,” including Carl Vinson, Lamar Dodd, and Benjamin Mays among others. The DVD is available in the library’s general collection.

To make an appointment to view the collection (while the library is undergoing a renovation), as well as for additional information, contact Special Collections at 678-839-6361 or sdurham@westga.edu.