Confederate Odyssey: the George W
ASAC_Vol98_02-Jones_080006.qxp 2/13/09 12:05 PM Page 18 98/18 Reprinted from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin 98:18-30 Additional articles available at http://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/resources/articles/ ASAC_Vol98_02-Jones_080006.qxp 2/13/09 12:05 PM Page 19 Confederate Odyssey: The George W. Wray Jr. Collection at the Atlanta History Center By Gordon L. Jones Photos by Jack W. Melton, Jr. He was a very private man who lived in an ordinary house in suburban Atlanta. He loved his family, friends, and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. But his real pas- sion was Confederate history. He was George W. Wray Jr., well-known for his keen eye for detail, encyclopedic knowledge of weaponry, and penchant for making a bargain. Beginning at the age of twelve in 1948, Wray spent the next fifty-six years building a world-class collection of one thousand Confederate artifacts, including 184 longarms, virtually all known varieties of Confederate bayonets, seven rare Confederate artillery pieces, handguns, uniforms, headgear, flags, swords, knives, ammunition, and accoutrements. Along the way, he spent thousands of hours meticulously tracking down the original public through text, videos, and interactive exhibits, owners of attributed artifacts, building “womb to tomb” Turning Point is firmly rooted in artifacts and the stories biographies of their lives, complete with photographs and they tell—both individually and collectively. Perhaps more family histories. He filled up fourteen file boxes with arti- important still, the acquisition of the Wray Collection will cles, notes, and copies of all his research correspondence, greatly enhance our capacity to serve students, researchers, making his collection one of the best documented in the and collectors by providing an accessible and permanent ref- nation.
[Show full text]