Non-Profit Organization 501 Whitaker Street I Savannah, GA 31401 I www.georgiahistory.com 260 14th Street NW, Suite A-148 I Atlanta, GA 30318 U.S.Postage PAID Savannah, GA Permit No. 323 Happenings Georgia Days 2010 Teaching American History Workshops February 2-20, 2010 In partnership with the Savannah Chatham-County Public School System Various locations and events, visit www.georgiahistory.com Rousing the Nation's Conscience for full listing of events. Dr. Lisa Lindquist Dorr, University of Alabama January 12, 2010 Georgia Days Kickoff Event Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball Nation of Nations Scott Simon, National Public Radio David Goldfield, University of North Carolina, Charlotte Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum Annex February 17, 2010 Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 6 p.m. Giant Leaps for Mankind Savannah Book Festival Dr. Jeff Gall, Truman State University Friday-Sunday, February 5-7, 2010 March 25, 2010 For full listing of events visit www.savannahbookfestival.org Georgia Days Birthday Bash GHS Annual Meeting & Garden Party and Annual Awards Gala Hodgson Hall, Savannah As Time Goes By April 15, 2010 2010 Georgia Trustees: Henry Aaron and Ted Turner Saturday, February 13, 2010, 7 p.m. Reservation required, visit www.georgiahistory.com for more information t o Perspectives georgia d CONTENTS We Owe It to You a by W. Todd Groce, Ph.D. history y This past August the Georgia Historical Society Volume 4, Number 1 Winter 2010 Perspectives Page was thrilled to receive word that we had been awarded not We Owe it to You left one but three major federal grants, two from the National by W. Todd Groce Endowment for the Humanities and one from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. These grants The mission of the Georgia Historical Society is to collect, 2 are for projects exceeding a total in federal and private preserve, and share Georgia and American history. matching funds of $500,000. editor This support could not have come at a more propitious Stan Deaton Feature time. With continued cuts in state funding and many consistent Georgia's Cities of the Dead and Cultural Tourism 2 design and layout by Edwin L. Jackson sponsors unable to contribute as previously (especially in the Modish corporate world), we needed this additional revenue. But these grants represent more than just financial contributors support. They are also recognition on the national level of Jim Battin, John Dickinson, Edwin L. Jackson the extraordinary quality of the programming, services, staff, photography 5 and archival collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Jim Battin, Russ Bryant, Edwin L. Jackson, Charles Snyder The State of History 5 The process for receiving these prestigious awards is highly board of curators The Boyhood Home of Woodrow Wilson competitive. Applications for funding are peer reviewed and chairman by Julia Jackson awarded to only a small number of institutions. Bill Jones III, Sea Island For example, of the 433 applications received nation- vice chairman treasurer secretary wide this year for an IMLS ”Museums of America” grant, Robert L. Brown, Jr. John C. Helmken II Shell Knox less than two in five received funding, and GHS was one of Decatur Savannah Augusta only a handful whose request was fully funded. Indeed, Inside GHS Celebrating Georgia Days 2010: 6 one reviewer commented that the GHS application was president and chief executive officer Honoring Georgia Native & Baseball Legend Jackie Robinson one of the strongest they had seen. W. Todd Groce by Jim Battin The NEH grants—one for training university and honorary curator college faculty in Civil War history, the other a seminar for Sam Nunn, Perry/Atlanta community college teachers in the history and culture of 6 African Americans in the lowcountry—were equally curators competitive. And while it’s difficult enough to receive one James H. Blanchard, Columbus Paul M. Pressly, Savannah 8 NEH award in either of these categories, it is quite rare for Dolly Chisholm, Ex Officio, Savannah Mark Smith, Savannah Georgia Gems Vincent J. Dooley, Athens Kenneth C. Stewart, Ex Officio, Atlanta by John Dickinson an institution to receive two in one cycle. GHS was the Walter O. Evans, Savannah Michael J. Thurmond, Atlanta only institution in the nation to do so. S. Taylor Glover, Atlanta William J. Todd, Atlanta Equally significant, GHS was the only historical society Christopher E. Humes, Savannah John A Wallace, Atlanta to receive an NEH grant for training college teachers. The Phil Jacobs, Atlanta Alston Watt, Thomasville other awardees were all colleges and universities, such as Princeton and Colgate. It speaks well of the quality of our chairmen emeriti Profiles visiting scholars, our own faculty/staff, and of the academic Kay T. Hightower, Thomaston The 2010 Georgia Trustees: Henry Aaron and Ted Turner 10 excellence of the Georgia Historical Society that we stack up Don Kole, Savannah by Jim Battin 8 so well against such prestigious institutions. Howard J. Morrison, Jr. Savannah But it takes more than scholarly credentials to receive Grace Greer Phillips, Atlanta this level of funding. It also takes demonstrated Lisa L. White, Savannah commitment from our members and supporters. staff Over the past eight years GHS has been awarded over $2.2 Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and Chief Executive Officer Milestones 12 million in federal support for training teachers, making our Laura García-Culler, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer GHS News collections more accessible, and building our endowment. Kathy Boyd, Administrative Assistant Most of these grants came with a stiff challenge to raise Christy Crisp, Director of Programs private matching dollars. In fact, we were required to Dr. Stan Deaton, Senior Historian raise over $3.3 million from individuals and Elizabeth Delmage, NHPRC Project Archivist foundations to release these federal funds. And each On the cover: John Dickinson, Systems Catalog Services Coordinator This statue, "Silence," initially time we asked, you responded to the challenge. Karen Dietz, Staff Accountant stood atop the Confederate 10 Footnotes These grants reflect the relevance of GHS, not Rana Edgar, Library Assistant monument in Savannah's A Message from the Editor 13 William Hanley, Historical Marker Survey Coordinator Forsyth Park. Replaced by a by Stan Deaton just to the people of Georgia but to the United statue of a Confederate soldier, States. When you contribute to the Georgia Nora Lewis, Director of Library and Archives it now stands in Laurel Grove Historical Society you can feel confident you Leanda Rix, Senior Grants Writer/Grants Manager Cemetery among the graves of Jenna Schrengohst, IMLS Project Cataloguer Georgians killed at Gettysburg. are giving to one of the finest institutions Charles Snyder, Program Coordinator The figure has a finger to her in the nation. That is something we can Lynette Stoudt, Senior Archivist and Archivist for the Savannah Jewish Archives lips indicating silence out of be proud of. And we owe that to you. respect for the dead, and the Torain White, Operations Assistant inverted torch symbolizes Happenings Back Heidi Will, Development Coordinator death. For more on Georgia's Upcoming Events and Activities cover "cities of the dead," turn the W. Todd Groce is President and CEO of the Georgia page. Photo by Ed Jackson. Historical Society. He can be reached at 12 [email protected] © Georgia Historical Society, 2010. All rights reserved. ISSN 1937-7967 This is the first of a two-part series on historic cemeteries in Georgia. This Cemetery Art and Architecture article looks at efforts to promote cemetery tourism, with a special focus on funerary symbolism. The movement for a more proactive cemetery Across America, a variety of initiatives are should not be too surprising, as it is often observed that underway to promote cemetery tourism. At first, this funerals are more for the living than the dead. The might seem strange or in bad taste. To some, the thought same might be said for cemeteries. They are places of total strangers wandering through a cemetery where the living can visit to show their love, honor, and photographing headstones or taking rubbings of grave respect for departed friends and family. But, as inscriptions is at best irreverent and at worst an invitation outdoor museums, they also provide a unique setting for vandalism. Even today, some cemeteries have rules for education, enjoyment, recreation, relaxation, and and regulations that require the sexton’s approval before cultural appreciation. photographing gravesites of non-relatives. People visit cemeteries for a number of reasons, but a Georgia's Cities of the Dead Despite concerns about vandalism, cemetery recent study found that more people cite art and visitation today is one of the hottest areas in the field architecture than any other single factor. If this is true, of historical tourism, as evidenced by the fact that a then the most successful strategies to attract visitors should and Cultural Tourism major session at the Georgia 2008 Governor’s involve efforts to enhance funerary art appreciation. As noted by the Historic Preservation Division by Edwin L. Jackson Tourism Conference was devoted to promoting cemeteries as tourist destinations. In some cases, the (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources motivation is to introduce more people to the wealth in its 2007 publication, Preserving Georgia’s Historic of information found in a cemetery. But many of the Cemeteries , "Cemeteries are places to commemorate the strategies to lure new visitors have nothing to do with dead. But they also are among the largest historic history or genealogy. To varying degrees, most landscaped places in our communities. They contain a cemeteries suffer from age, neglect, vandalism, and wide variety of sculptural art. Through the inscriptions damage caused by storms and tornados, leading to the on their monuments, they are repositories of need for a variety of fund-raising options to help pay information about those who have come before us.