The Society of Georgia Archivists have declared October Georgia’s
Archive month. This is a way to celebrate the historical records and other
archives housed in libraries, museums, and other institutions in Georgia. There
are two recipients of the 2017 Georgia Archives Month Spotlight Grant: The
William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum to support the Historic Jewish Atlanta
Tour series and the Charles D. Switzer Library’s Georgia Room to support their
“Letters of the Past” exhibit and program.
Here at the Dorothy W. Hightower Collaborative Learning
Center & Library there is an extensive archive collection housed in
Guillebeau Hall. Beth Pye is Gordon State College’s Archivist. Pye has been the
Archivist since January 1988. Pye preserves, arranges, and provides a
description of the items in the archives. “By this I mean I make sure the items
are stored properly and arranged to be pulled as needed. Each item has an
individual description so they can be easily located.” The Gordon State College
archives include yearbooks, photographs, and other paper documents. “We also
have sports equipment including footballs and a shotput,” Pye added. There are
class rings, a beanie cap from the 1930’s, a uniform, a cheerleading outfit and
a megaphone. All of these have associations with Gordon State College. Some
archives date back to when Gordon was just beginning. Before Gordon was at its
current location, there was an A&M school on this property. Pye has some
archives from that period and also from when Gordon was a military college.
“There are some photographs, documents, and catalogs from the A&M School,
along with a class ring. We have a brooch from the military college along with
some medals and plaques. Some of the plaques are from when the military college
won awards for its newspaper,” Pye added. Since 2001, Pye has had a window in
town for Buggy Days. The window is there “to share some of the stuff we have
from the archives. Most of the content comes from the Gordon State College
archives.” Some of the oldest archives are not from Gordon. “An alumnus donated
artifacts from Central America. There is a bird whistle, a wolf whistle, a
headdress, and a bowl,” Pye said. Anyone who is interested in seeing the
artifacts can set up an appointment with Beth Pye. Pye can be reached at the
Gordon State College Dorothy W. Hightower Collaborative Learning Center &
Library page here.
