"Gathering history is an ongoing project for us," announced Donny Seagraves as she and Mary Quinn began their program on Winterville History to a packed Depot audience. Both long-time residents of this city of 1100 inside Athens-Clarke County Georgia, they invited audience members to help them expand on their knowledge of Winterville history.
Residents with deep roots in Winterville embellished the presentation with humor and facts that are now recorded for all to enjoy in the video Winterville: History of a Railroad Town. Be sure to see the program all the way to the end, where you can hear Wilma's (Jennifer Pittard) original composition "Winterville," the official town song.
In this photo are (left to right) Jennifer Pittard (also known as Wilma, a local musician and songwriter), Kenny Hodges (Winterville native and City Councilmember), Dr. Grace Eubank (a retired Winterville High School English Teacher), Roy Moseman, (descended from an early German family that emigrated to Winterville in the 1800s, plus the earliest Pittards to settle in Winterville area), George Chandler (Winterville native), Mary Whitehead, (descendant of early Winterville area settlers and widow of long-time Mayor Wesley Whitehead), Hoyt Carney, (native of Winterville area and longtime resident), Emily Eisenman, mayor of Winterville, and Leita Pittard Cobb, widow of late Judge Grady C. Pittard and longtime Winterville resident) and other members of the Depot audience.
Seagraves is the author of Gone From These Woods, published by Random House, and numerous publications, many about Winterville history. Since retiring and returning to Winterville, Quinn has conducted the popular walking tours of Winterville sponsored by the Athens Clark Heritage Foundation.
If you don't have a computer or you can't see an archived program from yours, please come to the library on Baxter St. to use a computer free of charge. You'll need to bring a set of headphones or purchase them from the reference desk for $2.00.
If you have an idea for a Community Snapshot, please contact project coordinators Van Burns, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Madeline Darnell, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
There's nothing like starting out on a long and complex project such as gathering your family's history with some tried and true help. A librarian and a graphic designer teamed up to do just that.
Beth Whitlock, a research and genealogy librarian at the Athens Clarke County Library, advised to begin simply with what you and other family members can remember about your family history. "Remember that everyone has a unique story to tell and there are skeletons in every closet." She suggested not ignoring the "skeletons" but simply to think of them as part of your family's story.
"When you've gathered this unique part of your family's story, the Heritage Room at the library can help you find birth, death, and marriage certificates, newspaper stories and a wealth of other information." The Heritage Room will be reopening in February, 2013. Beth provided the audience with home sources, interview questions and ancestral charts in a very helpful handout available on request. (see below)
"Once you've gathered your information, you'll want to find a way to present it to other family members in an interesting format that won't end up on a shelf unread," explained Van Burns, a graphic designer and principal in Burns Studio. "I started on second base," he explained, "because my father was an amateur genealogist and had collected most of the information already. But it was all in a stack of documents and papers," so Burns put that information in a book people would enjoy reading. He used an upcoming family reunion as his goal for finishing.
Burns gave ideas for organizing and editing the large volume of information and photos one typically collects, and reviewed software that helps get information into prose form. The next step, he advised, is editing and collecting photos to help tell the story. People who are not graphic designers will appreciate his step by step instructions.
CLICK HERE for the link to the program "Create a Book to Share Your Family Tree."
