Many students love to explore Archives and Special Collections to discover some of the rare and unique items there. If you’re interested in local history and more, check ‘em out!
What do you love about Archives? What do think needs improvement? The only way we can get better is if we hear from you!
The Eichberger East African Art Collection goes on the road! Come see VSU’s African Art Collection at the Azalea International Folk Fair on March 8 at the Valdosta Lowndes County Conference Center. There will be food, dancing, crafts, and international artifacts from around the world. Come see the collection!
Check out the South Georgia Folklife Collection at the VSU Archives.
We have images, audio and video clips online detailing South Georgia Culture from sacred harp singing to southern food and home crafts to the folklife of South Georgia’s emerging Hispanic population. The collection also includes hundreds of digitized audio and video files, books, transcripts, clippings, and research on everything from turpentine to suckerfish.
The VSU Archives and Laurie Sommers, ethnomusicologist, have been awarded the 2007 Brenda McCallum Award for “exceptional work dealing with folklife archives” from the American Folklore Society. Award winners were: Dr. Laurie Sommers, Deborah Davis (Archivist), Michael Holt (Archives Staff member), John Taylor (Archives Webmaster), Stacey Wright (Student Assistant), and Jack Fisher (Acquisitions Librarian). This prize honors the South Georgia Folklife Collection, a combination of the physical collection and a 500+ page website documenting Folklife in South Georgia.
“The Georgia Official and Statistical Register was published from 1923-1990 by the Georgia Archives. Considered an important reference work for historical research, the Register covers Georgia’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, providing biographical sketches of elected and other state officials. Georgia members of U.S. Congress and federal judges are included, as are county officials and regents of the university system. The Register contains election returns, provides basic reference data on Georgia counties, and covers Georgia miscellany, such as the state flag, state flower, state song, rosters of Georgia governors, and legal holidays” (from Georgia Official and Statistical Register).
The Einsatzgruppen: They were a twentieth century horror, formed by the Himmler and the SS in Germany, and responsible for killing over 1.3 million Jews between 1941-1945. They were the ones responsible for the shootings and mass graves, rather than the death camps. Twenty four high ranking members of the Einsatzgruppen were tried during the Nuremberg trials. The VSU Archives and Special Collections has a rare 20 volume collection of the Einsatzgruppen trial record and transcripts. These volumes are one of a few copies that were used by the judges of those trials. Dr. L. Schmier and Dr. J. Dunn recently had the Holocaust History class use these as the basis of plays. Come and see a part of history in the Archives.
For more on the Einsatzgruppen, you can also read the online book Masters of death: the SS-Einsatzgruppen and the invention of the Holocaust.
Did you know VSU has a collection of 5000 year old Babylonian clay tablets? They are on display in the Archives, open from 9-5 weekdays, and are also available as a digital display. These tablets give details of animal sacrifices at temples and information about diet and the economy almost 5000 years ago.
Have you seen our East African Art exhibit? The 91 pieces, mainly from Ethiopia, include a 400 year old devotional book written in Geeze, musical instruments, a large pipe, spears, sculptures, carvings, furs and textiles, which are on display in the Browsing Books area and in Archives. Archives is open from 9-5, weekdays, so be sure to stop by that part of the exhibit in the day time. Please pick up an exhibit guide when you come.
Tired of studying or writing your paper? Want a break but don’t want to lose your parking space or freeze outside? Check out the VSU History Museum on the 4th floor of Odum Library. You can see the school’s story from 1906 to now; see how students learned and had fun over the last hundred years.
A tour that takes you from the rooftops to the basements and everywhere there’s Hidden History at VSU.
October 29 - November 3, 2007
Monday - Friday at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
FREE TICKETS available at the 2nd floor Circulation Desk of Odum Library
