In keeping with the Georgia History Festival’s theme, a “State of Innovation,” October will focus on several of Georgia’s pioneering developments and leaders. It will also spotlight archives and the important role they play in inspiring future generations of innovators by collecting and sharing the stories from Georgia’s past.
October is Archives Month!
Archives are institutions that house primary source documents and artifacts that are historically important. These items are typically stored for permanent or long-term preservation and are available to the public for viewing and use in research. Archives are essential when conducting primary source research because they contain the materials that provide firsthand accounts of events from a particular time period.
This month, the GHS Research Center features an exhibit showcasing the history of the Georgia Historical Society related to the building and evolution of the Hodgson Hall Research Center. This month, the Research Center is also offering a limited number of half-day school programs on Tuesdays. A morning slot is still available on October 25. If you are interested in arranging a field trip experience another time this school year, please reach out to Sophia Sineath, GHS Education Coordinator, at ssineath@georgiahistory.com.
Be sure to check GHS’s Facebook page for October’s Marker Monday posts! This month, the theme focuses on the process of historical research and the “business” of history. Weekly posts will include examples of how new research can impact our understanding of the past and how that understanding can impact historical resources such as roadside markers. Marker Monday posts will feature examples from the online exhibit, “Hidden Histories,” as well as other intriguing topics, such as the War of 1812, soybean cultivation, and Hernando De Soto. 
In addition to Marker Monday posts, GHS continues to highlight locations participating in Super Museum Sunday (SMS) 2017 across the state. October features the GHS Research Center, Augusta History Museum, Andalusia, and Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History.
This month’s highlighted affiliate chapter event will be Historic Augusta Inc.’s Dr. Edward J. Cashin Memorial Woodrow Wilson Lecture: “When the War was Almost Over: The Freedmen’s Bureau, Veterans and Defining Union Victory in Reconstruction in Georgia, 1865-1870” by Dr. Paul A. Cimbala of Fordham University. This program will be held on October 27, 2016 at 6 p.m.
GHS staff will visit a different school each month during GHF for a special presentation. This month, GHS visited Michele Celani’s fifth-grade classroom at Washington Park Elementary School in Monticello, Georgia. Additional GHS public programs taking place across the state in October include a marker dedication in Augusta for Trinity Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.