BIG win in Georgia
There is nothing in this world like spending a night in your own bed after 10 days away — and waking up to news that is not just Good News, it’s downright TERRIFIC.
That’s this Saturday morning for The Legal Genealogist — and the news out of the Peach State is WONDERFUL NEWS for the entire genealogical community.
You ready to smile?
Here goes:
You remember that horrible day in September last year when the Georgia Secretary of State decided that he couldn’t afford to keep the Georgia Archives open — that the two-day-a-week schedule to which the Archives’ hours had already been slashed was still too expensive?1
You remember how the genealogical community banded together and fought it — and fought it — and fought it — and we finally won a victory when control of the Archives was transferred from the Secretary of State to the University of Georgia System?2
But you remember that the budget for the Archives as part of the transfer only had just a little bit more money in it, and it didn’t look like it’d really be enough to make things any better — just keep them from getting worse?3
Well, how about this? The good folks at GeorgiaArchivesMatters — volunteers from the Georgia Genealogical Society — went to a meeting yesterday with Georgia Archives Director Christopher Davidson and here’s what was reported on the GeorgiaArchivesMatters blog:
At today’s Lunch and Learn program, Georgia Archives Director Christopher Davidson announced that the Archives will be adding staff, increasing hours for part-time employees and, yes, opening to the public for two additional days per week.
Here are the highlights:
• Hiring three additional professionals
• Increasing part-time staff hours
• Opening to the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays beginning July 31. Weekly hours will be Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Increasing conservation and processing activities of the Archives collections.4
Let me repeat that:
Starting 31 July, the Georgia Archives will be open four days a week, Wednesday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Talk about moving in the right direction!!!
A big THANK YOU to the Georgia Legislature for acting responsibly to conserve and protect this critical repository of priceless records of our common past, to the University of Georgia System for its support of and commitment to the Archives, and to all the genealogists in and out of the State of Georgia for their untiring efforts to save the Georgia Archives for us all.
SOURCES
- Judy G. Russell, “Archives and ancestors,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 15 Sep 2012 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 15 Jun 2013). ↩
- Vivian Price Saffold, “It’s Official… The Archives is Part of the University System,” Georgia Archives Matters, posted 6 May 2013 (http://georgiaarchivesmatters.org/ : accessed 15 Jun 2013). ↩
- Judy G. Russell, “Georgia Archives needs one last push,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 15 Mar 2013 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 15 Jun 2013). ↩
- Vivian Price Saffold, “More Good News From the Archives,” Georgia Archives Matters, posted 14 Jun 2013 (http://georgiaarchivesmatters.org/ : accessed 15 Jun 2013). ↩
Wonderful news!
Oh, that is wonderful! Hooray for everyone involved, including the volunteers from the Georgia Genealogical Society! You know this is still a democracy (sometimes I wonder) when a principled, well-informed public outcry can bring about reform and change! Makes my day.
The support from the Georgia University system folks has been terrific as well.