Georgia Societies and Archives

Georgia Genealogical Archives | Georgia Historical & Genealogical Societies | Georgia Genealogical Publications |
Georgia Newspapers |

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Georgia Genealogical Archives

 

It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.

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Excerpts From the Book "The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy"

"Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette."
Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Editor of FGS Forum

Historical & Genealogical Societies

 

Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.

For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.

  • Georgia Historical Society [ Email: gahist@ix.netcom.com ]
    501 Whitaker Street, Savannah, GA 31401; Tel: 912-651-2125912-651-2128, Fax: 912-651-2831
  • Georgia Genealogical Society - P.O. Box 54574, Atlanta, Georgia 30308-0575
  • Northwest Georgia Historical and Genealogical Society - Post Office Box 5063, Rome, Georgia 30162-5063
    Covers Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Dade, Dawson, Douglas, Fannin, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Habersham, Hall, Haralson, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Rabun, Towns, Union, Walker, White, Whitfield Counties
  • East Georgia Genealogical Society - P. O. Box 117, Winder, GA 30680; Email: gaeggs@yahoo.com
    Covers Banks, Barrow, Butts, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Greene, Gwinnett, Hancock, Hart, Jackson, Jasper, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Putnam, Rockdale, Stephens, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren and Wilkes Counties
  • Southwest Georgia Genealogical Society - P.O. Box 4672, Albany, GA 31706; Email: swggs@swggs.org
    Covers Baker , Ben Hill , Calhoun , Clay , Colquitt , Crisp , Decatur , Dooly , Dougherty , Early , Grady , Irwin , Lee , Marion, Miller , Mitchell, Quitman , Randolph , Schley , Seminole , Stewart , Sumter , Terrell , Thomas , Tift , Turner , Webster , Wilcox and Worth Counties
  • Central Georgia Genealogial Society - Post Office Box 2024, Warner Robins, GA 31099
    Covers Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Crawford, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Houston, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Peach, Pike, Pulaski, Taylor, Telfair, Treutlen, Twiggs, Upson, Washington, Wheeler, Wilcox and Wilkinson Counties
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Georgia Genealogical Publications

 

Because of the limited amount of published materials on most Georgia counties, periodical literature is essential. There are more than thirty-five periodicals published in Georgia by local and state historical and genealogical organizations. The Genealogical Periodical Annual Index and the Periodical Source Index, 1847-1985survey some of these publications as well as articles on Georgia from periodicals done outside the state. See specific county page for individual county list

  • Search The PERiodical Source Index
  • Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly (Atlanta, Ga.: Georgia Genealogical Society, 1964–present)
  • Georgia Historical Quarterly published by the Georgia Historical Society
  • Atlanta History A Journal of Georgia and the South published by the Atlanta Historical Society
  • Georgia Genealogical Magazine (Easley, S.C.: Silas E. Lucas, Jr., 1961–present)
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Georgia Newspapers

 

The Georgia Department of Archives and History and the University of Georgia in Athens have the largest newspaper collections. Other university, public, and genealogical libraries have smaller collections, including the FHL. Consult holdings for titles.

The Georgia Newspaper Project of the University of Georgia Libraries has to date microfilmed over 8,000 reels of Georgia newspapers. This collection is not available on interlibrary loan, but copies can be purchased. The Georgia Historical Society in Savannah and the University of Georgia Libraries in Athens have every-name indexes to the Savannah newspapers from 1763 to 1845. The Georgia Department of Archives and History has this index to 1830 and parts of it for 1835–45. Indexes have also been published for early Augusta and Milledgeville newspapers. Many other Georgia newspapers have published and indexed abstracts to marriage and death notices.

While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.

Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.

Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.

The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).

  • The Atlanta Constitution icon(Allen County Public Library): Editions of the "The Constitution" and "The Atlanta Constitution," published in Atlanta, Georgia, 17 Jun 1868 through 31 Dec 1914 (missing Oct. 1905). Explore headline news, editorials, sports, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism over a broad span of years and covering a number of important events including reconstruction, perspectives on the New South, the Great War, and many historic developments that affected Georgia, the South, and the nation.
  • Find your family history In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive! Find News, Births and Deaths - Find tens of millions of historical newspaper articles, dating back to 1759. Search for newspaper articles about a deadly earthquake or one that mentions a past relative. Newspaper articles are easily accessible with online research tools.
  • Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers throughout the world.
  • Search Obituaries from Georgia Newspapers at ObitsArchive.com - it is the largest and most comprehensive collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices in the United States. Each obituary or death notice is indexed by the name of the deceased person, to make searching easier and more precise. In addition, the text of each obituary or death notice is searchable, making it easy to find just what you're looking for using a place of residence, occupation, names of family members, or other personal information.
  • Search Historical Newspapers (1690 - 1980) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 125 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in more than 500,000 issues of over 2,500 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly
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