Volume XV, No. 1 July/August 2018
Special Contributor MeShawn Freeman Foster
Chief Operating Officer, The Freemantown Historical Society
Freemantown, Floyd County: A Legacy of Liberty Remembered
Freeman) circa 1871.1
 William Thomas Freeman was
married to Henrietta Freeman, and together they had
twelve children. His father, Mead Freeman, along with
some of William’s siblings also purchased land and invited
four other families to inhabit this land during the initial
establishing of Freemantown. The other four families’
surnames are Sandford, Rogers, Montgomery, and
Jones. They are affectionately referred to as the Original
Freemantown Families. Everyone had unique trades
and farming abilities. William Thomas Freeman was the
community blacksmith and he passed down this skill to his
male descendants.
1 “Thomas Freeman and Freemantown”, Freemantown Research
Guide, accessed 4/14/2018, https://libguides.berry.edu/freemantown
As a child, Cheryl Freeman Snipes remembers her
grandfather sharing stories of her ancestors and the land
they once owned and occupied in Rome, Georgia. He lovingly
shared about their brilliance, talents, and trades while fondly
recalling his childhood in what he would always refer to as
‘home.’ While his other grandchildren dismissed these stories
as make-believe, Cheryl held them in her heart and believed
that one day she would visit the land that her grandfather loved.
On a visit to relatives in Rome in 2010, Cheryl came across a
local article seeking descendants of Freemantown. It was at
that moment, her grandfather’s stories rushed to her mind. The
term “Freemantown” was not new to her. She had heard the
name of the town her entire childhood. Not only was she a
descendant, but her third great-grandfather was the brother of
the founder of the town. Cheryl responded to the article and a
new legacy began.
Freemantown was an all African-American community founded
by William Thomas Freeman (also referred to as Thomas
Sanford Freeman’s sons at the Rome Clock Tower, circa 1900
Courtesy of Freeman Town Society/Cheryl Freeman Snipes
Thomas Freeman served in Company I, 44th Infantry Regiment of the
US Colored Troops in the Civil War. Photo Credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
2
John Zippert and Collie Graddick, Jr., Special Contributors with
Introduction by Dr. Veronica L. Womack

When we, the authors, began writing this article, we decided to
interview some of the remaining African-American farmers
and their surviving family members, who helped to organize and
develop the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative (WGFC) in Harris
and Talbot counties in Georgia, over 52 years ago.
We started with Richard Copeland, a long-time member and board
leader of WGFC who lives near Hamilton, Georgia. When we met
Mr. Copeland, he was constructing a raised bed to grow seedlings
for this year’s garden. Copeland celebrated his 86th birthday this
May, making him the longest living member of WGFC.
We conducted the interview at the kitchen table in Copeland’s
home where he “ raised ten children and too many grandchildren
and great-grands to count.” After pushing aside several large print
Bibles that were opened to various underlined scriptural passages,
he started to recount the history of the organization and his role
in its development. Copeland recalled that the co-op has a direct
financial impact, helping to raise farmers’ incomes and their
awareness of the importance of owning and holding onto family
land as a resource for future generations.
“The co-op helped us to live for today but it also showed a way to
plan and live for the future,” said Copeland.
The cooperative was originally organized in 1966 as the Harris
County Farmers Cooperative by the local Community Action
Agency, a component of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on
Poverty,” The development of the cooperative occurred during
the agency’s early days when its mission was clear and focused.
Tom McBride, head of the anti-poverty agency, was instrumental
in the development of the co-op by supporting local organizers and
providing some financial assistance during its first three years.
The Black Belt of the American South stretches
across the Southern region as a crescent-shaped cluster of
counties. These counties were shaped by a distinct social
and political hierarchy driven by race and created by a
race-based plantation society that remained for several
generations. The Black Belt region, once a region of great
wealth and the location of cotton, tobacco and sugar
empires, has economically diminished. Yet, the remarkable
strength and ingenuity of the African American residents to
survive has endured over time. More than a century later,
the region still contains a substantial African American
population, with some counties ranging from 30 percent
to 70 percent Black population. This is astounding as the
Black population is actually less than 13 percent of the
national population. This legacy includes significant racial
disparities in economic opportunities. Due the exclusivity
of prosperity, there were few traditional wealth building
opportunities afforded to Black people residing in the
Black Belt region. As a result, they were forced to develop
innovative and situational wealth-building strategies based
on their unique circumstances, such as communal and heir
property and cooperative economic approaches.
For the most part, land has historically been
a major criteria for participation in the agricultural
sector. Communal landownership, heirs land holdings
and cooperative economic models were employed by
African Americans to participate in a very exclusive
agricultural economy. The basic premise of these economic
activities was a member-ownership model that satisfied a
socioeconomic need in the face of racial discrimination or
market failure or exclusion.
The mid-20th century Black Cooperative Movement
within the Black Belt region developed symbiotically and
co-existed with the modern Civil Rights Movement among
rural, Black communities. African Americans utilized
cooperative economics was a way to combat a hostile
socioeconomic and political environment and to capitalize
on the economic power created by a collective approach to
capital, landownership, and good and service production.
One such organization assisted by the work of
these civil rights organizations was the Harris County
Farmers Cooperative, which would eventually become
the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative (WGFC) and part
of a regional effort named the Federation of Southern
Cooperatives (FSC). WGFC continues its work of providing
local economic opportunities through collaborative economic
approaches. The focus on building a local economic
infrastructure that supports local business and locally produced
food is key to their cooperative economic model. WGFC
has grown their membership from Harris County to include
members, not just in other West Georgia counties, but also as
far south as Columbus and as far north as Newnan. They have
even expanded into East Alabama to serve local farmers.
Richard Copeland, Collie Graddick and other WGFC members at their
headquarters in Hamilton. Courtesy of John Zippert
West Georgia Farmers’ Cooperative: 50+Years in the Struggle for Economic Justice
3
Copeland said it was Harrison Miller, the African-American
Extension Agent, who came up with the idea for the cooperative
and began talking with Black farmers about it in the mid-1960’s.
Graduates of 1890 historically black Land Grant colleges became
a courageous set of local extension agents serving AfricanAmerican farmers, in the tradition of George Washington
Carver of Tuskegee University (formerly Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute). They were particularly effective in counties
in the rural Black Belt South with its high concentrations of
African-American farmers. It took another decade and a half--
after protests, lawsuits and the he passage of the 1965 Civil Right
Act--to fully integrate the USDA Extension Service.
Copeland explained that the Harris County Farmers Cooperative
changed its name and its membership scope in 1969. The
Harris County Cooperative became the West Georgia Farmers
Cooperative, with a mission “to help farmers get a better price for
their produce and livestock, by pooling together, to have a large
volume to get better prices for the farmers.” The cooperative
was truly a model in cooperative economics. Copeland served
as Board President, and he and Eddie Williams instilled the
collective model in the group. Today Darrell Copeland serves as
WGFC President.
The cooperative members grew purple hull peas, turnip and
collard greens, okra, sweet potatoes, tomatoes,and other
vegetable crops to sell. The WGFC sold products in Columbus,
Georgia, in farmers markets in the West Georgia area and to the
McKenzie Frozen Food processor in Montezuma, Georgia.
Copeland remembers driving a truck with members’ produce to
the markets and to the processing plant in Montezuma. He said
he assisted Collie Graddick, another founding WGFC board
member, in driving truckloads of feeder pigs to the livestock
market in Eastman, Georgia. Copeland recalled the high quality
of the pigs produced by the cooperative and recollected a buyer
from Tennessee at a sale, who would not let anyone outbid him
for the WGFC pigs because of their uniformity and quality.
The swine and pork industry in this country has moved on from
relying on small farmers to produce “feeder-pigs” to much larger
self-contained Concentrated Agricultural Feeding Operations
(CAFOs) which do very little for local economic development or
sustainability and come with greater economic and environmental
risks
Emily Graddick, wife of cofounder Graddick (and mother of
the co-author of this article), also remembers the local efforts to
organize the cooperative. She accompanyed her husband on trips
to Columbus to the produce market and the Montezuma processing
plant. She said, “My husband was a school bus driver, so he knew
a lot of the people in the county by driving the bus around. Tom
McBride with the Community Action Agency hired him to help
organize the co-op.” Mrs. Graddick recalls bar-be-que dinners and
fish fries to sell dinners as part of the local grassroots fundraising for
the cooperative. These fundraisers helped them buy the land for the
cooperative, build the cooperative’s office, and support a feed mill
and storage facility-- all on US Highway 27, outside of Hamilton,
Georgia.
By 1969 the Harris County Farmers Cooperative had joined the
Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC), a regional cooperative
development organization. The FSC sent Ralph Paige, a native of
LaGrange, Georgia, to work with the WGFC. Copeland said he
knew Paige when Paige was a college student serving as a lifeguard
at the swimming pool at McMillan Park, an African-American
recreation center in Harris County.
Ralph Paige set up his FSC field office in WGFC’s facility and
provided support and technical assistance to the fledgling co-op
group under one of the Federation’s support programs. FSC’s early
programs were funded directly from Washington D. C. and the
headquarters of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). The
OEO was the same anti-poverty agency that supported McBride’s
group in organizing the Harris County Farmers Cooperative. Paige
also administered a $10,000 grant to the cooperative from the
Catholic Church’s Campaign for Human Development. Livestock
donations came from the Heifer Project International to support the
cooperative’s feeder pig and other projects.
Paige became the director of the FSC’s National VISTA project
under the Carter Administration and recruited, trained,and
supervised over one hundred VISTA volunteers at cooperative
locations across the South. As part of this effort, he placed several
VISTA workers to work with the WGFC member-farmers.
Amy Murphy, a VISTA worker at WGFC from 1978-82, recalls
“ I learned a lot as a VISTA worker which carried over to my future
work and career with Calloway Gardens and Everyday Farms
(Tyson). Working with the co-op taught me how to meet and
treat other people. We helped people to make a better living for
themselves on the farm, in this rural area.” Murphy said she also
helped people to construct small greenhouses on the south side of
their homes to save energy and to have a place to start plants early
in the season. Mildred Crawl, another early co-op member, said that
she still had her solar greenhouse. WGFC was an early leader in the
environmental technologies of greenhouse production.
Collie Graddick, Jr. (seated) with his youngest brother James plowed
fields for co-op members who didn’t have tractors. Courtesy Collie
Graddick Jr. 
4
West Georgia Farmers’ Cooperative: 50+Years in the Struggle for Economic Justice
John Zippert and Collie Graddick, Jr. continued from page 3
The Harris County Cooperative, now WGFC, joined with 22 other
co-ops in April 1967, in a meeting at the Interdenominational
Theological Center (ITC) at Atlanta University to create
the Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC). All of the
cooperatives represented at the ITC meeting were spurred by one
of the major civil rights organizations – SNCC, SCLC, CORE
and NAACP – in states across the South. The ITC meeting was
convened by the Southern Regional Council (Al Ulmer, John
Lewis and Vernon Jordan) and cooperative leaders from the
Southern Consumers Cooperative and Education Foundation in
Lafayette Louisiana (Ft. Albert J. McKnight) after a series of other
exploratory meetings held across the South. These
cooperatives and credit union groups hailed from Louisiana,
Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, North and
South Carolina.
The Harris County Cooperative was represented at this meeting
and later on the steering committee by Collie Graddick and Tom
McBride, who both signed the charter forming the FSC in May
1967. Attorney Howard Moore, General Counsel for SNCC and
assisted by Attorney George Howell, incorporated the FSC as a
“cooperative of cooperatives” in Washington, D.C.
Built on the foundation of the civil rights movement and the
cooperative movement, the FSC continues to organize, build,
and work with low-income, primarily African-American
farmers, land-owners and other rural people in persistently
poor and economically disadvantaged communities. In 1985 the
FSC merged with the Emergency Land Fund, an organization
focused on Black land loss, to form the Federation of Southern
Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (FSC/LAF).
From their origins, WGFC and the FSC were rooted in the
importance of land ownership as a way to empower AfricanAmericans in their economic and political future and the destiny
of their communities. Civil rights organizations realized the
value of Black farmers and landowners as leaders for change in
rural communities across the South because land ownership gave
people the necessary independence and vision to work for change.
The steering committee that organized the FSC received funding
from the Cooperative League of the USA and the OEO to
establish a regional office and employ an executive director
in 1967. West Georgia Extension agent Harrison Miller was
considered for the FSC executive directorship of FSC but the
committee hired Charles O. Prejean, general manager of the
Southern Consumer Cooperatives in Lafayette, Louisiana as the
first Executive Director of FSC, also known as the Federation.
Prejean opened the regional office at 52 Fairlie Street in Atlanta,
then after two subsequent moves finally purchased an office
building at 2769 Church Street, East Point, Georgia in 1996.
Collie Graddick served as the Georgia representative on the FSC’s
Board of Directors from 1967 until the mid-1970s. Graddick
offered great counsel and support to both Prejean and his
successor Ralph Paige.
Prejean served as FSC executive director from 1967 to 1985;
Paige, served from 1985 to 2015. On March 1, 2015, Cornelius
Blanding was appointed as the third Executive Director.
Blanding is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, and a graduate
of Stillman College, in Tuscaloosa, and the University of
Florida, in Gainesville, where he received an MBA. Blanding
has an extraordinary history with the FSC, working with the
organization for twenty years. Currently, he administers the FSC
from its East Point, Georgia office.
The continued efforts of WGFC and the FSC serve as
extraordinary examples of economic resilience and fortitude
within the region. Through their focus on cooperative economics
and collaborative approaches, these organizations continue to
serve the people of the region and their quest for economic
sustainability and autonomy. For more information on the work
of the West Georgia Farmers Co-op and to contribute to and
support its work, please go to the website: www.federation.coop.
~
John Zippert is a long-time staff member of the Federation (1970)
based at the Federation’s Rural Training and Research Center in
Epes, Alabama. He and his wife, Carol Prejean Zippert, helped
organize the cooperatives from Louisiana that attended the 1967
meeting at ITC in Atlanta, where the Federation was chartered. The
Zipperts publish the Greene County Democrat weekly newspaper
based in Eutaw, Alabama. John has a BA degree in History from
the City College of New York (1966).
Collie Graddick Jr. grew up in the West Georgia Farmers Co-op
and currently serves on its board. He has a degree in Agricultural
Science from Tuskegee University. He has worked for the past
twenty years in various capacities for the Minnesota Department of
Agriculture.

Veronica L. Womack, Ph.D. leads the Office of Inclusive Excellence
and is a Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at
Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA. She received
her BS in Communications, as well as, MPA and PhD in Political
Science and Public Administration from the University of Alabama.
Her research interests include the Southern Black Belt region,
rural development, agricultural policy and persistent poverty. Her
book, Abandonment in Dixie Underdevelopment in the Black Belt
(2013), received a Georgia Author of the Year nomination. She is
a founding board member of the Black Belt Justice Center which
works with land retention and agricultural policy issues.
 ~
In Memory of Ralph Paige, longtime leader and servant to the
Federation and the Cooperative movement who passed away on
June 28, 2018.
5
The ROOTS Farm Institute believes the “100 acres and
a Museum” project fills the need for a farm museum in
Albany to honor early African American farmers and their
important contribution to agriculture here in Georgia and in
the South. This farm museum will join other heritage sites
such as the Albany Civil Rights Institute and its museum in
commemorating the Civil Rights Movement in Albany during
the 1960s or the Ray Charles plaza that memorialized the
famous singer and Albany native at the city’s Riverfront Park
along the Flint.
The city of Albany was
founded by Nelson Tift as a
transportation hub for slave
traders and rich cotton plantation
owners during the first half
of the 19th century.1
 After
Emancipation and during early
Reconstruction, new labor laws
gave newly freed Black men and
women the ability to earn wages
from their former enslavers.
Freedmen were able to eke
out a living under the planterdominated sharecropping
system. 2
Landownership was the ultimate
route of freedom and independence
in the Deep South. One of the freed
slaves who owned land in the
1800s was Titus Stephens
(the author’s great great great
grandfather). His farm has
remained in the Stephens family
for nearly 140 years, making
it a rarity. In 2014 it was recognized as a Centennial Family
Farm by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources.
Lee W. Formwalt writes in his book, Looking Back, Moving
Forward: The Southwest Georgia Freedom Struggle, 1814-
2014, that in 1883, there were only 29 black farmland owners
in the county—20 of whom were in east Dougherty. Titus
Stephens was among this small number of land owners in
east Dougherty. His name—Titus Stephens—is listed in the
Dougherty County property tax digest (from 1879-1883) for
paying taxes on 202 1/2 acres of land, valued at $800. 3
1 O’Donovan, Susan E. “Nelson Tift (1810-1891).” New Georgia Encyclopedia. 29 July 2013. Web. 01 March 2018
2 Ibid
3 Ancestry.com; Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database
on-line]. Provo, UT USA, 2011
“100 Acres and a Museum” Project Honors Early Black Farmers of SouthWest Georgia
Special Contributor Beverly Barlow-Williams
Founder and CEO of ROOTS Farm Institute
Mr. Formwalt also writes that fifteen years later, the number
of black land ownership had only increased to 51. This raises
the question of how many of these farms are still held by their
descendants today. With little formal education and facing
discrimination and fraud, Black farmers and their heirs had a hard
time keeping their land. Those that were able to keep their land
defied the odds.
No doubt, the forbearers of the Stephens Farm never had much
wealth to begin with. They struggled
through two World Wars and the Great
Depression. Then came the Great
Migration, when dissatisfied African
American farm laborers boarded trains by
the thousands, leaving Jim Crow and the
fields of the South for the North. Through
it all, men and women of color, of strong
grit and character, weathered storms
throughout generations. They embody the
Stephens family motto to “never let go.”
Titus Stephen’s story is among the
collective stories of African American
history that need to be preserved, honored
and taught. Therefore, the 100 Acres and
a Museum is underway by the ROOTS
Farm Institute (RFI) to transition the
Stephens Historic Farm into a living
history museum.
Here, RFI will recreate the historic farm
with interpreters to reenact life after the
Civil War up to the 1960s and provide
visitors with a glimpse into what life
was like in the rural South before the
mechanization of agriculture. An open
air layout will differentiate RFI from the traditional museum that
use static displays and exhibits.
The 100 Acres and a Museum will include a working farm, planting
corn, cotton and peanuts. New elements such as a fishing pond,
walking trail, picnic area, amphitheater, miniature golf course, and
bed and breakfast facilities are also planned within this agritourism
project. Overall, our mission is to reach the young. Anyone living
today can imagine how difficult that may become as traditions fade
in the light of technological advancements. In this day and age of
artificial intelligence, virtual reality and even the promise of selfdriving vehicles, the work of preserving our history is great.

RFI invites those who understand the importance of preserving the
history of African Americans in agriculture to be a part of this vital
effort. Visit the RFI website at rootsfi.org.
The Stephens Family inspired the Roots Farm
Institute project. Courtesy Beverly Barlow Williams
6
FreemanTown, Floyd County: A Legacy of Liberty Remembered
MeShawn Freeman Foster continued from page 1
In order to appreciate the significance of Freemantown in African
American history, one must to understand the founder and his role
in history. William Thomas Freeman was enslaved and escaped
North to fight in the Civil War.2
 Having been wounded and
reported as being in North Carolina, Freeman’s former enslaver
sent for him and granted him his freedom.
Upon his return to Rome, he used money received from the
government for his service to purchase land. The exact acreage
of land owned by William Thomas Freeman is not truly known,
but estimates range around 550 acres or more. A businessman of
his time, William Thomas Freeman had the forethought to lease
portions of the land to his family members and other African
American families.
A thriving and enterprising African American community, up
until 1926, the land once owned by William Thomas Freeman is
now occupied by Berry College. The only evidence of this history
is the remnants of the cemetery with William Thomas Freeman’s
military headstone still intact. Cheryl Freeman Snipes’s great
grandmother, Susie Freeman (nee Cathey), was the last hold out
for selling her land. Upon William Thomas Freeman’s death in
1893, the land was divided out to his widow, his children, and his
brother Sandford Freeman because there was no will.3
Mrs. Snipes, a direct descendant of Sandford Freeman, worked
with Berry College, its researchers, and leadership to understand
what happened to the Freeman descendants, as well as, the
original four families who leased land at the inception of
Freemantown. In 2013 Berry College hosted Freemantown
descendants and community stakeholders to celebrate the legacy
of the town that once occupied the land on which the esteemed
college sits.

2 Severo Avila, Freemantown: In Search of a Lost Community, Rome News
Tribune, 20 Feb 2011
3 “Thomas Freeman and Freemantown” Freemantown Research Guide,
accessed 4/14/2018, https://libguides.berry.edu/freemantown
A marker was unveiled documenting the existence of this
historical town and celebrating the families who once occupied
the land.
In 1926 Martha Berry sought to acquire the land owned by
the Freemans. Records demonstrate that this is the year when
Freemantown ceased to exist. While many of the descendants
remained in Georgia, a great number traveled north. In fact, a
good portion of the Freeman descendants call Michigan home.
The history behind the migration and the selling of the land is
unknown. Historical documents are sought to piece together
this mystery.
Nonetheless, the work has begun to ignite a new legacy that
honors the history while promoting family, connections, and
heritage. Through the efforts of Berry College alumna Jennifer
Dickey and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Historic Preservation Division, the Freemantown cemetery was
surveyed in April. And in late May, several Berry college alumni
and staff, area historians, and Freemantown family descendants
began work to clean the cemetery.
On August 16, 2018, the Freemantown families will hold the
first of many quinquennials commemorating the history of
Freemantown. With the support of Berry College and the newly
formed Freemantown Historical Society, the descendants will
visit the Berry College Campus every five years to celebrate
their ancestors and further their legacy. Once forgotten,
Freemantown will now live on through its descendants and their
ongoing commitment to preserving their history.
Educational signage stands at the entry road to Freemantown.
The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
sponsored these markers. Photo credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
Georgia HPD Staff Archaeologist Sarah Love uses ground penetrating radar (GPR) to survey the Freemantown cemetery.
Photo credit: Melissa Jest/HPD 
7

West Georgia Community Archives Project
Helps Black Churches Preserve their Records
University of West
Georgia’s Ingram Library
is offering free assistance
to local congregrations
with historic records,
photographs, and
papers. Its Special
Collections team is ready
to help congregations to
conserve and organize
these irreplacable sources of knowledge.
Please contact UWG Archivist Shanee’ Yvette
Murrain at 678-839-5350 or smurrain@westga.edu
Unveristy of West Georgia Ingram Library
Special Collections
1601 Maple Street, Carrollton, GA
https://www.westga.edu/library/communityarchives.php
Image credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
Announcements

Historic Photos Sought for Exhibit featuring
Georgia’s Negro Parks of the 1950-60s
Calling all family
historians and
photo buffs: Share
any pictures taken
at Georgia’s six
segregated state parks
in the 1960’s.
These images could
help with a new
proposed exhibit.
All submissions will
be scanned and returned.For details, please contact
Judd Smith at Judd.Smith@dnr.ga.gov
Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites
2600 Highway 155 SW, Stockbridge, GA 30281
https://gastateparks.org/ | 770-389-7286
Image credit: Melissa Jest/HPD

 GAAHPN hosts Welcome Reception at 2018 Statewide Historic Preservation
 Conference September 12 through 14 in Macon
Be a part of this year’s Historic Presrevation Conference in Macon.
GAAHPN Chair Isaac Johnson and other Board of Directors look
forward to welcoming you to the two-and-half day convening at
the Welcoming Reception on September 12.
The 2018 Statewide Conference is presented by Georgia HPD and
the Georgia Trust and offers mobile tours, educational sessions and
ample networking opportunites for professionals and grassroots
advocates alike.
For more information, contact Georgia HPD conference
coordinators Allison Asbrock (Allison.Asbrock@dnr.ga.gov) and
Sarah Love (Sarah.Love@dnr.ga.gov)
Georgia Historic Preservation Division
2610 Georgia Highway 155 SW
Stockbridge, Georgia 30281
www.georgiashpo.org | 770 389 7844
Image credit: Georgia HPD
The Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network (GAAHPN)
was established in January 1989. It is composed of representatives from
neighborhood organizations and preservation groups. GAAHPN was formed in
response to a growing interest in preserving the cultural and built diversity of Georgia’s
African American heritage. This interest has translated into a number of efforts
which emphasize greater recognition of African American culture and contributions
to Georgia’s history. The GAAHPN Steering Committee plans and implements ways
to develop programs that will foster heritage education, neighborhood revitalization,
and support community and economic development.
The Network is an informal group of over 3,000 people who have an interest in
preservation. Members are briefed on the status of current and planned projects and
are encouraged to offer ideas, comments and suggestions. The meetings provide
an opportunity to share and learn from the preservation experience of others and to
receive technical information through workshops. Members receive a newsletter,
Reflections, produced by the Network. Visit the Historic Preservation Division
website at www.georgiashpo.org. Preservation information and previous issues of
Reflections are available online. Membership in the Network is free and open to all.
About GAAHPN
This publication has been financed in part with federal
funds from the National Park Service, Department of
the Interior, through the Historic Preservation Division,
Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The contents
and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or
policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does
the mention of trade names, commercial products or
consultants constitute endorsement or recommendation by
the Department of the Interior or the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources. The Department of the Interior
prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color,
national origin, or disability in its federally assisted
programs. If you believe you have been discriminated
against in any program, activity, or facility, or if you desire
more information, write to: Office for Equal Opportunity,
National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington,
D.C. 20240.
Published quarterly by the
Historic Preservation Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Dr. David Crass, Division Director
Melissa Jest, Editor
Christine Miller-Betts
Jeanne Cyriaque
Dr. Jennifer Dickey
 Barbara Golden
Jeffery Kelly
Richard Laub
Rev. Lemont Monroe
Kenda Woodard
Isaac Johnson, Chair
Dr. Gerald Golden, Vice-Chair
Board of Directors
Isaac Johnson
Chairman
Melissa Jest
African American
Programs Coordinator
Reflections Editor
Voice 770/389-7870
Fax 770/389-7878
melissa.jest@dnr.ga.gov
HPD Staff
8
Since its first issue appeared in December 2000, Reflections has documented
hundreds of Georgia’s African American historic resources. Now all of these
articles are available on the Historic Preservation Division website
www.georgiashpo.org. Search for links to your topic by categories:
cemeteries, churches, districts, farms, lodges, medical, people, places,
schools, and theatres. You can now subscribe to Reflections from the
homepage. Reflections is a recipient of a Leadership in History Award from
the American Association for State and Local History.
About Reflections