Volume XVII, No. 2 August 2021
John McLaughlin, Contributor
Candidate for Masters of Arts, Anthropology with emphasis in Archaeology, Georgia State University
government in 2016.1
Over time, the
Livseys built a thriving community that
supported the local Black residents with
access to food, education, spirituality,
and day to day services. With Gwinnett
County currently attempting to preserve
the farm, also known as The Promised
Land, it is important to spotlight the
individuals that created it this oasis in
the middle of the Jim Crow era.
The Maguire-Livsey farm was originally
established by Thomas Maguire, a
white Irish immigrant who came to
America in 1818. He acquired 250 acres
in the 1820 Georgia land lottery2
and
1 Yeomans, Curt. “Promised Land house purchase
seen as big win for Gwinnett history.” Gwinnett
Daily Post. Promised Land house purchase seen as
big win for Gwinnett history | News | gwinnettdailypost.com. Accessed 4/14/2021
2 Livsey, Tom. “There is a Real Promised Land
in Georgia!” Black Gwinnett Magazine. Gwinnett
At first glance, it would be easy
to consider the Maguire-Livsey
House as just another old, country,
home in need of repair in its suburban
location just outside of Snellville, Georgia.
Yet the history and legacy of this African
American farmstead is remarkable and
irreplacable for its time and its potential as
an archaeological resource.
With nearly 200 years of cultivation and
occupation, the Promised Land has a rich
historical value testifying to all periods
of the African and African American
experience. This also suggests that the site
may serve as a significant archaeological
site, perhaps even garnering listing on the
National Register under its Criterion D.
The historic main house and adjacent farm
was owned by the Livsey family since 1920
until it was sold to the Gwinnett County
Historic Preservation Division
Freedman Robert Livsey transformed the Maquire Farm worked by enslaved ancestors into a haven for Black economic mobility.
Photo Credit: HPD/Melissa Jest
constructed a plantation that produced
cotton, corn, wheat, cattle and livestock.
The property was one of the few that
survived the destruction of the Civil War,
and in fact, Maguire’s diary informed
much of Margrett Mitchell’s novel “Gone
With the Wind.”3
Maguire retained
ownership of the property until 1886.
After a period of serving as a tenant farm,4
County’s Black History: The Promised Land – Black
Gwinnett Magazine. Accessed 4/18/2021.
3 Estep, Tyler. “Gwinnett’s Promised Land, a plantation turned beloved Black community.” Atlanta
Journal Constitution. Gwinnett restoring plantation
home that became hub of black life (ajc.com).
Accessed 4/14/2021.
4 Tenants typically bring their own tools and animals.
To that extent it is distinguished from being a sharecropper, which is a tenant farmer who usually provides
no capital and pays fees with crops. Wikipedia contributors (2021 June 5), “Tenant farmer,” Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/
index.php?title=Tenant_farmer&oldid=1027054925
(accessed June 22, 2021).
As Above so Below: The Promised Land of Gwinnett County
2
Quinn-Monique Ogden, Special Contributor
Registered Professional Archaeologist, Georgia
Archaeology at Parker Plantation Engages Social Media
Before the plantation economies existed in the
Georgia Colony, the enslavement of Africans
was illegal, unlike in the neighboring Carolinas.
No longer able to enforce the ban on slavery, Georgia
Colony trustees lifted the ban in 1751. From then
on, the Georgia colony (and later state) economy
relied on the labor of captive west Africans and their
descendants. 1
From the late 18th through the mid 19th centuries,
every aspect of agricultural plantations were built by
a captive labor force as well as infrastructure (roads,
railways, etc.), and buildings. The plantation of Dr.
William Henry Parker, just outside of Savannah’s
city limits, was no exception.2
An archaeology study
currently underway is investigating the people who
lived and worked on Parker’s plantation in the late
1700s and early 1800s.
Before this land became a plantation, Native Americans
occupied the area and were forced out by the early
colonists. The first colonial occupant on the land was
Henry Parker. Parker was among the first colonists led
by General James Oglethorpe in 1733. That year the
Trustees appointed Henry Parker as the first constable.
He became the first vice president of the colony in 1750,
and succeeded William Stevens as president in 1751.
This plantation was part of an original land grant to
Parker historically known as “Brewham” or “Bruham.”
Brewham originally consisted of 500 acres granted to
Parker by the Trustees in September 1757.3
The Brewham land was surrounded by the early
plantations of Beech Hill, Rockingham, and Oakland
in Christ Church Parish.4
The land was passed down
to Dr. William Parker, the grandson of Henry Parker,
who owned the property from 1796-1836. According
to the tax digest of 1833, Dr. Parker was known to have
enslaved 69 West African people on two properties
in Savannah--the Brewham plantation on the Little
Ogeechee River and his residence on Isle of Hope.
1 Hemperley, Marion R. 1974. English Crown Grants in Christ
Church Parish in Georgia 1755-1777. The State of Georgia:
Surveyor General Department. ; Butler, C. Scott, Patricia Stallings,
and Andrew A. Pappas. 2008. Cultural Resources Survey and Evaluation of Rockingham Farms Tract. Savannah, Georgia: Brockington
and Associates.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Platen, Charles G. 1875. Map of Chatham County, Georgia.
Savannah, GA: Charles G. Platen
Recently, the Brewham property was purchased by
commercial developers. To move forward with development,
the developers must acquire federal permits which requires
an archaeological study before any construction can occur.
Archaeology is the study of past human cultures that looks
at the physical objects and imprints of human activities
left behind. By using archaeological methods, we can learn
more about past people whose experiences were neither
recorded nor popularized. Archaeology, like many other
sciences, is done in phases. The first phase is a survey to test
if there are archaeological remains in an area. This phase
was done on the former Parker plantation in 2008 to assess
if there was any intact archaeological evidence beneath the
ground surface. The archaeologists concluded that there was
intact archaeological evidence, and the objects and features
(features are stains of past human activities such as the stain
left from a fire or building imprint) observed were from the
colonial and pre-Civil War eras.
This first excavation recovered more than one thousand
artifacts. These artifacts mostly consisted of pieces of ceramic
plates, bowls, mugs, cups and other pottery vessels, table
glasses and cups, bottle glass for storing wine and other
liquids, smoking pipes made of kaolin clay (long stemmed
white ceramic pipes), and handwrought nails. They also
found a number of brass buttons, farming implements,
fishing net weights, musket balls, coins, table utensils, and
other personal objects. Because of the density of objects
and their locations, archaeologists thought these might be
remains of the enslaved workers quarters, an overseer cabin
and plantation outbuildings.
Excavated artifacts like an intact metal bowl and wine bottles
were likely used by enslaved African laborers held at Parker
Plantation near Savannah. Courtesy of Quinn-Monique
Ogden
3
Because of this site’s potential to help understand more about
Georgia’s past, archaeologists recommended that the site be
further investigated with large scale excavations.
This spring, a geotechnical engineering firm began the largescale archaeological excavation at Parker Plantation Site.
The firm’s archaeologists focused their excavations in the
areas where the most artifacts were recovered in 2008. The
field crew discovered four trash pits containing architectural
materials, animal remains, pieces of glass, metal and ceramic
objects from the Dr. Parker Plantation era (1796-1836). In
addition to these trash pits, the archaeologists discovered a
clay surface thought to have been the dirt floor of a building.
The soils contained pieces of household objects like plates and
bowls, as well as architectural materials such as nails and a
hinge.
Near one of the large trash pits, the crew recovered a blue
glass bead. This bead is a small faceted wound bead likely
from Venice, Italy. These items are often associated with the
African Slave Trade as European slavers used such beads
to trade for captive west Africans. Trade beads are found
throughout English colonial sites through the Americas
and US Lowcountry.5
Women and children of west African
descent during the colonial period used beads to adorn their
body, decorate their hair, and as jewelry on their everyday
clothes. 6
These beautiful beads were deeply meaningful to the people
who wore them; if they were not brought with captured
west Africans, the beads were acquired through bartering or
earned as money by these Africans through side jobs worked
5 Marcoux, John Bernard. 2012. “Glass Trade Beads From the English Colonial Period in the Southeast Ca A.D. 1607-1783.” Southeastern Archaeology
31 (2): 157-184.
6 Stine, Linda France, Melanie A. Cabak, and Mark D. Groover. 1996. “Blue
Beads as African American Cultural Symbols.” Historical Archaeology 30 (3):
49-75.
between their scheduled labor.7
The meaning of the
color blue in West African folklore tells of the protective
properties of the color.8
The engineering firm has developed an educational
interactive media available to educators, students, and
wider public. A Facebook portal presents teaching
resources to help teachers and parents connect the
ongoing results of the excavation to classroom and
home-school learning. Daily social media updates
share the project fieldwork and provide weekly
learn-at- home activities for elementary, middle school,
and high school students. Students and teachers can
access a weekly video update from the archaeology lab
about the on-going artifact analysis. This web portal
welcomes questions from students and general public.
Answers will be posted through written or video
posts. To follow the ongoing excavations, use this
link--https://www.facebook.com/2021Archaeologyat
ParkerPlantation. In addition to the Facebook portal,
all excavation videos will be archived on a YouTube
Channel. A written report will also be submitted to the
Bull Street branch of the Live Oak Public Library by
2023.
Anyone with information or familial connection to
Brewham (Bruham) plantation is invited to contact
project archaeologists via the Facebook portal. It is
important during this study of the Parker Plantation
site that oral histories, passed-down memories, and
family knowledge are included in what becomes known
about this place. The study findings about the everyday
lives of the enslaved people at Brewham Plantations
will be of value to descendants and local communities
today. For more information about the excavation
study and current findings or to share descendant
information, contact Quinn-Monique Ogden at
qogden@smeinc.com or (843)972-0100.
Quinn-Monique Ogden is a resident of Effingham County,
Georgia and Registered Professional Archaeologist with the
Register of Professional Archaeologists( RPA). RPA is a
community of professional archaeologists whose mission is to
establish and adhere to standards and ethics that represent
and adapt to the dynamic field of archaeology and to provide
a resource for entities who rely on professional archaeology
services. Quinn-Monique Ogden is serving as the Principal
Archaeologist for this excavation and has 17 years of
experience conducting cultural resources investigations.
7 Stine, Linda France, Melanie A. Cabak, and Mark D. Groover.
1996. “Blue Beads as African American Cultural Symbols.” Historical Archaeology 30 (3): 49-75.
8 Ibid.
This small bead may be a significant clue to origins of the African
people enslaved at Parker Plantation. Courtesy of Quinn-Monique
Ogden.
4
Courageous Living in a Georgia Mountain Town - Hall County
Nedra Deadwyler, Contributor
with special contribution by Reverend Rose Johnson of the Newtown Florist Club, Gainesville, Georgia
Reverend Rose Johnson joined the Newtown Florist Club
when she was 12 years old after she and her mom moved
into the neighborhood. When Rev. Johnson arrived in
Newtown, she began attending Newtown Florist Club’s afterschool
programs; even though her mom had a job,she did not earn a
living wage and relied on the social support of the Club. Before
living in Newtown, she and her mother lived with her maternal
grandparents in a nearby neighborhood. Her mom worked in a
poultry plant in Gainesville. Rev. Johnson said her home life was
a protective environment that sheltered her from the realities of
inequalities Black people faced in racially segregated Gainesville
in the mid-1960s. Black communities such as Cooley Drive,
Newtown, Coverdale, Desoto, Morningside Heights, and Fair
Street, were compacted together on the southside of Gainesville,
south of the train tracks. Today Rev. Johnson said these same
neighborhoods remain Black and Latinx.
The homes in Newtown were built in 1938.1
The neighborhood
was constructed atop the trash left from the destruction of the
1936 tornado, one of the most-deadly tornados in history.2
,
3
Newtown was constructed to provide housing for Black folks
displaced by the tornado.4
1 Yen-Kohl, Ellen & The Newtown Florist Club Writing Collective (2016) “We’ve
Been Studied to Death, We Ain’t Gotten Anything”: (Re)claiming environmental
knowledge production through the praxis of writing collectives, Capitalism Nature
Socialism, 27:1, 52-67, DOI: 10.1080/10455752.2015.1104705
2 Ibid, 54.
3 “The 1936 Gainesville Tornado: Disaster and Recovery” Digital Library of Georgia, Last modified June 30, 2008. http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/tornado/
4 Watson, Nick. 2020. “How after 70 years Newtown Florist Club keeps advocating
for health of historic Black community.” The Times, February 1, 2020. https://www.
gainesvilletimes.com/news/health-care/how-after-70-years-newtown-florist-clubkeeps-advocating-health-historic-black-community/
Moving to the neighborhood marked another transition in young
Johnson’s life as she gained awareness of what Black folks living
around her experienced. She described listening to the women
of the Newtown Florist Club talk about what was going on
inside their neighborhood. The women, Rev. Johnson described,
“were incredibly connected.” She said these relationships were
extensions of bonds formed working together in the fields as
sharecroppers. Gainesville and Hall County is largely agricultural
and is complemented by the industry located in the city.5
Rev.
Johnson referenced conversations shared about civil rights
issues such as police violence, employment discrimination, and
environmental justice concerns such as toxic air pollution from
neighboring industrial plants and noise pollution from a scrap
yard. Rev. Johnson said she learned how to “address issues head
on” from being part of the Club. She recalled how the women
together developed solutions to create opportunity for youth
recreation; Mrs. Ruby Wilkins, Club founder and long-time
leader, turned her home into a recreation center. Mrs. Wilkins set
a basketball court up her driveway and hosted other youth clubs.
The New Town Florist Club was founded in 1950 after a
neighborhood collection failed to raise enough money to buy
flowers for a funeral.6
The husband of one of the founding
women suggested they form a club, and eleven women organized
this mutual aid organization.7
The Club provided “far-reaching
support networks in racially segregated Gainesville,” giving social
support and solidarity where needed. And these pioneers were
among the first to recognize that there was a connection between
the high rates of cancer, lupus, their resulting deaths and the
environmental injustice at the hand of the industrial companies.8
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Newtown Florist Club was
fighting to protect neighborhood families through advocacy for
civil rights and environmental justice.9 In 1998, Newtown was
described as a neighborhood of “seventy-five homes… built
atop an old dump, are surrounded by thirteen toxic industries,
two identified potentially hazardous sites, numerous hazardous
waste generators, and a rat-infested junkyard.”10 Residents were
exposed to fine particulate, air pollution.
5 Yen-Kohl & The Newtown Florist Club Writing Collective 2016, 56.
6 Watson, 2020.
7 Yen-Kohl & The Newtown Florist Club Writing Collective 2016, 55.
8 Ibid, 54.
9 Griffith, Ellen. 1998. “The Newton Story: One Community’s Fight for Environmental Justice.” Southern Changes: The Journal of the Southern Regional Council,
1978- 2003 20, no. 4: 12- 15. http://southernchanges.digitalscholarship.emory.edu/
sc20-4_1204/sc20-4_004/
10 Griffith, Ellen. 1998. “The Newton Story: One Community’s Fight for Environmental Justice.” Southern Changes: The Journal of the Southern Regional
Council, 1978- 2003 20, no. 4: 12- 15.
The Mrs. Ruby Wilkins Community Garden honors the activist who
helped found the NewTown Florist Club of Gainesville.
Credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
5
When asked what was the most profound event that changed
Black life in Gainesville, Rev. Johnson said the “most devastating
impact” to the community was school desegregation. E. E. Butler
High School was the “nucleus that held everything together” in
Gainesville’s Black community, she said, where administrators
and teachers helped create determined, academically-excellent
students who were also uplifted by the interconnectedness of the
community.
Rev Johnson said of the negative impact of school desegregation
and majority-to-minority school busing to achieve equal
schooling is “a story yet to be told.” The trauma that the Black
community experienced was so profound that the people are just
now beginning to recover. She said young people today have
no understanding of what was lost-- economic losses, mental
health losses, social and academic losses from years of upheaval
and transition in an effort to integrate a segregated society. Once
again Rev. Johnson acknowledges the sacrifice Black people
made as important to remember as Gainesville aims to heal as it
remembers its their heritage.
E.E .Butler High School was built in 1961 on Old Athens Highway
as a modern school building and opened in 1962 as the segregated
Black high school for those who attended Fair Street School.14
The new school was named after Dr. Emmett Ethridge Butler
(1908-1955), a medical doctor in Gainesville and the first Black
appointed to the local Board of education. The school closed
in 1969 under desegregation of public schools. Black students
were re-assigned county schools and E.E. Butler high did not
have enough students to remain open.15 Rev. Johnson said Fair
Street-E.E. Butler High School Alumni Association is very active
and maintains the memory of the school’s significance to the
community. Johnson said she is a graduate of the last class.
14 Duncan, Dallas. 2011. “EE Butler High was full of community pride.” The Times
November 23, 2011. https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/ee-butler-high-wasfull-of-community-pride/
15 Ibid.
Companies like Purina Mills, Cargill and Land O’ Lakes
Purina, from 2002 to 2017, were fined less than $22,000 by the
Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for various violations
related to air quality at their locations in the Newtown area. 11
During the 1990s Black communities like Newtown were fighting
for environmental justice and relied on the hard work of Black
women who used culture to empower the community.12 The
advocacy work of the women even reached the children who
attended the programs and the youth who were mentored to
participate in the women’s advocacy work, as recalled by Rev.
Johnson. When she joined the Club and began earning about the
social issues, Johnson and other students her age attended and
spoke at public meetings and helped to carry out campaigns.
She reflected on 70 years of community work that strategically
included partners such as National Council of Churches, Racial
Justice Group, academic researchers at Vanderbilt University
and University of Georgia, and a host of other local groups
and individuals. Newtown Florist Club created “teachable
moments” on the “toxic tours” organized and led by Newtown
Florist Club. Members such as Mrs. Bush and others addressed
soil contamination, toxic air pollution, noise pollution and
documented its long-term impact on children and adults who
were disproportionately diagnosed with cancers and lupus.13
Rev. Johnson carries on the legacy of the Newtown Florist Club.
And to drive home the point, she emphasized that “Newtown
Florist Club was at the center of social change in the area, and
there are not any issues affecting African Americans we have
not worked on.” Rev. Johnson stressed the need to recognize
the sacrifice these leaders continue to make and to have a deep
knowledge that this type of leadership “has not been easy.”
11 Watson, 2020.
12 Griffith 1998.
13 Yen-Kohl & The Newtown Florist Club Writing Collective 2016, 54.
The Butler Gym still stands on the former E.E. Butler High campus in
Gainesville. Photo Credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
Sign at the local Social/Environmental organization's headquarters
Photo Credit: Melissa Jest/HPD
6
As Above so Below: The Promised Land of Gwinnett County
John McLaughlin continued from page 1
Modern changes to the Maguire-Livesey House, also known as "the Big House", chronical its evolutions as a farm homestead.
Photo Credit:HPD/Melissa Jest
Robert Livsey, a freedman whose family
were enslaved by Maquire at the farm here,
bought the main house and surrounding
100 acres for $1,500 in 1920.5
Robert Livsey came to call the main house
where he and his family lived “The Big
House,” and over the ensuing decades,
Livsey, his family and other Blacks would
create a segregated African American
community aptly named the Promised
Land for the opportunity and safety it
provided its residents. The land continued
to be farmed by the Livseys, raising many
of the same crops that were grown and
harvested by their ancestors enslaved by
Maguire.6
Other Blacks contributed to the
Promised Land such as Thomas Anderson
who built the first African-American
grocery store in the area in the 1930s.7

The Promise Land provided the only
5 Chelsea Thomas. “Plantation and its owners give
glimpse into Gwinnett’s remarkable history.” Gwinnett
Daily Post. Plantation and its owners give glimpse into
Gwinnett’s remarkable history | Archive | gwinnettdailypost.com. Accessed 4/20/2021.
6 Ibid. Accessed 4/20/2021.
7 Tyler Estep. “Gwinnett’s Promised Land, a plantation turned beloved Black community.” Atlanta Journal Constitution. Gwinnett restoring plantation home
that became hub of black life (ajc.com). Accessed
4/14/2021.
African American school in the area; today,
the local elementary school just down the
road from the Big House is duly named the
Anderson-Livsey Elementary School after
these two pioneers.8
In 1969 Thomas Livsey, Robert’s son,
returned home from living in Chicago and
would reinvigorate the community with his
entrepreneurial spirit. Under his stewardship,
fourteen homes were built along with the
Promised Land Grocery Store which is still
open today (under a different name). Thomas
Livsey also would open a barbershop, a
gas station, a car wash, a laundromat, a
restaurant, and other ventures that served the
people of the Promised Land community.9

The Gwinnett County government purchased
the Big House and surrounding 1.5 acres
in 2016 and an additional 2 acres in 2019.
According to public reports, the county has
proposed the property be used for a park and
museum with educational tours.
Since the County’s purchase of the home,
community members and neighbors watch
8 Crystal Huskey. “Snellville’s Past: Spotlight on the Livseys.” Patch.com. Snellville’s Past: Spotlight on the Livseys
| Snellville, GA Patch. Accessed 4/20/2021.
9 Ibid. Accessed 4/14/2021.
the historic Big House for activity that
would mark the start of its repair.
A drive through the Promised
Land today will not reveal it to be
particularly different from most
other neighborhoods. That, in and of
itself, lends credence to the idea that
Black history is American history.
This seemingly ordianary American
community stands as evidence to
African contributions, to African
American enterpreneurship, and
to human achievement--all despite
hostile oppression. The Promise
Land in Gwinnett County is a clear
testament to the importance of
historic preservation of resources both
above and below grounds as a means
of honoring this legacy in our lives
today.
7
Announcements

Nearly 100 Community Advocates attend GAAHPN's Learn to Fish Virtual Training
More than $400 billion was donated to nonprofit causes by private individuals last year.
So the GAAHPN steering board invited professional fundraiser Robert Bull to demystify
fundraising for several grassroots historic/cultural preservation advocates across the
state. The workshop, entitled "Learn to Fish" attracted representatives from about 50
organizations from 30 Georgia counties who spent a day learning the keys to raising funds
from a 25-year industry veteran.
The day-long virtual training included an interactive presentation and small group
breakouts. Attendees also crafted their "Perfect Ask" statement to turn affluent individuals
into their donors. Bull told the 94 attendees, "... it's really about building relationships."
In closing, he encouraged all to light a fire in their organizations and begin planning their
"friend-raising" campaign. After the training, one attendee from the Coastal region wrote,
" I have attended seminars for a long time but this one is foremost in my mind. Rob Bull was excellent in his delivery.
[H]e knew his business."
The GAAHPN steering board co-hosted "Learn to Fish" to support grassroots advocates committed to saving the
historic places that tell of Black life and contributions in Georgia. Share your feedback https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/
LearnToFishGAAHPN
For information on GAAHPN and upcoming sessions, contact your regional GAAHPN rep or HPD liaison Melissa
Jest at 404 486 6395 or melissa.jest@dca.ga.gov .
Photo Courtesy of Robert Bull/The Compass Group
Follow GAAHPN on Facebook, Instagram:
New Social Media Intern Launches pages

This month GAAHPN launches its social media
presesence with support from Camille Reed, GAAHPN
special intern and and welcomes
networkers and preservation
community to "Like" us!
Find the new main Facebook (FB)
page @GAAHPNetwork. Look for
regular announcements, updates
and news on preservation.
Join the new FB Group page titled
"GAAHPN Speaks" created as a
chat room and forum.
On Instagram, follow GAAHPN and watch for posts on
preservation projects and innovations later this month.
To share ideas for posts about African American
preservation, please email to Camille.reed@dca.ga.gov.
Image credit: Melissa Jest/Georgia HPD
Build A Better Network Survey needs YOU:
Share ideas, input this Fall ....
The Georgia African American Historic Presrvation
Network (GAAHPN) is more than 3,000 strong ---
Let us hear from you!
With your input, the GAAHPN
volunteer board can empower
more constituents in all 12 regions
to document little-known historic
places that add to Georgia's story.
This fall, watch your E-mailbox for
a survey link and share your ideas
for future webinars or content for
social media posts.
Thanks in advance for your participation in building a
better network and a stronger preservation movement for
Georgia.
Email questions on the Build A Better Network initiative
to HPD liaison Melissa Jest, melissa.jest@dca.ga.gov.
Image credit: Melissa Jest/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
webpage at www.dca.ga.gov/georgia-historic-preservation-division. 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 Community Affairs. 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 Community Affairs. 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 Community Affairs
Dr. David Crass, Division Director
Melissa Jest, Editor
Dr. Jennifer Dickey
Vaughnette Goode-Walker
Richard Laub
Joyce Law
Dr. Linda McMullen
Dr. Darryl Nettles
Tracy Rookard
Dr. Veronica Womack
Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, Chair
Board of Directors
Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, MD
Chair
Melissa Jest
African American
Programs Coordinator
Reflections Editor
Voice 404/486-6395
Fax 404/679-0667
melissa.jest@dca.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 webpage
https://www.dca.ga.gov/georgia-historic-preservation-division/historicresources/historic-african-american-resources. Search for your topic by
categories: cemeteries, churches, districts, farms, lodges, medical, people,
places, schools, and theatres. You can subscribe to Reflections byvia email
to HPD staff. Reflections is a recipient of a Leadership in History Award
from the American Association for State and Local History.
About Reflections