Whitfield-Murray Historical Society

ACCORDING to the story, our fair princess has to overcome her feelings of utter disgust & kiss that cold, wet, & probably slimy, frog square on the lips before she ever has opportunity to live happily ever after with her charming prince.

How many times in life do we too approach an unpleasant chore with a sense of disgust?  Failing to execute the task swiftly, we invariably deny ourselves the pleasantries of what could have been.

Admittedly, there was no sign on the frog that said, “Kiss me, I’m a prince;” but had the princess known beforehand of her reward, I am convinced that she would have been a little more expedient in puckering up. 

Almost a year ago I walked into the Archives building for the first time.  What I found was an unimaginable collection of historical treasures.  Unfortunately (at least for me), I also discovered that the floor in the old Lesche Club room bounced every time someone walked across it.  Naturally my curiosity got the best of me, & before long we were tearing up the floor & replacing rotten timbers.  This led to tearing up drain lines which led to something further & something further still.  During the time all this was going on, we came across the blueprints for a 1921 renovation of the building-–a nice find for anyone should they decide to fix the ol’ building up a little (& maybe  in my case a little fuel on the fire to do just that).  

All of that brings us to where we are today.  Should you happen by the Archives, you will notice that, like the cold slimy frog, it’s not much to behold. There is an immense amount of work yet to be done, &  you may even go as far as to say that only a crazy person would attempt such a project.  If crazy is what it takes, then so be it!  Fireplaces have begun to appear & beautiful woodwork & frosted glass are emerging from beneath years of paint & remodeling.  Let me encourage each of you to take part in this rewarding endeavor.   The work is dirty, time- consuming, & anything but pleasant; but I have seen enough to realize that we have a building of magnificent potential in our possession.  The time is right for us to roll up our sleeves & turn the archives building into the crown prince it is meant to be.  It’s time to kiss the frog!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and that seeing is believing.  I mentioned in my last blog that the primary reason we had flooding at the Archives was due to a rather large stump that somehow washed down the creek and became lodged in one of two culverts that drain underneath the road.  I joked that it must have washed in from the Redwood Forest. It was BIG --I kid you not!  See for yourself. 

Thanks to Dalton Utilities for getting to the "root" of the problem by removing the blockage. 

I'm sure that someone will tell you that the Archives didn't really flood.  Someone else will  tell you that the water reached the eaves of the building and that all is a total loss.  An army of volunteers and myself have spent the last few days cleaning and going through both the main building and the storage shed.  I have examined the damage with my own eyes. From the "horse's mouth" I give you the "Official Flood Report" -- 

The most extensive flooding occurred in the storage shed.  At it's highest point there was 12 inches of water in that building.  Some clothing, books, and other items that were being stored for our upcoming rummage sale were damaged and we are removing those items.

In the main building, carpet in the southernmost room got heavily soaked and some water came in under the back door.  A few papers got wet; however, no items of historic value or that were a part of our archival collection were damaged.  We will have to remove the wet carpet but we were eventually going to do that anyway as we continue renovations on the building.  None of the renovation work was damaged.  We are making sure to clean and air things out really well to prevent moisture or mold problems from occuring.  It could have been very bad.  Thankfully it wasn't.

This horse is no expert on flooding but it appears to have been a combination of unusually heavy rainfall, some drainage issues which we were already in the process of addressing (and unfortunately hadn't gotten completed when it rained) and a large stump the size of a small SUV that just happened to get stuck in the culvert causing the water in the creek to back up into a short-lived "Crown Lake". 

Thanks to all of the volunteers who have came out to help with the flood cleanup and with the ongoing renovations.  When we are finished, the Archives is going to be the talk of the town.  Become a part of this worthwhile project and volunteer to help today!

IN the opening of his book on the history of the North Georgia Baptist Association, J.C. Williamson states that Baptists have often been too busy making history to stop and record history.  I don't know how true that is, but that certainly seems to be the case with my blog --there is so much going on at the Archives, I simply haven't had time to stop and write about it.  An incredible amount has been accomplished since my last blog and I still intend to update you on all that progress --just as soon as I get time :)

For the time being I want to skip most of what has been going on and fill you in on just the events of this past week. . .

  To make a long story short, all of the rain we've been having caused the Archives building to flood twice this past week.  In addition to the flooding we had some electrical problems resulting in a delay of "drying things out."  I realize most people aren't even aware that we had these problems at the Archives.  I have posted some photos of the lesser of the two floods on the scrapbook page.  We are working very hard to get things straightened out but we could still use your help. . . .

I'll be working early and late most days this week so if you can stop by --even if it's just a couple hours after work, it would be greatly appreciated.  We will be removing carpet from some of the rooms in the main building, moving furniture, and sorting the soggy items in the storage building --wet and smelly, but it has to be done!

Long time no blog . . . No, I haven't fallen through a hole in the floor or suffered any other horrible fate--we have just been very busy at the Archives and I really haven't had a chance to report on all that's happening.  We are finishing up the old Lesche Club room.  This has by far been the most time consuming project considering we had to completely replace the floor.  The hideous 70's paneling has given way to a much better look, an original doorway has been reopened, and tongue and groove ceiling boards have reappeared.  Now the problem is what to put in this rather classy looking room.  I'd originally intended to put the 30 million filing cabinets in it --note that none of the cabinets match which makes things all the worse.  After seeing the finished room, it seems a shame to clutter it up in such a way.  Anyone have about 20 antique wooden filing cabinets we can have?  We'll trade!

In other news, one of our volunteers has completed an inventory of all the books in our library and each book is being cataloged for easy access.  Beautiful frosted-pattern glass panels are emerging from layers of paint in the front entrance room and we have uncovered a fireplace in the old library --apparently it had been bricked over many years ago.  

Who knows what the next few weeks will hold.  Progress continues and volunteers are still needed as we turn the Archives building into a truly functional History Center that we can all be proud of.   Photos of the progress can be seen on the Scrapbook page.  Volunteer opportunities are listed on the Volunteer page.  Better yet, stop by in person to see the progress and sign up to help. 

The following article appeared in our latest Quarterly.  In the Quarterly I said I would comment further on the subject --perhaps I should first post this article to the the BLOG --then I can comment on it!

ON MY journey to work I usually pass by a rather inconspicuous old home place.  My parents have often told me the story of how the house burned and the widow who lived there lost her life  trying to save her belongings; otherwise, I would have been as clueless as everyone else that drives by --totally unaware that anything other than a briar patch has ever existed  in that spot.  To be quite honest, the only thing that even hints of it ever being a home place is the clump of large spreading oaks located a short distance from the road.  Until last year, even that clue was beginning to disappear in a jungle of pines, sweet gum, and privet.

Last Spring, when someone decided to clear this property, a most wonderful thing was discovered.  A rather large patch of old fashioned petunias in nearly every possible combination of white, pink, and purple began to emerge from the freshly disturbed ground.  Admittedly, these petunias looked like every other old fashioned petunia I have ever seen; but what made these petunias so special was the fact that the lady who planted them was the same widow who died as a result of the fire –events which unfolded in 1955!  Those tiniest of seed had lain dormant for more than fifty years but burst into life after someone stirred the earth around them.  The result of that stirring was something most beautiful and intriguing –to the end that I paused from my everyday routine to take note of it.

As with similar organizations across the country, our historical society has seen a need to address the following question:  How do we catch the interest of the younger generation?  Indeed, this is a question that must be addressed if we intend to continue our efforts of preserving local history.  As unfortunate as it may be, if we don’t garner that interest from younger people, we can kiss much of what we’ve worked for goodbye!

Answering this question is not an easy task.   Many parents know little when it comes to family heritage and the education of school children in local history is lost in state standards and benchmark testing to the point that it is virtually non-existent –kudos to those teachers who make an extra effort to give their students an opportunity to learn about our heritage!  And how do we get people excited about history when we have to compete with computers, cell phones, and whatever gadget just came out on the market?

The first thing we need to realize is this:  Our history is out there just waiting for someone to stir around and bring it to light.  People go about their everyday activities totally unaware of the history that surrounds them.  As a historical society it is our job to help “stir things up.” If we stir it up, be assured it will bloom into a beautiful thing.  Someone will stop and take note of it --just as I stopped and took note of those old-fashioned petunias.  Rather than trying to figure out how to make our history more appealing to younger folks, realize that our history is, by its very nature, appealing.  We just have to work it and clear away the brambles before we can expect it to bloom.

Well, I guess we had about all we could stand working on the inside --this past week we spent time outside working on a new herb garden.  First impressions mean a lot and now visitors are greeted by a new herb garden rather than a circle of grass.  The garden is bissected by walking paths which invite visitors to meander through and examine more than forty herbs.  Hey, we're even working on labels so you'll know what you're looking at!  Check out the Scrapbook Page for photos of the completed project.  It's also kind of neat to compare the photo above to the one taken 30 years ago (also in the scrapbook) of folks working on the same planting area.

In other news, members should have gotten there newsletter in the mail this week.  Don't forget to mark your calendar for the meeting next Sunday --especially since I'm going to be the presenter!  (Would it help if I offered free refreshments? Haha!)  The Quarterly will go out next week.  It's the first one I've actually assembled --go easy on me --I'll fix what you don't like in the next one!  I would very much like some feedback on the Quarterly when you get yours.  If you're not a member and would like a copy, extras are available at the Archives for $2.00.  Better yet, they are included with your membership so go ahead and join!

Well, the work continues.  Our new "Newspaper and Map Room" should be completed tomorrow.  It's been a busy week and almost impossible to get any paperwork completed, but I am glad to see the number of visitors and volunteers increasing.  I thought I'd update you on our latest pond finds.  Yesterday we recovered some boards, a crutch, another window shade, part of the metal awning which we had apparently missed the previous day, and mailbox with it's flag still up --sorry, no mail inside!

Today we spent the morning working inside the Archives building.  We can only take so much of that:  for the sake of sanity, we chose an outdoor task for the afternoon.  Perhaps Ethan and I had looked at the garbage in and around the fish pond about as long as we could stand.  We started out trimming up the brush around the edges and ended up fishing out a great deal of the junk that others felt compelled to throw in --I guess they thought the fish would eat it??  Among the treasures removed from the pond on this day were a table base, ladder, mop bucket w/ two bricks inside (guess they wanted to make sure it hit the bottom), a metal awning, folding chair, artifical Christmas tree, two shoes, a plastic window shade, and the body of a lovely young lady.  Of all the things removed, the young lady was the most reluctant to leave the water.  --As a matter of fact, she resisted so much that she lost an arm in the process.  She did make it out with her eyelashes intact though! Guess we'll have to fish her arm out another day.  Now, I wonder if we should clean her up and reunite her with her sisters that live in the  attic of the Archives.  I think, perhaps, she got tired of staying in that hot attic, came down for a swim and drowned --I'm certain that no one would be IDIOT enough to throw her in the pond on purpose!

Sum and total it was an interesting and productive day.  The saying still holds true --you NEVER know what you're going to find at the Archives.

Perhaps the paint fumes and mold have finally gotten to me; my mind is gone and I don't even know it! --Up until this point, it seems like we have just been trying to see how many times we can move furniture and books around in the building.  Trying to repair one thing has led to another, which has led to another, and yet another.  It's been extremely frustrating to have so much torn up in a state of propetual mid-repair without having a single thing actually completed.  Today, I'm proud to annouce, our new library room was finished and we have begun adding books and decorating.  It looks sharp!  I looked the room over several times before leaving and even peeped in the window a final time after locking the door to head home.  It was  great to finally have a room finished and I couldn't get over how well it turned out. I noticed Ethan taking a few shots of our handywork with his camera, too.  I know it sounds strange, but it was almost as if the old building smiled at us as we left  --the twinkle in her eye is coming back!     

Based on the number of days that have passed since my last blog posting, I could have fallen through a hole in the floor or died from some hideous disease that one contracts while working in old buildings.  Fortunately, that has not been the case; but, now I know who my friends are -that will actually stop by occasionally to see that I'm still alive and breathing!  All joking aside, the past several days have been busy, busy, busy!  Last Wednesday we had a group of about twenty teenage volunteers.  The group was from United Way and, let me tell you, they were fantastic!  The group piled debris, planted flowers, cleaned trash from the creek, and cleared vines from the fence out front.  I wish we could keep this group for a couple of weeks! Thanks, everyone did an awesome job!

Finally, our new library room is finished complete with a new paint job, new lights, and new carpet.  I think the only thing lacking is new curtains.  I can't tell you how great if feels to be able to actually mark a room off my list as being completed! Tomorrow we will be moving bookshelves into the newly finished room so that we can start organizing all the books!  Thanks to all the volunteers who helped and those who made donations.  Completion of a couple of other rooms should be forthcoming in the near future!  Progress, at least in this case, is VERY GOOD!  There is still much to be done, help if you can!

I am also very proud to announce that there is now an "Ethan at the Archives" to help the "Erik at the Archives."  Ethan will be helping part time -Thank Goodness!  Today was his first day on the job and I am VERY EXCITED about the work he is doing.  At the current rate, we should have the place back in shape in no time!

As promised, I am posting one of the  unusal historical happenings of Dalton.  I found the author's spin on the situation to be, well . . . interesting --if not down right humorous!  This article originally appeared in the August 30, 1923 edition of the North Georgia Citizen.  I'll also reprint it in the Quarterly for those who prefer a hard copy.

SOME THINK ADAM AWOKE

IN DALTON

If historians have their data mixed and it was Adam who dropped off to sleep instead of Rip Van Winkle, then it must have been Adam who awoke last Friday morning in this city, thereby, strengthening Dalton's claim to being the site of the garden of Eden.

People in a thickly settled residential district were amazed Friday morning to see a man dressed in the same garb worn by Adam before he ate the apple, stretching and sunning himself in an alley.  He appeared oblivious to his surroundings, and , after lingering awhile in such an unconventional garb, he entered a barn, donned a pair of overalls and beat it.

It couldn't have been September Morn, for it was in August, and it was of the masculine, instead of the feminine gender.  So it must have been Adam, for history doesn't record the life of any one other than the first man who wore such a costume.

The police are still looking for the man to find out what he meant: but he hasn't shown up yet.

So, there you have it!  Catch our next Quarterly for yet ANOTHER episode of strange visitors to Dalton.

I feel like a farmer that has just bought a herd of cattle and brought them home only to realize that he needs to do some major work on the pasture fence.  He spends so much of his time running after the cattle that have escaped through the holes in the fence that he doesn't have time to mend the fence.  --I keep trying to organize things at the Archives, but can't really get them properly stored away until I finish patching holes in the floor, repainting the walls and repairing various other things (got to have a place to store them you know!).  Problem is I can't patch, paint, or repair until I move all the stuff out of my way; but I can't really move the stuff out of the way until I have some place to put it!  I feel like I spend most of my time moving things from one place to another without really accomplishing what I've set out to do.  Of course, at this point, I've caught myself going from one room to the other only to forget why I came in that room in the first place! 

At least today wasn't as busy as most Saturdays are.  It gave me a chance to start pulling together some materials for the upcoming Quarterly.  I've found some really neat stuff that should be of interest to the civilized folks.  I don't want to "let the cat out of the bag" and reveal all of the goodies that will appear in the Quarterly, but I will share the "naked" truth about something that happened in Dalton in 1923 when I post a new blog tomorrow.  Until then I guess you'll just have to be curious!

At some point you may visit the Archives only to find me crumpled in the corner, twitching with one eye closed --completely overwhelmed by this "secretary" job that I've undertaken.  Fortunately, that time is not yet.  If you visit, I still insist that you receive a tour of every nook and crannie --no matter how unsightly or unorganized it may seem.  The method to my madness is that you will have at least some pity on me and VOLUNTEER to HELP with all the work going on!  Of course, I also enjoy seeing how amazed you are at the amount of interesting "stuff" that we have here at the Archives.  If you have never stopped by, you don't know what you're missing!

Yesterday we held a prebid conference with potential contractors for the Hamilton House stabilization project.  For those unaware, the house has been closed for some time due to structural problems.  I'll keep everyone posted on the progress once work has begun.  We'll have it back open for tours in no time!

We had a rather nice rain today which allowed me to see how our new drainage lines are working --so far so good!

Unexpected finds at the Archives include a piece of propeller from a plane which crashed in Dalton in the 1940's and a "Memoirs of George Whitefield," published in 1813.  Whitfield County was named for him --yes, the 'e' between the 't' & 'f' got lost somewhere along the way.

We have three kittens at the Archives.  Anyone want to adopt?

Well, I've been on the job as Executive Secretary of the Historical Society since Feb. 17.  Here are ten things I've learned since being there:  (There are others, but I'll just list ten.)

1)  If the Historical Society calls offering you a job as "secretary" that is code for "carpenter, painter, electrician, plumber, plasterer, roofer, researcher, mailer, website designer, janitor, writer, receptionist, gardener, sales clerk, and secretary."

2) If you find a wire under the floor that looks dangerous (like it has no insulating cover on it) it most likely IS a naked wire and you shouldn't pick it up!

3) Removing dead 'possums from under the floor is no fun!

4) If your drain pipes have tree roots in one half and dirt in the other, odds are they aren't draining very well.

5) We aren't the only ones who store valuable things in the old vault.  I found at least four (well, one of them was half eaten) pecans that our resident squirrel had stored in the vault for safe keeping.

6) Always keep your fingers clear of the gears when operating a pea huller. (We have one on display at the Archives that was manufactured in Dalton in the 1890's by Sander's Manufacturing Co.)  I nearly tore the end off of my finger (well, almost) on that thing!  The bad part was, I had to agonize in silence for I was demostrating how it works to a Channel 12 news crew.  --What?  Would you have rather I made myself look like an idiot on the evening news? --Not this exec. secretary--I went for the Band-aid box when they WEREN'T looking!

7) When you hit your thumb with a hammer --it hurts.  When you hit that same thumb a second time --it REALLY hurts!

8) My opinon of poison ivy hasn't changed --I still hate the stuff.

9)Windows that have been caulked, painted, and nailed shut do not readily open. 

10)Nothing in the Archives building is square or level. 

With all of that said, this has got to be the most awesome job on the planet!  I'm loving every minute of it.  I hope you find time to stop by to see what's going on.  I'm truly excited about what's happening and hope you, too, will begin to feel the excitement.  If you're not a member of the Historical Society, consider joining today.  The Historical Society has a place for you!

Volunteers are great! If you've been helping us renovate and reorganize at the Archives --we can't thank you enough. If you haven't volunteered (even for just an hour) let me invite you to do so.

Wonder what adventure I'll get into tomorrow . . .

Finally, the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society has a place to call home in cyberspace!  Thank's for dropping in to see our new website.  Please "make yourself at home" and feel free to share your comments and suggestions.  Let me (Erik) encourage everyone to utilize our new Message Board for comments and questions that you may have.

For those of you who have seen things flying out the windows of our headquarters building at 715 Chattanooga Avenue, let me keep you abreast of what's going on.  I'll blog frequently to let you know of my adventures at the Archives and other happenings of the society.  If, by chance, I fail to blog for any length of time --please, would someone come by the Archives and check on me --I may have fallen through a hole in the floor or become lost in the maze of books, files, and artifacts. :)