The Northeast Georgia History Center received an award this week recognizing its efforts to preserve history in the Northeast Georgia-Piedmont region, which range from exhibits to teaching.
Awards for Excellence in Documenting Georgia’s History were given to the center and to president John Jacobs on Monday during a ceremony at the Georgia Archives in Morrow.
Secretary of State Karen Handel presented the award to John Burd, the history center’s acting director.
"Historical records are important to be preserved and important for citizens to know about," said Elizabeth Barr, assistant coordinator of the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board, which chooses award recipients.
The award gives the history center "visibility and recognition for their work and their efforts," Barr said.
"When we know our history we make much better decisions for the present," Burd said. "It gives us a much greater sense of our own present day worth when we see what other people have lived through to build for us what we have today."
Burd said the history center is working in multiple ways to preserve the past of northeast Georgia.
One way is with its many displays and exhibits, which pertain to life in the 19th century up through the 20th century. Another way the center is working to preserve history is through teaching.
The center had more than 500 students visit this week and last. Many who visited on Friday were in grade school and Burd said they didn’t know what a typewriter was.
The center also trains people in the community to be docents who go out and speak about programs offered by the history center.
The Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board was created by statute during the 1993 Georgia General Assembly.
Its 12 members work to ensure that Georgians of all ages are made aware of significant historical records located statewide; enhance the preservation and care of the records; and improve access that people have to those records.
The board also advises the Secretary of State and the Georgia Archives on issues concerning records.
The board established the Outstanding Archives Awards Program in 2003 to recognize efforts in archives and records work in Georgia.