Professor compiles Georgia arts and music archive
As a historian, Dr. Ben Wynne knows the importance film, literature and music have had on American culture.
"It reflects our collective being and is part of the glue that holds our society together," the professor of history at the University of North Georgia (UNG) said. "Anything not preserved can quickly be lost and forgotten."
To protect that information and its artifacts, Wynne is compiling a Georgia arts and music archive for higher education and the community.
"I wanted to do something for the university that I hoped would have a lasting impact," he said, explaining the Eminent Scholar grant from UNG funded the project. "Musicians, singers, actors, and writers help drive our culture. I believe it is important to preserve their work in a way that gives as many people as possible access to it."
Wynne contacted Allison Galloup, collections and initiatives librarian at UNG, about a home for the collection in the library. She immediately agreed.
Musicians, singers, actors, and writers help drive our culture. I believe it is important to preserve their work in a way that gives as many people as possible access to it.
Dr. Ben Wynne
UNG professor of history
"One of my interests is music. I was pretty excited when he mentioned the project," Galloup said. "Then he sent me his initial inventory, and I got even more excited."
To date, Wynne has accumulated files ranging from newspaper clippings and other documents on more than 150 musicians, actors, actresses, and writers from Georgia. He also has obtained artifacts such as records, books, magazines, photographs, sheet music, and film posters.
"We even have some odds and ends of interest like a ceramic statue of film comedian Oliver Hardy and some U.S. Postal Service stamps honoring singer Little Richard," Wynne said. "And every time I get my hands on one of the old, scratchy records from the 1920s or 30s, I wonder how many times it's been played, and how many people in the last century have listened to it."
Galloup said her interest was piqued by the files on Gladys Knight, Jerry Reed, Otis Redding, and Ray Stevens, to name a few. The associate professor at UNG explained this new archive will complement the university's musical archive of Betty Nolting, a well-known and award-winning music teacher in Georgia.
"This archive is filled with a side of Georgia history that we don't always see. And it's not just one genre of music," Galloup said. "When the Georgia Music Hall of Fame closed, we lost a bit of the history because the collections were spread out. This archive will bring some of it back together."
She and Wynne intend to make the archive easily accessible for scholarly research and public viewing. Wynne agreed music enthusiasts will enjoy the archive as much as researchers.
"Arts and music in Georgia are multicultural and multilayered. And the state has a rich film history going back to the silent era," he said. "If researchers or anyone else want to know about musicians, actors, actresses, writers, or other artists from Georgia, I'd like for this archive to be the first place they visit. That's the goal."
The arts and music archive will be available for viewing in the future.
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