Augusta has two places you can visit to do genealogical research.
The Augusta Genealogical Society has its library at 1109 Broad Street and is open for researchers; check www.augustagensociety.org for the days and hours. They have a good Georgia and Southern states collection, including county records as well as family histories. Included is the Mims Collection related to Edgefield County, S.C., families.
The society holds monthly meetings with a speaker, always summarized in its monthly newsletter Southern Echoes. Their 12-volume journal "Ancestoring" contains a wealth of source material from the area. The society, founded by Carrie Moore Adamson (who died July 6) and others, is well worth a visit. 706-722-4073.
Augusta's central public library recently opened its new downtown facility at 823 Telfair St., across from the old location. The Georgia Heritage Room is headed by Dottie Demarest and has a good collection of Georgia and regional county books, which they hope to expand.
The library has Augusta city directories and newspapers on microfilm, vertical files about the city, a collection of African-American funeral programs and oral history tapes. They are eager to show off their new facility to visitors and have a number of handouts to help in using the collection.
The library is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. The website is http://ecgrl.org; go to "Services" for genealogy information. 706-826-1511.
Veterans history project
The Augusta-Richmond County Historical Society is conducting a veterans history project. Over the past four years they have interviewed more than 700 World War II veterans with an Augusta-area connection, and are looking for others to record.
As part of this effort, the society has produced a 70-minute video, "War Stories: Augusta-Area Veterans Remember World War II," which includes 23 interviews. For information on ordering the video ($20), check www.thearchs.org. Project coordinator Fred Gehle can be reached at 706-738-8242 or fpgehle@bellsouth.net.
South Carolina genealogical societies
The South Carolina Genealogical Society coordinates the activities of other county-based societies in the state, and every July hosts its annual conference at the State Archives. The society's address is P.O. Box 24526, Columbia, SC 29224-4526. The website is www.scgen.org.
At the society, you can learn about the member societies and how to reach them. To get the best results, you should join the state society, as well as the local one where you have ancestors, as each publishes a journal. The state society's is the Carolina Herald and Newsletter, which can be found at many genealogy libraries.
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