Oxford, home of Emory University's Oxford College and original campus, began in the 1830s as a college town. It is now the subject of a new picture history, "Images of America: Oxford," by Erik Blackburn Oliver, a man with deep roots in the community and author of "Cornerstone and Grove," a history of Emory College at Oxford.
Oliver, president of the Oxford Historical Society, assembled this volume for the 175th anniversary of the town’s incorporation. Many of the photographs he has secured have never before been published, and all are attributed to the people who provided them.
The book of photographs is divided into seven chapters, covering the founding of Emory College, downtown Oxford’s businesses, as well as efforts to save and restore houses and buildings and people instrumental in those efforts. He stresses the role of local people and organizations in other chapters, with the final chapter devoted to photographs of children from all eras.
This is a well-researched and thought out work, with the history told through 200 photographs. It is the latest in the "Images of America" series by Arcadia Publishing, 420 Wando Park Blvd., Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, which has books by local authors for more than 8,000 American places. Check arcadiapublishing.com to find your favorites.
Oliver's book is available from the publisher or local bookstores, or can be ordered from operaevocata.com for $22 plus shipping.
Lunch and Learn on Dixie Highway
“The Dixie Highway: Road Building and the Making of the Modern South, 1900-1930” is a new book (UNC Press) by Tammy Ingram of the College of Charleston. It’s also the subject of her talk at the Georgia Archives Lunch and Learn program at noon Aug. 8. The event is free; bring your own lunch.
Planning for the Dixie Highway began in 1915. Georgia Public Broadcasting's documentary on the highway premieres this fall at the Preserving the Historic Road Conference in Savannah; see historicroads.org. Find out more about the Georgia Archives at georgiaarchives.org.
Give family doctors their due
The family doctor is the source of many first names used by my first cousins and their children — three different doctors, in fact. Always note such sources so others don’t think they are ancestral names.
