Going back in time digitally

The Houston County Public Library System and the Digital Library of Georgia unveiled a new digital resource Wednesday at the Perry Public Library. Sara Paulk, director of the Houston County system, announced that the paper of record for Houston County, The Houston Home Journal’s first publication in 1870 to 1990 is now available online.

“Today, we are unveiling a resource that’s over 100 years in the making,” said Paulk. “It is a nearly complete digitalization of The Houston Home Journal. You may be looking for personal events in life such as from birth to death or on a greater scale such as the growth of Robins Air Force Base. This resource has moved from one person at one machine with no index in the libraries to now having the freedom to search at home with a keyword index.”

Paulk said all publications of The Houston Home Journal from 1870 to 1990 are available online at http://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu. Once you have reached the website, Paulk said you will see the search tab and prompts to enter in keywords. She said it is free to download and print the publications.

“This resource is totally funded by grants and donations and it’s provided by no local taxpayer money,” said Paulk. “The digitization of The Houston Home Journal was made possible through the generosity of the following donors and partners: the estates of Alice L. Gilbert (a former Perry librarian), Flint Energies Foundation, the Digital Library of Georgia and The Houston Home Journal. I thank you all.”

Cheri Adams, publisher of The Houston Home Journal, said she is excited for this new resource being available to the community, state and for those out of state.

“We receive a lot of calls asking to obtain copies of articles that were published in the past,” said Adams. “And it’s hard because all of our archives are bounded together in books. Recently, we have had to package and preserve our publications from the 1870s due to the paper being so frail. So, this is very exciting to have this resource now available to all and for free. I am grateful to all of the donors and partners who made this possible.”

David Muse, nephew of the late Alice L. Gilbert, was in attendance Wednesday during the unveiling. He shared that his aunt’s passion was the library.

“She had a quest for reading and continued it well into her 90s,” said Muse. “Her gift to the library was a way of giving her quest for knowledge to others. She loved to watch young adults learn. Not only was she a librarian, but also a mentor. She would be very proud of this and left it in her will to give this to the library.”

Karen Wades, representative of the Flint Energies Foundation, said they were excited to be a part of this project.

“Our foundation is funded solely by members of Flint Energies who round up their bills each month,” said Wades. “They certainly don’t have to, but it’s because of those who do give that allow us to give these grants to the community. Our philosophy is members helping members. We can’t thank them enough and the library for all they do.”

Since 2007, the Digital Library of Georgia has been providing access to the state’s historic newspapers through multiple online city and regional newspaper archives.

Sheila McAlister, director of the Digital Library of Georgia, said they are now excited to add Houston County to the list.

“Historic newspapers provide a unique look at our state over time,” said McAlister. “They are invaluable to scholars and the general public alike as they provide in-depth coverage of Georgia counties and cities, report on the activities of state and local government and reflect the social and cultural values of the time that they were created. We are really pleased to be able to present The Houston Home Journal from 1870 to 1990 and are grateful to the partnerships to make this happen.”

Paulk said they hope in the future to be able to make more of the archives available.

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