Awards 2013

2013 Awards

The Lumpkin County Historical Society awarded twelve Certificates of Appreciation and two prestigious Madeleine K. Anthony Awards at its April 11, 2014 meeting. Six eight grade students got top honors in the Society's essay contest.

History was alive and kicking at the April meeting on Thursday the 11th as the members of the Lumpkin County Historical Society gathered for their annual presentation of the Madeleine K. Anthony awards program. The award is given in honor of Madeleine Kiker Anthony, a local lover of history who was known for her great appreciation of historic preservation, the town of Dahlonega and life in general.

Madeleine K. Anthony Award

This year the prestigious prize went to Dahlonega/Lumpkin County Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Jay Markwalter who established an app that serves as an extensive local visitor’s guide to Civil War sites, gold mining digs and other historical hot-spots.

A second award went to The Dahlonega Nugget for production and publishing of Volume II of, A Pictorial History of Lumpkin County, Georgia.

Certificates of Appreciation

Certificates of Appreciation were also handed out to local photographer Jack Anthony, whose new book, Mountains and Waterfalls of North Georgia, depicts many historic sites of North Georgia in lush detail.

Anne Amerson was also lauded for her latest book, Dahlonega, Georgia; Site of America’s First Major Gold Rush, which captures the stories and events surrounding the discovery of gold in Dahlonega.

History buff and art teacher Karen Harwood happily accepted a certificate for Blackburn Elementary School for their annual Bear Jamboree, an annual event that teaches students local history and heritage through exhibits such as quilting, biscuit making, storytelling, Indian folklore and a host of activities from the gold rush days of the 1800s.

Sautee Nacoochee Center was awarded for its series of Headwaters plays which weave together stories from eight north Georgia counties, including Lumpkin.

Col. Butch A. Teston accepted awards on behalf of The William Heyward Fields American Legion Post 239, the members of which traced down the history of the man for whom the Post was named and located his grave, some 65 years after the post was named for him. Fields was reportedly the first person in Lumpkin County to lose his life during World War II. Col.Teston also accepted a certificate on behalf of the Lumpkin County Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee which created a time capsule in the M60A3 Army tank that has been placed in Veterans Memorial Park.

Sallie Sorohan and Manny Carvalho received accolades for sorting, cataloging and archiving hundreds of personal papers, articles, recipes, weaving patterns and memorabilia from the estate of Lorenzo Dow Davis for the Lumpkin County Library.

Dana Whitfield, accepted on behalf of the Friends of the Gold Museum a hardworking group that came together in augmenting a minimal staff at the museum and enables the popular historical attraction to remain open seven days a week. The FODGM chapter has functioned so successfully that it is used by DNR as an example for other Friends chapters around the state.

Marilyn Smiley and Cecilia Jade Murphy Smith were awarded for their donation of a scale model of the Historic Worley House built by Cecilia Jade Murphy Smith to the Historical Society’s 1884 Old Jail Museum.

Sherry Moser accepted an award for Strings ’n Things Coffee House. Jean Ella Wiggins formed the Wiggins Group in memory of her husband, Dr. Eugene Wiggins, who was an English professor at the University of North Georgia, a musician, the author of many articles on folk music and wrote a book titled Fiddlin’ Georgia Crazyabout Fiddlin’ John Carson. He was a fiddler himself and also built many fine instruments. The mission of the Wiggins Group was to help preserve the traditional music of Appalachia with a focus on Lumpkin County/North Georgia through concerts, education and other projects. The Strings ’n Things Coffee House is now held every other month and is run as a personal project by Laeta Smith, Sherry and Dave Moser and Charlene Bird.

8th Grade Essay Contest Winners

Awards were handed out to Aaron Covert, Rachel C. Gaston, Anna Head, Jacob Hester, Mitchell McElliott and Travis Colton White as the eighth graders netted top honors in the Historical Society’s essay contest.

The Essays [click the links below]:

  1. Arthur Woody by Aaron Covert

  2. The Old Lumpkin County Jailhouse by Rachel C. Gaston

    1. Arthur Woody by Anna Head

    2. Garner Hester and Lumpkin County Moonshine by Jacob Hester

    3. Camp Frank D. Merrill by Mitchell McElliott

    4. The Old Dahlonega Courthouse by Travis Colton White

Article by Robbie Niles and adapted from the Dahlonega Nugget story on April 23, 2014, page 8A. Published online by Manny Carvalho on May 12, 2014