October is also Georgia Archives Month

This year the Society of Georgia Archivists has designated October 2010 as the month to Travel Back in Time. The purpose of Archives Month is to celebrate the value of Georgia's historical records, publicize the many ways historical records enrich our lives, and recognize those who maintain our communities' historical records.
For years now, that has been the job of the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogical Library...to maintain our communities' history. It's an archival treasure house of historical
records.
The Travel Back in Time celebration will be publicized across the state through proclamations, posters, newspaper articles and events at various repositories. Even bloggers will be telling how to bring the past into the future.
I've felt that over the past several years people have become more interested in caring for their family history and family heirlooms.
Look at the television shows that draw attention to hidden family treasures, such as Antiques Roadshow, and family relationships, such as History Detectives and Who Do You Think You Are.
And the Internet has various websites to instruct you on how to preserve your personal documents, not only the paper but electronic kind.
Today, right here in our own library, we are interviewing and recording service members from the wars of World War II, the Korean and Viet Nam Wars.
Here in Moultrie, just a block away from our public library, the Museum of Colquitt County History is presided over by historian Jack Bridwell.
In the Odom Library, Irene Godwin is the genealogist with Ann Glass as assistant. Also our director of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System, Melody Jenkins, has written a book about Colquitt County history and is presently working on her second book of historical
pictures.
You might think you don't have a reason to preserve your family's history, but you do. Think of it this way. Somewhere down the genealogical line a child will wonder about his family, about his history. He'll even wonder who you were. Why not begin recording today, by handwriting or on your computer or by a tape recorder, those oral histories and folk tales you were once told. Maybe the little songs that your mother sang to you or when your uncle showed you how to catch a fish.
If you're not sure how to go about such documentation, please visit the Odom Library or the Museum of Colquitt County History. You'll see things that will jog a memory in your head, a memory you'll just need to record, a memory to share with future generations. Talk to Irene or Ann or Jack. Both will be more than delighted to help you figure out what to do.
After all, when you travel back in time, you never know what might unravel in your head and all those hidden treasures will appear. It's time to preserve them.
(Source: Society of Georgia Archivists, http://www.soga.org/)