I recently visited the Georgia Baptist Convention archives in Duluth. Charles Jones, who runs the archives, generously took the time to talk to me about Georgia Baptist history and helped me begin my research there. While he had pulled a few books that he thought would be useful to my search, he also pointed me to a pile of boxes sitting on the floor. He told me that he had not yet gone through the materials in the boxes, but that I might take a look to see if there was anything related to the Stewart Center in it's contents. Upon glancing down at the box nearest to my foot, I saw this:
I immediately (and probably impolitely) interrupted Charles and said "Did you get this box out for me??" to which he replied that he hadn't--he hadn't even realized that it said "Stewart Center". Talk about serendipity!
The next four hours flew by as I went through the contents of the box, photographing each and every document for the Stewart Center's records. (While I'm not sure how the records ended up there, they are now the property of the GA Baptist Convention Archives.) One of my favorite discoveries was an old notebook dated from 1920. This notebook was used by the original Stewart Day Nursery Board for meeting minutes.
Another interesting find was a few resignation letters from previous directors. These letters are an interesting look at what the Center was like at a given time, and capture some of the emotions the directors felt for the Center. (Myrtle's is a little blurry--sorry!)
Among other things, the box contained personal letters, newsletters, written histories of the Center, a few photos, and hiring documents. I've continued to sort through the documents I copied while at the Archives, and am very excited to share more of their contents in future posts. I will also be returning to the Archives in the coming months to conduct more research.
Thanks!
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