To broaden partner participation in the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG), DLG is soliciting proposals for historic digitization projects costing up to $7500 in DLG services from non-profit Georgia cultural heritage institutions. Applicants must be organizations. We encourage community-based archives to apply. Project metadata will be included in the DLG portal, EBSCO Discovery Services, and the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Projects may include the reformatting of textual materials (not including newspapers), graphic materials, or audio-visual materials. The proposal deadline for the next funding cycle is April 5, 2024. Applicants should have materials prepared for a project start date of July 1, 2024.
Selection of materials or collections to digitize will be made in accordance with the DLG's Collection Development Policy and will depend on the availability of resources and funding. Applications will be reviewed based on the following criteria:
Clarity of proposal--Project scope and responsibilities should be well-defined.
Diversity--Materials that represent the cultural, political, social, geographic, and/or economic diversity of the state of Georgia will be given priority.
Reusability--Materials should be free of legal restrictions or have permissions granted by the copyright holder. Preference is given to materials that are freely available or available for free reuse for either educational or non-commercial uses.
Historic value--Materials should have high research, artifactual, or evidential value and/or be of particular interest to multiple audiences.
Added value through digitization--Materials for which access will be substantially improved by digitization or which have a high potential for added value in the digital environment through linkages to existing digitized content will be given priority.
Capacity building--Preference will be given to organizations who have not yet collaborated with the DLG and/or those with limited digitization resources or experience.
A committee consisting of DLG, Georgia Public Library Service Archival Services and Digital Initiatives, Georgia Humanities Council, and Georgia Council for the Arts staff and representatives of GHRAC and the DLG partner community will determine awards. Awards committee members will recuse themselves from review of a proposal should a conflict of interest exist.
For textual and graphic materials, digitization and descriptive services will be performed by DLG staff. In the case of audio-visual collections, digitization will be outsourced to a vendor. Partners are responsible for transporting materials to and from the DLG or for costs associated with shipping to and from vendors.
Nominated materials must have clear rights statements and documentation. Any metadata created will be shared under a Creative Commons License Public Domain License (CC0), through the DLG's portal, EBSCO Discovery Services, and the DPLA.
To apply, submit a 2 MB or smaller zip file that contains all of the following to our proposal submission form (you will need a gmail account) by April 5, 2023:
One letter of reference from a previous user of the materials describing their historic value and potential for reuse by multiple audiences;
Five samples of selected content;
A budget that includes conversion costs, metadata services, and hosting fees based on the DLG Digital Services Cost Recovery for Proposal Development and using the application budget form; and
If requesting DLG hosting, proof of rights status for materials (e.g., letter of permissions from copyright holder, donor’s agreement, orphan works status assessment, release form, etc.).
February 15, 2 pm webinar (slides|recording)
February 20, 9 am-noon, virtual office hours
February 21, 1-4 pm, virtual office hours
April 5, Proposals due
May 15, Committee reviews proposals
May 20, Recipients notified and scheduling begins
June 16, Service agreements signed (Sample MOU available here)
July 1, Program start date
Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System [FY2017/2018 recipient] (application | letter of support)
Bartow History Museum [FY2018/2019 recipient] (application | letter of support)
Coastal Heritage Society [FY2017/2018 recipient] (application | letter of support)
Fulton County Schools Archives [FY2018/2019 recipient] (application | letter of support)
Athens Clarke County Library
Digitization of 17 scrapbooks and one photo album of the Athens-based Chase Street Elementary School's Parent Teacher Organization from 1926 to the early 2000s.
Atlanta History Center
John Burrison Folklore Archives Collection
Digitization of oral history interviews created between Fall 1973 and Fall 1977 by Georgia State University folklore students that discuss Southern crafts, storytelling, superstitions, jokes, remedies, songs and ballads, and traditions.
The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum
Digitization of the Leo Frank materials that highlight the social tensions of the early 1900s in Georgia and emphasize the political strife experienced by political actors who stood up for Leo Frank’s innocence.
DeKalb History Center
DeKalb County plat map books, years 1912-1936
Digitization and description of DeKalb County plat map books that detail the various subdivisions, streets, and property owner names throughout DeKalb County during the period from 1912 to 1936.
Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia
Folk Pottery Project
Digitization and description of the Folk Pottery Museum Collection, composed of more than 300 ceramic objects created by Georgia folk potters dating from the mid-19th-century until today.
Island Ford Baptist Church
The Island Ford Baptist Church Historic Documents, Buford, Georgia Collection
(Suwanee Creek Chapter, NSDAR Historic Preservation Project)
Digitization and description of the records of Sugar Hill's earliest church, Island Ford Baptist Church, dating from 1833 to 1917, that include references to enslaved individuals and personal histories of early settlers of Gwinnett County.
Suwanee First United Methodist Church
Suwanee First United Methodist Church Historic Documents
Digitization and description of the records of the first church established in Suwanee, Georgia that document church life and the congregation's marriages, baptisms, and deaths from the 1880s through the 1950s.
Augusta Jewish Museum (Augusta, Ga.) - Digitization, description, hosting, and preservation of the 200-year history of Jewish life in the Greater Augusta, Georgia region in the Augusta Jewish Museum Collection. This content reflects cultural, political, and social situations impacting Jews living in Georgia.
Evans County African American Archive Museum (Claxton, Ga.) - Digitization, description, hosting, and preservation of the
African American Funeral Programs, 1960-2022 collection, primarily from Evans County, dating from the early 1960s to the present.
Habersham County Historical Society (Cornelia, Ga.) - Digitization, description, hosting, and preservation of the archives of the independently-owned Standard Telephone Company. Headquartered in Cornelia, it provided telephone service to rural northeast Georgians.
Smyrna Public Library (Smyrna, Ga.) - Digitization and hosting of the 1953 Smyrna Better Home Town Scrapbook. In the 1950s, Georgia Power sponsored the Better HomeTown Contest to boost economic development. Communities’ scrapbooks highlighted what towns considered to be their best attributes.
Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society (Sugar Hill, Ga.) - Digitization and description of the Sugar Hill City Council Records Collection of city council minutes, ordinances, resolutions, communications, economic studies, and other information from the city’s incorporation in 1939 through June 1992.
Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection (Athens, Ga.) - Enhanced (time-stamped) access to interviews with W. W. Law and other Savannah, Georgia, civil rights workers. These interviews were conducted by the late oral historian Cliff Kuhn and were shot just before Mr. Law’s death. They are the most comprehensive accounts he provided of his life and career as a civil rights activist.
Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, Ga.) - Digitization of 149 oral history interviews conducted by Georgia State University students enrolled in Dr. John Burrison’s folklore curriculum between 1969 and 1970 of rural Georgians and Southeasterners from rural and often isolated areas.
Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, Ga.) - Digitization of Lexington Presbyterian Church (Lexington, Ga.) records, 1822-1916 and the Henry Newton papers, 1842-1900.
Friends of the Rylander Theatre (Americus, Ga.) - Digitization of materials belonging to the Rylander Theatre that document downtown Americus, Georgia, and the role of the local theater in the rural south spanning from 1921-1957, including items related to the Rylander Theatre’s “first life” before it went dark for 40 years in 1951.
Mercer University Archives and Special Collections (Macon, Ga.) - Digitization of the Mission Messenger (1895-1921), published by the Women’s Baptist Missionary Union of Georgia. The periodical is a significant source of information about white Baptist women during the Progressive era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (Pooler, Ga.) - Digitization of materials that focus on the activity at Savannah Army Air Base (Hunter Field), Savannah, Georgia, to prepare the Eighth Air Force for combat following its activation on January 28, 1942.
Pitts Theology Library (Decatur, Ga.) - Digitization of bound conference journals dating from 1867 to 1939, produced by the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). This Northern church established missions in Georgia during the Reconstruction Era and worked closely with the Freedman’s Aid Society.
University of Georgia Alexander Campbell King Law Library Archives & Special Collections (Athens, Ga.) - Digitization and description of a collection of photographs taken by the University of Georgia School of Law's staff, including its Communications and Public Relations Department, or by photographers hired to capture prominent event speakers encompassing fifty years of legal and political history.
University of North Georgia. Special Collections & Archives, Dahlonega Campus (Dahlonega, Ga.) - Digitization of the North Georgia College Cyclops yearbook collection, focusing on volumes dating from 1975-1995.
6th Cavalry Museum - Digitization of a collection of holiday menus created for the 6th Cavalry troops at Fort Oglethorpe from 1925 to 1940. The holiday dinner menus offer a glimpse of food and culinary traditions and of military life through troop rosters and highlights of each year’s troop activities.
Archives of the Society of Mary, Province of the United States - Digitization of films and slides dating from 1938 to 1979 and drawn from Marist College educator Reverend Michael Kerwick's films and from the papers of Marist educator Rev. Vincent Brennan. The materials document the Marist School community in Atlanta and, more broadly Roman Catholics in Georgia.
City of Savannah Municipal Archives - Digitization of the selections from Park and Tree Commission minutes from 1896 to 1920 that reflect the intersections of urban planning and civil rights, trends in landscape design, development of Savannah’s cemeteries (both African American and white, since Savannah had segregated cemeteries), and details such as the use of convict labor in city infrastructure projects. These records offer insider perspectives into the decision-making process related to these Jim Crow-era policies that are not often found in government records.
Columbia County Public Library- Digitization of the Rees Funeral Home Funeral Records and the Lincoln County Courthouse Records. The Rees Funeral Home Funeral Records document funeral arrangements and obituaries for Lincoln County residents from 1940 until 1960. The Courthouse records consist of Lincoln County legal records dating back to the 1700s.
Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home - Digitization of the Georgia B. Williams Nursing Home Archives documents the first maternity shelter where “only” African American women were allowed, by local Mitchell County doctors, to receive midwife delivery for their newborns. Materials in the collection include registers of the mothers and babies born between 1949 and 1971.
Georgia Historical Society - Description of architectural drawings from the Savannah-based, woman landscape architect Clermont Lee. Lee is best known for her work designing gardens and parks for historical landmarks throughout Georgia. The drawings are from 1940 through the mid-1980s and include projects in and around Savannah, as well as several throughout Georgia and the larger Southeast.
Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives (Music and Broadcasting Collections) - Digitization of 24 scrapbooks from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Collection dating from 1945 to 1985 that include newspaper clippings of concert previews, reviews, and highlights of guest performers, composers, and conductors, as well as photographs, advertising materials, and organizational records such as memos and correspondence. The bulk of the ASO scrapbooks are from the 1950s-1960s and document the arrival of Music Director Robert Shaw in the late 1960s and the effects of the Civil Rights movement on the orchestra.
Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives (Women’s Collections) - Digitization of audiovisual items from the Carol Brown Papers, 1993-2012 (bulk 1993-1994) focusing on pro- and anti- LGBTQ+ activities in traditionally conservative Cobb County and the campaign to move 1996 Olympic events out of the County. Further, in a time of daily protest, the collection illustrates the power of creative, peaceful protest.
Hargrett Library, University Archives - Digitization of the University of Georgia’s Pandora yearbooks dating from 1965-1974, which include the aftermath of desegregation, the beginnings of the black student, the women’s liberation, the gay liberation, and the campus free speech movements.
Lee County Library (Leesburg, Ga.) - Digitization of the Lee County Library Local History Collection which contains print material dating from 1784-2000 that includes church histories, local Lee County history, and documentation of the 1994 Southwest Georgia flood.
Midway Museum - Digitization of the Julia King Collection, composed of original land grants/deeds, plantation documents, indentures, estate documents, photos, and letters connected with the Roswell King family’s Liberty County plantation and the county itself from the late 1700s through the middle of the 20th century. The collection will be of particular interest to those doing family research on the enslaved in Liberty County.
Saint Paul’s Church (Augusta, Ga.) - Description and hosting of the handwritten vestry minutes, parish and marriage registers, and commemorative materials of Saint Paul’s Church, Augusta’s oldest congregation founded in 1750.
Chipley Historical Center of Pine Mountain (Pine Mountain, Ga.) - Digitization of the record book of the Sardis Church of Christ, dated 1828-1915. The Sardis Church of Christ was associated with the Primitive Baptist Church in Harris County, Georgia.
Columbia Theological Seminary (Decatur, Ga.) - Digitization of the Joseph R. Wilson papers, late 1800s (containing the sermons of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Augusta from 1858-1870); John Newton Waddel papers, 1821-1881 (materials belonging to John Newton Waddel (1812-1885) and his father Moses Waddel (1770-1840), both Georgia Presbyterian ministers and educators); and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. Presbytery of Hopewell minutes, 1797-1866 (minutes from Georgia’s first Presbytery belonging to the Presbyterian Church from the period following the Revolutionary War through the Civil War).
Dougherty County Public Library (Albany, Ga.) - Digitization of city directories for Albany, Georgia, dating from 1922-1949.
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum (Atlanta, Ga.) - Description of archival documents that highlight notable events and accomplishments during Jimmy Carter’s presidential administration from 1977-1981 that include the Camp David Accords (1978), the hostage crisis in Iran (1979-1981), the Panama Canal Treaties (1977-1978), the president’s daily diary (1977-1981), presidential directives (1977-1981), presidential review memoranda (1977-1979), and legislation towards the progression of the Equal Rights Amendment (FALyERA).
Kennesaw State University Archives (Kennesaw, Ga.) - Digitization of drawings created and produced by the architectural firm Gregson and Ellis and its predecessor, Gregson and Associates. These materials include a selection of architectural drawings of facilities that provided public medical and mental health care in various counties in the State of Georgia, from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.
National Civil War Naval Museum (Columbus, Ga.) - Digitization of a ledger from the James H. Warner Collection containing correspondence from Warner, commander and superintendent of the Confederate States Naval Iron Works (sometimes referred to as the Columbus Iron Works) which operated from 1862-1865. The ledger also includes entries as late as 1866 as Warner worked with the United States Navy in turning over naval equipment to the United States government.
Peachtree City Library (Peachtree City, Ga.) - Digitization of materials documenting the conceptual beginnings and history of Peachtree City, Georgia, one of the country’s most successful post-World War II “new towns.”
University of Georgia Map and Government Information Library (Athens, Ga.) - Digitization of Sanborn fire insurance maps produced in 1923 for 21 Georgia towns and cities in 17 counties.
Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections (Valdosta, Ga.) - Digitization of Georgia deeds and plats representing southeastern and south Georgia counties (including Camden, Glynn, Wayne, Brantley, Ware, and Worth counties) dating from the 1700s-1899. Also included is a land grant dated June 1767 assigned by King George III of England conveying four hundred acres of land in the parish of Saint Matthew, Georgia to John Adam Treutlen, Georgia’s first elected governor.
Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection (Athens, Ga.) - Description of 80 episodes of the Parade of Quartets, the longest continuous-running gospel program on television in the United States, which has aired on WJBF in Augusta, Georgia since 1953, and has featured African American gospel groups.
Athens-Clarke County Library Heritage Room (Athens, Ga.) - Digitization of 8 bound ledgers dating from 1902 to 1907, the earliest section of their City of Athens Police/Mayor’s Court Records, which reflect the cultural, political, social, geographic, and economic diversity of the Athens community and interaction with law enforcement and justice system.
Bartow History Center (Cartersville, Ga.) - Digitization of a portion of a collection of county documents that include topics such as: guardianship (1850-1929), indentures (1860-1929), lunacy (1866-1929), pauperism (1866-1879), land grants/deeds (1866-1929), and other records. The records were created by court officials to document legal proceedings and transactions.
Fulton County Schools Archives (Hapeville, Ga.) - Digitization of Superintendent’s Annual Reports dating from 1929 to 1977, which contain demographic information pertaining to the growth of the school system located in and around Atlanta. The oldest portion of this collection provides evidence of a largely rural and segregated district during the Great Depression, while the latter portion is a culmination of the movement to integrate the schools after the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, a process that lasted seventeen years.
Thomasville History Center (Thomasville, Ga.) - Digitization of the correspondence and diaries of Hazel Beamer Cutler, a Broadway entertainer, and her family friend Candace Wheeler, founder of the American decorative arts movement, both of whom lived in southwest Georgia.
University of West Georgia Special Collections (Carrollton, Ga.) - Digitization of publications from the Carroll County Genealogical Society that reflect the settlers of Carroll County in west Georgia after the Indian Springs Treaty of 1824, and inventories of burial sites for both whites and African Americans throughout the county.
Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System (Augusta, Ga.) - Online delivery of and metadata creation for oral history interviews documenting Augusta's Chinese-American community.
Berry College (Mount Berry, Ga.) - Digitization of the Southern Highlander (Spring/Summer 1943 – September 1966), the official magazine of the Berry Schools.
Coastal Heritage Society (Savannah, Ga.) - Digitization of a Civil War era ledger documenting work conducted at the Carpentry Shop, within the Savannah Shops complex of the Central Rail Road & Banking Company of Georgia.
Georgia State University (Atlanta, Ga.) - Digitization of the Mike Maloney Out TV Collection (1999-2000). Out TV Atlanta, a half-hour weekly news and entertainment show focused on LGBTQ life, ran from 1999-2000.
Oconee Regional Library (Dublin, Ga.) - Digitization and description of teacher's monthly reports from 37 of the African American rural and city schools in operation during the 1930s in Laurens County, Georgia.
Athens-Clarke County Library (Athens, Ga.) - Digitization and description of Image magazine, a publication that documented the everyday lives of the African American citizens of Athens, Georgia from 1977-1980.
Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, Ga.) - Digitization of recordings of the radio program Southwind: The New Sounds of the Old Confederacy, which aired on WABE in Atlanta between November 14, 1980 and January 29, 1987.
Berry College (Mount Berry, Ga.) - Digitization of January 1907 to Winter 1942-1943 issues of the Southern Highlander, the official magazine of the Berry Schools.
City of Savannah, Research Library & Municipal Archives (Savannah, Ga.) - Digitization and description of Record Series 3121-019, Savannah Cadastral Survey – Ward Survey Maps, 1939-1940 (Ward Survey Maps were prepared by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as part of a survey project); Record Series 3121-020, Engineering Department – Major Subdivision Maps, 1871-1972, no date (Major Subdivision Maps include maps of Savannah neighborhoods and subdivisions prepared by surveyors and engineers submitted to the City of Savannah Engineering Department); Record Series 3121-007, Engineering Department – General Maps, 1798-1961, no date (maps illustrating property holdings, land subdivision, and private development in Savannah from the 18th-20th centuries).
Columbus State University Archives (Columbus, Ga.) - Digitization and description of the Civil War era material of General Henry Benning, a prominent Confederate general and Georgia Supreme Court justice for whom Fort Benning was named.
Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (Savannah, Ga.) - Digitization and description of Juliette Gordon Low Correspondence, Series India Letters. Juliette Gordon Low traveled in northern India in 1908 and wrote letters to her family describing her experiences and impressions.
Piedmont College Library (Demorest, Ga.) - Description of the May Ivie Valise Collection (a case full of historical materials belonging to Piedmont College alumna May Ivie), Johnny Mize Collection (fan letters and photographs belonging to professional baseball player and Demorest, Georgia native Johnny Mize).
Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections (Valdosta, Ga.) - Digitization of the Pinebranch, the first student publication of South Georgia State Normal College and Georgia State Woman’s College (both earlier names for Valdosta State University).
Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection (Athens, Ga.) - Enhanced description of Georgia town films and home movies digitized by the Brown Media Archives.