From the Historical Collections & Archives:
Hopefully, as a student or faculty member or as an alumnus, you are familiar with A. – Augusta University’s alumni magazine. For many years, MCG Today was the alumni magazine for the Health Sciences Campus. However approximately 20 years before the publication of MCG Today there was The Proceedings of the Medical College of Georgia.
The Proceedings began in January 1951 and published quarterly by the MCG faculty. Walter L. Shepeard, MD was the founding editor. Dr. Shepeard joined the MCG faculty in 1948 as a professor of clinical pathology and served as the program director for the training of medical technologists. He also developed one of the first blood banking programs in the southeast and received national recognition. The Shepeard Building (Health Sciences Campus) and Shepeard Community Blood Center were named in his honor. On the cover of most of The Proceedings issues is this quote from Dr. Shepeard: “Those who receive the mantle of a rich and noble heritage are expected to perpetuate it. For those who wear such a mantle and give it no sustenance it becomes but an empty echo out of the past.”
The purpose of The Proceedings was to establish and maintain contact with the MCG alumni, and to keep the alumni and school informed of each other’s activities for mutual benefit. While this publication did include news briefs about the MCG alumni, it also featured clinical articles regarding the research and work of the faculty, and news regarding the administration of the school. The Proceedings continued publication until 1958. Two publications took its place in succession, Foundation News and then Foundation and Alumni News. All three publications are grouped together in the record group RG19.13. Here is the finding aid.
The Proceedings of the Medical College of Georgia has been digitized and is available to view and download from Scholarly Commons, the Augusta University institutional repository. Here is the link to the item record in Scholarly Commons.
-Renée Sharrock, Curator
From the Special Collections & Institutional Archives:
While Reese Library’s Special Collections has many books and manuscripts related to the history of Augusta, the CSRA, and the University, we also have many items that are neither books nor manuscript collections, but fall under the “publications” umbrella.
One of my favorite publications to use when I teach students about primary sources in Special Collections is “A Guidebook to Augusta for the Handicapped.” Published in 1967 by the Junior League of Augusta, this guidebook provides people with disabilities living in the Augusta area with information and instructions on how to access various public spaces, including: banks, cultural facilities, educational institutions, hotels, office buildings, religious institutions, and various public services. This would have been especially important in 1967, 23 years before the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990, which created standards for accessibility.
I love using this item in classes because it can open conversations on a wide variety of topics. As it was published by the Junior League of Augusta, it allows us to talk about how women’s organizations impacted and shaped communities. It opens the door to conversations about the history of disability and accessibility, public health issues, and veterans issues throughout history. And because it is a local resource, we can use it to bring conversations about these broader societal topics into a local focus.
I also want to take a moment to note that this will be my last post for the Heritage Unite News series, as I will be leaving my position for a new position in the Special Collections Department at the University of Arkansas. Working in Reese Library’s Special Collections at Augusta University has taught me a lot, and I am grateful to have met and worked with my many library colleagues at both Reese and Greenblatt libraries!
-Kara Flynn, Special Collections Librarian
About the Heritage Unit: The University Libraries have a department devoted to the preservation and archival keeping of the campus’ unique histories. The Historical Collections & Archives (HCA) is located on the 2nd floor of the Greenblatt Library on the Health Sciences campus. Special Collections & Institutional Archives is located on the 3rd floor of the Reese Library on the Summerville campus.
