News

Southern Museum Receives Federal Grant for Library and Archives

February 14, 2006

KENNESAW, Ga. – Thanks to a generous grant from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), railroad scholars, enthusiasts, and the public will soon have improved access to the vast library and archival holdings of the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, a Smithsonian Institution afwfiliate. The $400,000 Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant will help fund the construction of a 4,500 sq. ft. library and archives at the Museum’s Railroad Education Center.

“The library and archives are central to our educational efforts in preserving and interpreting the history of the railroad,” said Jeff Drobney, Kennesaw Director of Recreation and Culture. “We’re grateful to GDOT for supporting our undertaking to make this one-of-a-kind collection available to the public.”

The space will house a document and photographic preservation lab; a public research room for students, scholars, and the general public to examine the Museum’s collections; and modern archival storage facilities including humidity controls and a fire suppression system.

The already robust archival collection includes rare legal histories, valuation reports, annual reports, company records, engineering drawings, and photographs related to the Southern Railroad, the Central of Georgia Railroad, the Tallulah Falls Railroad, the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad, and Glover Machine Works.

“Public demand for the railroad library and archives has begun to build, despite current access limitations,” explained Drobney. “Several publications have already resulted from the material.”

The project’s total budget is $800,000, half to be funded by private donations.

In addition to receiving the library and archives grant this month, the Museum received a $400,000 TE grant in 2004 for the construction of the new education building, which is slated for a ground breaking this spring.

The goal of GDOT’s TE program is to enrich the transportation of Georgians through enhancement projects including support of transportation museums.

The Southern Museum features collections of rare Civil War weapons, uniforms, and other personal items; an exciting exhibit about The Great Locomotive Chase, including a short movie; a full-scale replica of a locomotive factory that helped rebuild the South after the war; and through May, a traveling exhibit featuring photographs of the people who dedicated their lives to the railroad.

The Southern Museum is located 20 miles north of Atlanta, off I-75 at exit 273.  Click here for visitor information, or call (770) 427-2117.