Local Historians Awarded Virginia Volunteer Award By The VGS

Virginia Volunteer Award

Temple Lawrence(left) and Ruth Blevins are pictured in the Giles County Historical Society Research Library. They will jointly receive the Virginia Volunteer Award for 2012, sponsored by the Virginia Genealogical Society.

The Virginia Genealogical Society (VGS) has announced that Giles County Historical Society members Ruth Blevins and Temple Lawrence have been selected as the recipients of the Virginia Volunteer Award for the 2012. VGS stated "Is is the work of outstanding volunteers such as Mrs. Blevins and Mrs. Lawrence who contribute not only to their immediate organization, but also in ways that benefit the greater genealogical and historical community." The Virginia Volunteer Award will be presented at the VGS Spring Conference on April 21, 2012.

Mrs. Blevins and Mrs. Lawrence were nominated by the Giles County Historical Society for their hard work and dedication in establishing and expanding the Research Office at the museum complex. The Historical Society cited the countless hours given by both these local genealogists/historians helping the citizens of Giles County understand more about their family histories and heritage. This is an important service because many of the founding families of Giles County who settled here two centuries ago still have decendents in the area.

Both Mrs. Blevins and Mrs. Lawrence are natives of Giles County. Their institutional knowledge of the county, as well as its local families, has been an invaluable resource to the Historical Society and to the people of Giles County.

Ruth Blevins, one of the founding members of the Historical Society, helped established the Research Office to assist the public in conducting research in genealogy and local history. Along with a number of dedicated volunteers, Mrs. Blevins researched and published two large volumes on Giles County families. These vloumes serve as a foundation for those beginning their genealogical journey.

Temple Lawrence, a current board member for the Historical Society, expanded the holdings of the Research Library which now has over 600 volumes and 750 vertical files on genealogy and local history. For over ten years Mrs. Lawrence has served as the genealogist for the Historical Society assisting the public with family research. In that capacity she has established on-line access to genealogical and local history records, and initiated a program to provide on-line genealogical research for the public.

The Research Office is open Thursday afternoons from noon to 5 p.m. Genealogy questions can also be addressed via emailed at research@gilescountyhistorical.org There is a fee for on-line queries which require extensive research.

Every Time A Bell Rings, A Giles County Volunteer Gets Wings

It's the end of the year, and the Giles County Historical Society Museum complex will soon be closing from January 1st to March 1st. The Historical Society would like to take the opportunity
to thank all those who volunteered throughout the year providing much-needed support for our organization and activities. Volunteers perform a variety of tasks: greeting visitors and giving tours, assisting with genealogical and historical research, helping to mount exhibits and decorate our beautiful historic house, and providing refreshments for events. Volunteer parents have helped us manage large groups of children for our school outreach activities, and re-enactors and artisans truly transform our cultural heritage into "living" history.

Volunteers, however, are not only vital to the Historical Society, but to many organizations in
Giles County. So, in our take on "It's A Wonderful Life", thank you to all those who volunteer throughtout the year. An essay by the late humorist Erma Bombeck says it perfectly:

So Long, Volunteers

I had a dream the other night that every volunteer in this land had set sail for another country. I stood smiling on the pier, shouting, "Goodbye phone committees. Goodbye disease of the month. No more getting out the vote. No more playground duty, bake sales, rummage sales, thrift shops, and three-hour meetings."

As the boat got smaller, I reflected, "Serves them right, that bunch of yes people. All they had to do was put their tongues firmly against the roofs of their mouths and make an "O" sound-no. It was certainly have spared them a lot of grief. Oh, well, who needs them?"

The hospital was quiet as I passed it. The reception desk was vacant. Rooms were devoid of
books, flowers, and voices. The children's wing held no clowns, no laughter. The house for the
aged was like a tomb. The blind listened for a voice that never came. The infirmed were imprisoned in wheelchairs that never moved. Food grew cold on trays that never reached the hungry.

The social agencies had closed their doors-unable to implement their programs of scouting, recreation, drug control; unable to help to retarded, handicapped, lonely and abandoned. Health agencies had signs in their windows: "Cures for cancer, birth defects, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, etc. have been cancelled because of lack of interest."

The schools were strangely quiet with no field trips and no volunteer classroom aides. Symphony halls and the museums that had been built and stocked by volunteers were dark and would remain that way. The flowers in churches and synagogues withered and died. Children in day nurseries lifted their arms, but there was no one to hol them in love.

Alcoholics cried out in despair, but no one answered. The poor had no recourse for health care or legal aid. I fought in my sleep to regain a glimpse of the ship of volunteers, just one more time. It was my last glimpse of a decent civilization.

--Erma Bombeck

Giles County Historical Society Receives Grant for Oral History Project

The Community Foundation of the New River Valley has selected the Giles County Historical Society as one of its 2012 fall grant recipients. The grant, totaling $826.39, will provide recording, transcribing and storage equipment for the Historical Society's Oral History Project. The Community Foundation funds a variety of projects across the New River Valley, believing the modest grants like this can have tremendous impact on local communities. This fall the foundation awarded over $45,000 to local non-profits. The grant to the Historical Society comes from the CFNRV's Giles Fund - resources raised by Giles citizens to be shared with Giles communities.

The Historical Society has three oral history projects planned for the coming year: Giles County Quilt Documentation, Public School Desegregation, and "Voices from Giles County." Quilt documentation is an on-going project to photograph, measure, and record quilts made in the locality before 1999.

The Public School Desegregation project will be the first time this historic period has been examined in Giles County. In 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that state law mandating separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional, paving the way for desegregation of the public schools. Unlike many other Virginia counties which followed the course of "massive resistance," the Giles County school board voted to voluntarily end racial segregation in the county schools. Historical Society volunteers are now conducting background research and identifying interviewees for this project. Tentative informants include members of the local African American community, former students at the segregated high school at Bluff City, students enrolled in Giles High School in 1964-5, and former teachers and administrators in the school system.

For the "Voices from Giles County" project, county residents will be interviewed about growing up and living in Giles County. The project will initially focus on older residents, and areas of interest will include childhood and family life on the farm and in town, education, employment (particularly at the Celanese plant), and historic events affecting county residents, such as the Great Depression, World War II, desegregation/civil rights, and Vietnam. "Voices" will be an
on-going oral history project for the Historical Society

"Christmas by Candlelight" group picture.

"Christmas by Candlelight" held at Andrew Johnston house pictures

Entering the Johnston house
Ladies dressed in Civil War period clothing enter the Andrew Johnston house as part of the "Christmas by Candlelight" event hosted by the Giles Historical Society.

Christmas Carols

Members of the Giles Symphonic Chorale sang Christmas carols during the "Christmas by Candlelight" event hosted by the Giles Historical Society.

Decorated Table



This table was decorated as part of the "Christmas by Candlelight" festivities hosted by the Giles Historical Society at the Andrew Johnston house.







Posing



Period clothes from the Civil War era were worn during the "Christmas by Candlelight" event held at the Andrew Johnston house. Featured is Amy Buchanan of Narrows, VA.
































Canon with cannon





Canon Tabor, along with his father Bob Tabor, poses with an 1861 civil war cannon that was on display during the "Christmas by Candlelight" event hosted by the Giles Historical Society Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.

Christmas by Candlelight hosted by Giles Historical Society December 3rd

We would like to thank everyone who came out to see The Civil War Christmas by Candlelight. It was a great success. We would like to thank all the ladies who fixed all the wonderful refreshments. Also, we would like to thank the Giles High School Choral Ensemble who sang all those wonderful christmas songs. We also want to thank the ladies of the Jubal Early Chapter of the UDC for helping out. Tha...nk you to Bob Tabor for bringing the canon to the event and Melinda and son for being in the house celebrating. We also want to thank all the ladies who helped out in the gift shop and the museum. Thank you so much for Joseph Yost who also was in the house. We had a great turn out and we really appreciate all the support. HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!!!!