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Banning Mill

Banning Mill

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David Bottoms

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Monroe County

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Herschel Walker

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A More Perfect Union

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Thomas R. R. Cobb

Thomas R. R. Cobb

Thomas R. R. Cobb was the primary author of the Code of the State of Georgia, which went into effect in 1863, a year after Cobb was killed in combat during the Civil War. Much of this code remains in force today.
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

G8 Summit on Sea Island

G8 Summit on Sea Island

Sea Island hosted the 2004 G8 Summit. From left, Bertie Ahern of the European Union, Romano Prodi of the European Commission, Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, Jacques Chirac of France, Paul Martin of Canada, Gerhard Shroeder of Germany, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, George W. Bush of the United States, and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.
Courtesy of .
Demonstrators at G8 Summit

Demonstrators at G8 Summit

Crowds of demonstrators, in hopes of drawing global attention to a variety of social and economic issues, gathered in Brunswick during the 2004 G8 Summit in Sea Island. Although protests at previous summits have turned violent, protestors did not disrupt the proceedings in Sea Island.
Photograph by Staci Atkins

G8 Summit Security

G8 Summit Security

A police officer in Brunswick stands at the ready during the G8 Summit in June 2004 on Sea Island. Security in the area around Sea Island was heightened as world leaders gathered for the annual meeting. Although some protestors were arrested, security problems did not disrupt the summit.
Photograph by Staci Atkins
Phinizy Spalding and Joe Frank Harris

Phinizy Spalding and Joe Frank Harris

Governor Joe Frank Harris (right) with historian Phinizy Spalding, who received a Governor's Award in the Humanities in 1990.
Courtesy of .
Bettie Sellers

Bettie Sellers

Poet Laureate Bettie Sellers delivers a lecture entitled "Westward from Bald Mountain: Valleys for Writers" at the 1998 awards luncheon for the Governor's Awards in the Humanities. Sellers won a Governor's Award in 1987 and served as the state's poet laureate from 1997 to 2000.
Courtesy of .
Roy Barnes and Joseph Jordan

Roy Barnes and Joseph Jordan

Governor Roy Barnes (right) with Joseph Jordan, accepting the Governor's Award on behalf of the Auburn Avenue Research Library in 2001.
Courtesy of .
Senator Jackson Dedicates Library

Senator Jackson Dedicates Library

Senator Henry M. Jackson speaks at the Russell Library dedication on June 24, 1974. Other platform guests include Governor Jimmy Carter, Senator John C. Stennis, Senator Herman E. Talmadge, former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and Senator Russell's siblings.
Courtesy of .
Russell Library Opens for Research

Russell Library Opens for Research

Mrs. S. Gordon Greene Sr., sister of Senator Russell, officially opens the Russell Library on January 8, 1977. University President Fred C. Davison, Russell Professor in History Gilbert C. Fite, and Russell Foundation Chair Phil Landrum observe.
Courtesy of .
Donation from Russell Foundation

Donation from Russell Foundation

Michael F. Adams, president of the University of Georgia, holds a $3 million check presented by the Russell Foundation on October 20, 2003. The gift will help to build a new facility that will house the university's three special collections libraries.
Courtesy of University of Georgia Photographic Services
Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collection Libraries

Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collection Libraries

Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collection Libraries building at the University of Georgia.ย 
Courtesy of .
State Flag, ca. 1920-1956

State Flag, ca. 1920-1956

In the 1920s the entire state seal began appearing in place of the coat of arms on the state flag. It is not known who authorized the substitution, or when.
Bonnie Blue Flag

Bonnie Blue Flag

The "Bonnie Blue Flag" features a white star centered on a blue background. The flag was flown at the time of Georgia's secession from the United States in 1861, on the eve of the Civil War.
Photograph from Wikimedia
2004 Georgia State Flag

2004 Georgia State Flag

The current Georgia state flag was the state's third in twenty-seven months. The new flag features the state coat of arms, surrounded by thirteen stars, which represent the original American colonies.
Photograph from Wikimedia

Stars and Bars, 1861-1863

Stars and Bars, 1861-1863

The first national flag of the Confederacy, the "Stars and Bars" was adopted on March 4, 1861, at the first Provisional Congress in Montgomery, Alabama.
State Flag, 1879-1902

State Flag, 1879-1902

The 1879 state flag, considered the first official state flag, was based on the first national flag of the Confederacy (the "Stars and Bars"). The blue canton of the Stars and Bars extended the full width of the state flag, and even though the stars were removed, the derivation of the flag was obvious.
Image from Wikimedia

State Flag, 1956-2001

State Flag, 1956-2001

Georgia's General Assembly ratified the addition of the Confederate Battle Flag to the state flag in 1956 as a backlash to the Brown v. Board of Education decisions, which federally imposed integration of public schools.
Confederate Battle Flag, 1861-1865

Confederate Battle Flag, 1861-1865

It was found that at a distance the Stars and Bars too closely resembled the U.S. flag, and so, in September 1861, a new design was presented: blue bars with white stars forming the St. Andrew's cross on a red field. This became the Battle Flag of the Confederacy.
2001 Georgia State Flag

2001 Georgia State Flag

The controversial "Barnes flag" was passed in private by the state house and senate and approved by Governor Roy Barnes in January 2001. The flag violated many canons of flag design and was rated the worst-designed state flag or provincial flag in North America.
Photograph from Wikimedia
State Flag Controversy

State Flag Controversy

Supporters of the 1956 Georgia state flag marched on the state capitol on June 28, 1992, protesting proposed changes to the flag.
Courtesy of , Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archive.

Georgia State Flag Stamp

Georgia State Flag Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service commemorated the nation's 1976 bicentennial anniversary with a stamp for every state flag. At the time, Georgia was still using the now-controversial 1956 state flag, featuring the Stars and Bars of the Confederate battle flag.
Courtesy of Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Lucy Cobb Institute

Lucy Cobb Institute

In 1991 the main office of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government moved from the University of Georgia's North Campus to the historic Lucy Cobb Institute building on Milledge Avenue, just west of campus.
Courtesy of .