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and our leaders accountable; the
role of an independent judiciary
in maintaining the separation of
power and the rule of law; and,
especially, how our historic fidelity
to the U.S. Constitution and the
system of government it enshrines
has sustained the world’s oldest
republic and promoted freedom
across the globe.
The Georgia Historical Society
has also created a new publication,
Georgia at the US250, which tells
the full story of Georgia from the
colony’s founding in 1733 to the
present day. Using more than 50
objects from GHS’s vast archival
collection, Georgia at the US250
provides a window into our shared
past and illuminates who we are as
Georgians and Americans.
These materials— representing
only a sample of what GHS has collected since its founding in 1839—
can help us gain the knowledge
and context needed to understand
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the present and create a better
future. GHS has collaborated with
schools, educators, civic groups,
and community organizations to
distribute copies of Georgia at the
US250 across the state.
In addition, the Georgia Historical Society and Georgia Public
Broadcasting have re-launched
Today in Georgia History, the Emmy
Award-winning series that highlights a person or historical event
each day of the year. Thanks to
support from Georgia Power, the
episodes have been refreshed and
were re-released on GPB television
and radio and online at todayingeorgiahistory.org as part of this
250th anniversary.
All these efforts point toward a
larger purpose: using this anniversary to better understand the ideas
that bind us together.
Few understood this better
than Thomas Jefferson. In his
final letter, written in June of 1826
when he was 83 years old and in
declining health, he urged that
the Fourth of July should “forever
refresh our recollections” of the
rights secured during the Revolution and renew our “undiminished
devotion to them.”
As we approach the 250th
anniversary of American Independence, we have a chance not only
to remember the past but also to
explore the history preserved in
the GHS archives and other institutions and communities across
the state. If we renew our commitment to understanding that history, we will be better equipped to
preserve the gift we inherited from
the Founders in 1776— the gift of
self-governance.
Keith Strigaro is the Director of Communications and Public Relations at the Georgia
Historical Society.
