For Immediate Release
Date: September 5, 2017

The City of Savannah, Research Library & Municipal Archives is among nine entities to receive a competitive grant awarded through a new program with the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG).

The digitization grant will make a selection of Savannah’s historical maps available online through the DLG, which is based at the University of Georgia Libraries.

These grants are the first of their kind and are intended to broaden partner participation in the DLG. The goal is to make more information about Georgia history, culture, and life available to the public.

The DLG solicited proposals in a statewide call for historic digitization projects with a cost of up to $5,000. The projects will be administered by DLG staff who will perform digitization and descriptive services on textual, graphic, and audio-visual materials.

The City’s grant includes the digitization of 461 historical maps from three collections: the Savannah Cadastral Survey-Ward Survey Maps, produced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939-1940; selections from the Engineering Department’s Major Subdivision Maps (1871-1972) which document the development of Savannah’s neighborhoods; as well as selections from the Engineering Department’s General Maps (1798-1961) which illustrate property holdings, land subdivision, and private development in Savannah from the 18th-20th centuries. Once digitized, these maps will be available to the public online in Summer 2018 through the DLG (http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/).

The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah is also a recipient. DLG will digitize the Juliette Gordon Low Correspondence, Series India Letters which document Juliette Gordon Low’s travel in northern India in 1908. During her travels, Low wrote letters to her family describing her experiences and impressions in India.

For more information contact Luciana Spracher, Library & Archives Director, at (912) 651-6411 or Lspracher@savannahga.gov.