Copyright © 2003, 2001, 1999 by Michael Segers, All rights reserved
Brought to you by Peanut.org
Here’s a quick quiz for you:
(1) What is the state song of Georgia? (Hint: see the title of this article.)
(2) Have you ever heard it played on steel drums?
(3) Do you know the title of a big novel about a young woman in Georgia during the Civil War?
(4) Do you know the title of the diary kept by a young woman in Georgia during the Civil War?
(5) Have you ever read it?
(6) Have you ever taken a walking tour of places associated with a famous murder in Savannah?
(7) Do you know whether you have some long lost millions waiting somewhere in Georgia?
By the end of this article—a tour of sites crammed full of Georgia lore—you’ll be able to answer yes to all of the above and know more about Georgia than you ever knew you could know. Even as the Internet is breaking down our old sense of isolation and geographic identity, with all the great information at our mouse-tips, we can develop a stronger sense of place than ever before. And, what nicer place to start with than our home state?
There are three amazingly comprehensive sites dedicated to Georgia. The first is the official homepage of the state of Georgia, where you can find names, addresses, just the facts, and see your tax dollars at work. Another great source of links is GeorgiaInfo, from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, "a web online resource on Georgia to better serve the citizens and public officials of this state." And then there is the review of state and local governments in Georgia.
With the basics covered, let’s look a little further, beginning with the sometimes controversial flag of Georgia, discussed from various points of view. Two other emblems of our state and its government are our Capitol and our Governor's Mansion.
A special part of Georgia life and government is agriculture, so do visit the Agriculture Department. Long before cyberspace, the Georgia Agriculture Department maintained a web of links and information for producers and consumers of agricultural products (whom does that leave out?) with the Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, a free weekly publication you turned to when you wanted new quilt patterns or old tractor parts. My most pleasant surprise in researching this column was to find that it also is now online. Sometimes, however, going online doesn’t mean progress. In the good old days, the Market Bulletin was recycled as neatly cut squares stacked by the seat in the smallest building on the farm. Now, we can’t do that with the online edition, so we bite the bullet and squeeze the Charmin.
With no implied editorializing, we move on to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. From their nifty site, you can reach all the colleges and universities in the state University system.
A very important factor in politics is the constitutionally mandated census taken every ten years. Count some Georgians. Politics has always given Georgians what opera gives Italians: low drama, shrill voices, and more than a little bloodshed. So, let’s end this overview of Georgia politics online in the Political Graveyard, which escorts us to the final resting places of Georgia politicians. And while we are visiting graveyards, we can visit the grave of the Confederate Unknown Soldier.
On to very famous Georgians! Of course, Jimmy Carter was the first Georgia native to be President of the United States. But, years before Carter’s presidency, Georgia had another link to the presidency, when the aristocratic Franklin Delano Roosevelt discovered the healing waters of Warm Springs, as well as the plight of the poor people who lived nearby. FDR's Ties to Georgia records every visit that he made to Georgia, as well as his writings in Georgia. Like Presidents Carter and Roosevelt, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., saw no distinction between political and ethical concerns. (2003 update: President Carter is now a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.)
The history of Georgia has been enriched by Native Americans, from early Native Americans to the ongoing presence of their culture in parks such as the Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon.
Georgians have made many contributions to the arts, which are celebrated on the Internet. For starters, you can read the poems of Sidney Lanier. My favorite Georgia author, Flannery O'Connor, is represented by a very impressive site maintained by Brian Patterson, and that makes the site all the more impressive, since he is an individual, not an institution. Another great Georgia writer of the twentieth century, Caroline Miller, author of the haunting Lamb in His Bosom, is the subject of a touching online memoir by her niece and longtime Worth County resident Joanne Bishop. Also available online are"Research Opportunities in Georgia Writers to 1930." Joel Chandler Harris and his timeless Uncle Remus are represented by a great site, as is Southern Discomfort, a musical group continuing the tradition of satire of which Harris is such an outstanding example.
Of course, Georgia authors have gone to the movies, most notably Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind, and this notable site allows you to take a virtual tour of Wind-y places and even send e-postcards bearing the likeness of Scarlett and Rhett. You can find even find the text of her novel at a site from Australia, where copyright laws are different. The War Between the States/Civil War was not just a backdrop for a fabulous film, however. The Georgia Civil War Map of Battles offers much more information than just a very informative map. Finally, to learn about a Georgia girl in the Civil War whose story is very different from Scarlett O’Hara’s—she was real—read The War-Time Journal of a Georgia Girl, 1864-1865 by Eliza Frances Andrews.
Two of Georgia’s best known visual artists are folk artists with a distinctive spiritual emphasis: Howard Finster, who has a strong but unique Christian perspective, and Eddie Owens Martin, who proclaimed himself St. EOM of Pasaquan. They are joined in cyberspace by Georgia’s most distinguished academic artist, Lamar Dodd. You can also learn about the distinctive work of art that represents Georgia in the ongoing series of fifty state quarters from the U.S. Mint
Where to begin with Georgians in sports? How
about Hank
Aaron
What a great chorus we have with Georgia’s musicians! A rock band, the Allman Brothers; Johnny Mercer, who penned some of our best-loved popular songs; and Jessye Norman , who proves that divas not only have divine gifts: they are divine gifts to us all. Speaking of divine gifts, there is Ray Charles, and, in case we take ourselves too seriously, Ray Stevens. And, in a niche of his/her own, RuPaul. With that, let's close our review of Georgia's music with a rousing steel-drum version of the state song, "Georgia on My Mind." And, how can we forget Atlanta's Bert Parks, singing the Miss America theme song?
To find the great Georgians in your family, look at the hundreds of genealogical links for Georgia from Cyndi's List. To get friends and family interested in Georgia, and to remind them that Georgia is not just a long dark space north of Florida’s beaches, start with the official state tourism site, Georgia on My Mind, and all of the places it can take you. But, there is something a little suspicious about official tourism, which makes me think of a chaperoned party. To walk on the wild, at least weird, side, check this guide to offbeat attractions in Georgia, including our own Statue of Liberty. Don't forget Georgia festivals while you are rovin' around.
Georgia’s two greatest cities, Atlanta
Georgia’s media, the news and views of the people of Georgia, are well represented on the web, with over sixty Georgia newspapers online. You can also find Georgia Public Television as well as Peachstate Public Radio.
For just a bit of the nature that so
distinguishes our state, start at the University
of Georgia Museum of Natural History.
You can go on to learn about plants
of Georgia, the brown
thrasher (the state bird), the official state
insect and other such symbols, our
endangered
species and South
Georgia wildlife. Two of our
special animal neighbors can be spotted in cyberspace, our black
bear (known as the Florida black bear)
and perhaps
the most beautiful animal in Georgial, the
While you are online, you can check the weather in Georgia and find where you are on a wide range of Georgia maps.
Two final, special links remain. First, you can search for any missing money in Georgia that you may be entitled to; wouldn't donating 10% to Peanut.org be a nice gesture? For a special treat, take a virtual journey through Georgia. Remember, with a place as great as Georgia, it would be a shame to have just one. To conclude with just one more trip, a little closer to home, take a leisurely "Drive on Isabella Street," a street that takes you not only through Sylvester but also through its history.
After more than sixty links, I need to repeat something I’ve emphasized before: none of the links in Rovin' and Ravin' carries any sort of endorsement by the directors, sponsors, webmaster or anyone else associated with Peanut.org. In fact, I sometimes include links that I do not like myself, but which I feel make a contribution to our ongoing conversation.
No matter where you rove and rave through cyberspace and other spaces, keep your feet as dry as a dirt road in Georgia on an afternoon in August and your heart full of noble thoughts about a great state which is always as close as your computer… or, at least for some of us, as close as our hearts.
Note: This list of links was originally compiled in 1999. When it was revised two years later, about a fifth of the links were dead. Please help us update this list by letting us know if you find that any of these links no longer function or if you find some new links that could be added. Please e-mail your response. Thanks.