Organizations dedicated to preserving Northeast Georgia’s rich history gathered Saturday, May 9, at the historic Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville for the annual Georgia History Exchange meeting.
The annual gathering brings together local historical societies, museums and preservation groups from across the region to share ideas, discuss challenges and explore new ways to keep local history alive for future generations.
This year’s meeting was hosted by The Longstreet Society, with hosting duties rotating annually among participating organizations.
Groups represented at the meeting included the Clermont Historical Society, Sautee-Nachoochee Center, White County Historical Society, Northeast Georgia History Center, Towns County Historical Society, Lula-Belton Historical Society, Lumpkin County Historical Society, Habersham History and The Longstreet Society.
Throughout the day, representatives discussed ways to engage younger generations in local history, preserve historical records and landmarks, and develop successful fundraising efforts through grants, donations and community events.
Representing Habersham County was Habersham History President Peter Madruga, who highlighted the organization’s ongoing Digitize Habersham project — an ambitious effort to preserve and make publicly accessible historic newspapers published in Habersham County.
Madruga told attendees that the archive now contains more than 140,000 digitized newspaper pages dating from 1857 through 1957.
“It’s a game changer,” Madruga said. “What used to take days of research can now be done in seconds.”
He said the searchable archive has already helped countless residents, genealogists and researchers uncover information about family members, local events and long-forgotten stories buried within the pages of Habersham County’s newspapers.
“There’s so much great history that you can find in those old newspaper pages,” Madruga said. “I’ve been able to help so many people find information on their loved ones.”
Habersham History has invested approximately $60,000 into the digitization effort, but Madruga emphasized that the archives remain available to the public free of charge. Users simply create an account at archives.habershamhistory.org to access the collection.
Madruga also shared updates on Habersham History’s upcoming documentary commemorating the 100th anniversary of Cornelia’s Big Red Apple.
The documentary is scheduled to premiere June 6, 2026, following the city’s centennial celebration and ceremonial unveiling at the historic monument.
The film explores how Cornelia became known as the “Home of the Big Red Apple,” the individuals and organizations responsible for creating the iconic monument in 1926, and the lasting influence the Apple continues to have on the community today.
Although time constraints prevented attendees from viewing the documentary trailer during the meeting, Madruga encouraged participants to watch it online.
The trailer is available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/qF-J5zX291Q
For organizations attending the Georgia History Exchange meeting, the day served as a reminder that preserving local history is not simply about protecting the past — it is also about finding new and innovative ways to connect communities to their shared stories for generations to come.
image sources
- 2026-05-15-History-Exchange-1: Habersham News
