Georgia Historical Society

Georgia Historical Society (GHS) is the premier independent statewide institution responsible for collecting, examining, and teaching Georgia history.  GHS houses the oldest and most distinguished collection of materials related exclusively to Georgia history in the nation. Founded in 1839, the Georgia Historical Society is the oldest continuously operated historical society in the South. Chartered by the Georgia General Assembly in 1839, the founders of the Georgia Historical Society included some of the most distinguished statesmen, intellectual and visionary leaders of the day: U.S. Attorney General John Macpherson Berrien; American Medical Association founder Dr. Richard D. Arnold; U.S. Congressmen Eugenius A. Nisbet and Thomas Butler King; planter James Hamilton Couper; and U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne, among them. Honorary members included four U.S. presidents: John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison. To forge a link between themselves and the earliest days of the state, the founders adopted as the Society’s logo the old colonial seal used by Georgia’s founding trustees. And to demonstrate their commitment to public service, they took as a motto the latin phrase employed by the trustees more than a century earlier: “Non Sibi, Sed Aliis” – not for self, but for others. Throughout its history the Society has collected, preserved, and shared some of the most important documents, rare books, maps, photographs, and artifacts that tell the story of our state’s journey through time. The cornerstones of the collection are Hodgson Hall, the National Historic Landmark building that is the GHS headquarters, and the impressive group of manuscripts, rare books, and archival materials housed there.  The Society’s library and archives contain diaries, personal letters, ledger books, minute books, account books, church records, and many other primary sources related to Georgia and Georgians.