Community News
Upcoming open house will highlight history of MGA's Cochran campus.
By Dave Whitaker
Oct 1, 2021, 12:06

For those interested in the history of Middle Georgia State University’s Cochran campus, an upcoming open house that will be held in Roberts Library that will showcase historical items. Entitled “1884-1965: 81 Years of Change”, the event will take place October 20 at 4 pm in the archives located on the first floor.

Two of the items that will be on display were saved from a fire which burned down the main classroom building in 1926. One of those was a mantle clock which chimed every hour to signal it was time for students to change classes.

Other historical items that will be on display include an accounting ledger, a fragile and stained plot map of “Cochran Colored Cemetery,” a section of the city’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, old yearbooks, handwritten notes from previous college presidents, athletic team trophies, as well as an antique piano purchased by former president Dr. Louis C. Alderman.

MGA Collections Librarian April Renfroe Warren has been gathering many of the materials that will be on display. In a release, she said the items on display shows Roberts Library is back as well as highlight the shared history between the university and the city of Cochran.

“We thought it would be a good time to show the community that the library is back in business. We have a great new space for the archives and more supplies to take care of the historical items we have, which represent how much the University and the city of Cochran are intertwined.”

As this open house will focus on history up to 1965, Warren hopes it will be the first in a series. Because there are so many stories to tell. “There’s so much here,” she said. “Every box, every file, every envelope we open is a new story, a new adventure.”


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