The Odom Genealogy Library received a grant from National Society Daughters of the American Revolution to digitize more than 100 years of The Moultrie Observer.  Pictured reviewing the digitized files are John Benning DAR Regent Nancy Coleman, Adult Services Librarian Melody Jenkins and Moultrie-Colquitt County Library Director Holly Phillips. 

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) announced this week that the organization will be donating $10,000 to the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library for The Moultrie Observer Digitization Project.  Funding for this project was made possible through the sponsorship of John Benning Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, located in Moultrie.

The project will preserve the written history of Colquitt County by digitizing The Moultrie Observer, the only local newspaper and the legal organ for Colquitt County, from its inception in 1894 to the present and making it available to researchers on the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library website.

Patrons who live in Colquitt County, in other areas of the country and even around the world will have access this resource, the DAR said in a press release. Because the database is searchable, research will be less time consuming. Researchers will have quick and easy access to primary documents and will be able to do research on their own schedules.

“Any community’s most extensive source of local history is its newspaper,” said Melody Jenkins, adult services librarian and project manager. “By preserving The Moultrie Observer and making it available online, the availability of information it contains will be guaranteed for many years to come.”

According to Nancy Coleman, regent of the John Benning Chapter, the Odom Library has been a valuable asset for DAR members and other genealogists for many years.   Its extensive collection of resources has made it possible for individuals to connect with their ancestors and learn who they were and how they lived.  

“The Observer is especially valuable in discovering the day-to-day lives of our ancestors in the local community,” said Coleman. “The John Benning chapter is pleased to have endorsed this grant.”   

Jenkins said the project is expected to be completed in the very near future. More information on how to access the database will be released at that time.

The DAR grants program was started in 2010. Funding is awarded to support projects in local communities that promote the organization’s mission areas of historic preservation, education and patriotism, the DAR’s press release said.

The DAR receives hundreds of grants applications each year, making competition high for the funding through the non-profit organization. Interested groups must be sponsored by a local DAR chapter, submit a copy of their public charity 501(c)(3) IRS documentation, and include a narrative describing the need and urgency of the project as well as planned activities and benefits to the community which will result from the grant.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history, and support better education for the nation’s children, the DAR said. Its members are descended from patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With over 185,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For more about applying for a Special Projects Grant from DAR, visit www.dar.org/grants.

For more information about the DAR in Moultrie, please contact John Benning Regent Nancy Coleman at 229-941-2930  or nancycolemanDAR@windstream.net.  For more information about the digitization of The Observer, contact Adult Services Librarian Melody Jenkins at 229-985-6540 or msj@mccls.org.