Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is the United States' largest statewide, nonprofit preservation organization with more than 8,000 members. Founded in 1973 by Mary Gregory Jewett and others, the Trust is committed to preserving and enhancing Georgia's communities and their diverse historic resources for the education and enjoyment of all. The Georgia Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for endangered properties acquired by its Revolving Fund; encourages neighborhood revitalization and provides design assistance to 105 Georgia Main Street cities; trains Georgia's teachers to engage students in 61 Georgia school systems to discover state and national history through their local historic resources; and advocates for funding, tax incentives and other laws aiding preservation efforts. The Georgia Trust is a recipient of the Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Georgia Trust operates two historic house museums:
Hay House, 1859, Macon
Rhodes Hall, 1904, Atlanta

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation established the Revolving Fund for endangered properties in 1990 to provide effective alternatives to demolition or neglect of architecturally and historically significant properties by promoting rehabilitation and enabling owners of endangered historic properties to connect with buyers who will rehabilitate their properties. The Revolving Fund accomplishes this goal by either accepting property donations or by purchasing options on endangered historic properties. The properties are then marketed nationally to locate buyers who agree to preserve and maintain the structures. Protective covenants are attached to the deeds to ensure that the historic integrity of each property is retained, and purchasers are required to sign rehabilitation agreements based on the work to be performed on the structure.

Since the Main Street program's start in 1980, The Georgia Trust has offered design assistance, on site rehabilitation consultations, hands on presentations and hand drawn and digital renderings to help business owners and downtown managers rehabilitate and reuse their historic resources. Services provided by The Georgia Trust's Main Street Design Assistance Program have become integral to downtown revitalization efforts. Supported by the Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) Office of Downtown Development, the program has assisted more than 3,000 business owners in 105 Main Street cities across Georgia to encourage the rehabilitation of historic downtown commercial buildings.

A recipient of a Governor's Award in the Humanities, the Talking Walls heritage education program has trained more than 1,700 teachers, who have reached more than 370,000 students in 61 school systems in Georgia since 1991. The program's teacher workshops and ongoing local support trains educators to use local historic resources such as photos, maps, oral histories and historic buildings as teaching tools in Georgia's mandated curriculum. The Georgia Department of Education recently emphasized the Trust's key role as an important educational resource by approving the Trust as a partner in its Educational Initiatives Program. This status recognizes The Georgia Trust as an official collaborator with the DOE to provide quality instructional materials to educators across the state. Talking Walls also received statewide certification by the Georgia DOE, allowing the Trust to award professional recertification credits to teachers attending program workshops.

The Rambler is The Georgia Trust's quarterly publication. It is distributed to members of The Georgia Trust from around the state and to other state and national preservation organizations.

Architect J. Neel Reid (and his partners in Hentz, Reid & Adler) founded the Georgia school of classicists after study at Columbia University and abroad. Many sources influenced Reid's architecture, and his interior and garden designs. His travel diary, sketchbooks and scrapbooks, and extensive library reflect this. His early twentieth century interest in historic preservation and contextual design, in architectural education and professional standards of practice inspired others long after his tragic early death of a brain tumor in 1926. Reid's father's family were Troup County, Georgia, pioneers; he grew up in Macon, beginning apprenticeship and practice there before, in 1909, moving to Atlanta. J. Neel Reid, Architect by William R. Mitchell, Jr. and published by The Georgia Trust, gives new life to Reid's rich legacy, keeping his influence fresh in this new century. The J. Neel Reid Prize, provided by a Georgia Trust fund produced from the sale of the book, helps ensure continuation of Reid's influence among a new generation of architects. Proceeds from book sales help support the J. Neel Reid Prize, a yearly award to an architecture student, an architect intern or a recently registered architect for study travel that honors the legacy of Neel Reid.

Written by Timothy J. Crimmins and Anne H. Farrisee with photographs by Diane Kirkland, the award winning Democracy Restored is a stunning and fully illustrated history of the Georgia Capital that not only pays tribute to a grand ole edifice, but also vividly recounts the history that was made—and that continues to be made—within and without its walls. The Georgia Capitol is a place where, for more than a century, legislators have debated, governors have proclaimed, and courts have ruled. It is also a place where countless ordinary citizens have gathered in lively tour groups, angry protest mobs, and at times, solemn funeral processions. Proceeds go to The Georgia Trust and the Capitol Restoration Fund.