History of Society

By Michael W.Kitchens, April 2015

(Building upon the history prepared by Sue Fan Tate in 1980, and later expanded by Charlotte Thomas Marshall, then Eve B. Mayes)

The Athens Historical Society (AHS) was first organized on February 3, 1899. On that cold Friday night twenty Athenians gathered at the antebellum mansion of Augustus (“Gus”) Longstreet Hull (1847-1909) to form a group whose purpose was to preserve, record and protect the history of our great city.  

It was only fitting that they met in the home of Augustus Longstreet Hull, as he is one of Athens, Georgia’s most prolific and notable historians. By the time the Athens Historical Society was formed that night, Hull had already authored A Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia in 1894 and Sketches of Athens, Georgia from 1830- 1865 in 1893. He had also edited Sketches from the Early History of Athens, Georgia 1801-1825 authored by his father, Dr. Henry Hull. Seven years later Augustus Longstreet Hull was to publish perhaps his best known work, Annals of Athens, Georgia, 1801-1901. This book has become the first source most historians consult when studying the earliest years of Athens and the University of Georgia.  

Gus Hull was elected as the organization’s first president. The first roll of members of the organization reads like a Who’s Who of Athens and Georgia history: it included Howell Cobb, Jr., J. H. T. McPherson, J. C. Bloomfield, Sylvanus Morris, H. H. Carlton, E. D. Newton, D. C. Barrow, W. W. Thomas, H. C. White, S. C. Upson, Harry Hodgson, Ulrich B. Phillips, H. H. Linton, and J. D. Mell, among others.

The organization was an active one during its first year of existence with local newspapers writing accounts of their meetings in which each respective member would make presentations to the group on areas of historical interest which they had researched. However, after 1899, no further notice was taken of the society in local papers. It is not known for how long the first iteration of the society remained intact. For reasons now lost in the haze of time, however, the AHS disappeared.

It was not until October 11, 1959 that a second group of Athens’ history-minded citizens gathered to reconstitute the Athens Historical Society into a vibrant organization and the AHS was re-born. Such distinguished Athenians forming this group included Sarah Maret, Director of the Athens Regional Library; John E. Talmadge, Professor of English at the University of Georgia; Porter Kellam, Director of the University of Georgia Library; Kenneth Coleman, Professor of History at the University of Georgia; Richard N. Fickett III, an Athens antiquarian; Marion West Marshall, the wife of distinguished UGA Professor of English, George Marshall; Harry Hodgson, Sr., UGA Trustee and Athens businessman; John W. Bonner, Special Collections Librarian, the University of Georgia Library; Susan B. Tate, Library Assistant, the University of Georgia Library; Miss Lucy Clark, English teacher at Athens High School; and Robert G. Gibson, an Athens lawyer. 

Temporary committees were formed to plan the general organizational meeting held on October 29, 1959. At this meeting the organization’s constitution was approved and the society’s goals and purposes were formulated.  These goals have remained largely unchanged since that time.