About the Funeral Programs Project
This digitization project is a collaboration between The Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, the Georgia Southern University Libraries, and the Georgia Southern Department of History. The funeral programs are from the private and active collection of Dr. Alvin D. Jackson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center. Over the past 35 years, Dr. Alvin Jackson has collected African American funeral programs from funeral homes, mortuaries and private citizens of the community and many from the area, who left as part of the great migration of African American from 1920 – 1970, and travelled to various parts of the United States looking for new opportunities. There are over 15,000 programs in the collection, of which over 2,000 have been digitized, described, and uploaded to Georgia Southern Commons.
This guide serves as a resource for WHHRC Board Members and provides training for volunteers working on the project.
About the Willow Hill Heritage & Renaissance Center
Excerpted from the Willow Hill Heritage & Renaissance Center website.
The Founding of WHHRC
The Willow Hill School was started in 1874 by former slaves. The school was in existence for 125 years; the longest for any school in Bulloch County, Georgia. The founding of the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center and its future operation as a museum and community resource is an effort to preserve a piece of American History. This museum will serve to educate and expand the current knowledge of Black History in the 21st century.
Mission Statement
To protect and preserve the history of the Willow Hill School by the preservation of property and individual histories related to the founding and operation of the school and promoting an understanding of the school's historical, social and educational impact on the community, county, state of Georgia and the nation.