Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County archives, 1783-2021

Online content

Some materials from this collection are available online.
Show only online content

Summary

Creator:
Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County Archive (1783-)
Date:
1783-2021
Extent:
11 Linear Feet (7 Hollinger boxes, 3 bankers boxes, 1 oversized box)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Item, box, folder], Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County Archives, ms4505, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes correspondence, legal documents, financial statements, meeting minutes, and papers for the Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County as well as applications, correspondence, financial statements, meeting minutes and legal documents for the Tubman Home. The papers document the sale and lease of lands, administration of the Academy of Richmond County, role of the Trustees in the growth and development of Augusta, and evolution of the purpose of the Trustees. Additional papers document the Old Medical College and the dispensation of funds from the Porter Fleming Foundation, the Joseph Lamar Rucker Scholarship, and the Robinson Trust Fund.

Biographical / historical:

The Georgia Legislature chartered a board of commissioners in 1783 to divide the public lands at Augusta into lots and to sell them to fund building a church and establishing an academy or seminary of learning. The act also authorized them to administer the Savannah River ferry. The commissioners became known in common usage as Trustees of Richmond Academy, a denomination that became codified in 1786 when the Trustees were further authorized to lease lots in the south common of Augusta for benefit of the school. The Trustees served as Augusta's de facto government until the City Council of Augusta was chartered in 1798. Following a lawsuit settlement in 1835, the Trustees conveyed to the City Council all its interest in the east and south common. The Trustees actively operated the school until 1909 and turned its operation over to the County Board of Education of Richmond County. The Trustees continued to be involved and oversaw the procurement of the new lands on which the current high school is situated. The Trustees continue to own the Old Academy of Richmond County building (1802) and the Old Medical College building (1826) on the original property. Additionally, the Trustees have administered the William Robinson Trust Fund for the school in the village of Summerville, the Joseph Lamar Rucker Scholarship for Academy students accepted to the University of Georgia, and the Porter Fleming Foundation, created by Berry Fleming in 1963 to give grants for cultural enrichment in the Augusta area.

The same Trustee members also form the board of the separate Tubman Home, established to provide a poorhouse pursuant to the will of philanthropist Richard C. Tubman who died in 1836. They built cottages near Augusta in 1907 used as housing for the poor and indigent elderly. After 1972 the housing program was discontinued; the corpus, donated to charities benefitting the poor; and the cottage properties, leased to the Y.M.C.A.

Access and use restrictions

Preferred citation:

[Item, box, folder], Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County Archives, ms4505, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.