Tommie Anne Phillips LaCavera, 1938-2016, was a writer, historian, and genealogist who published numerous articles for historical and genealogical publications, and in the Athens Observer newspaper throughout the 1980s. She received a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of Georgia in 1990. Ms. LaCavera was an active member of many hereditary and service organizations, including the United Daughters of the Confederacy (President General, 1992-1994), Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century, Daughters of the American Revolution, United States Daughters of 1812, Southern Dames of America, First Families of Georgia, National League of American Pen Women and many more.
This collection contains meeting notes, membership ledgers, scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence, and business documents from the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Laura Rutherford Chapter and the Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century, Elijah Clarke Chapter. A large portion of the collection documents Ms. LaCavera's time with these organizations. It also contains notes, genealogy, and writing produced by Tommie LaCavera and her contemporary, Beth Abney. Documents and printed material from other hereditary and service organizations that Ms. LaCavera was involved with are also included. Another component of this collection is historical documents from the early Nineteeth Century, including deeds, correspondence, receipts, checks and land documents from the Kunze and Johnson families of Georgia, as well as the Ballister family from Kentucky, among others.
