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Smithgall family papers

Smithgall family papers

Descriptive Summary

Title: Smithgall family papers
Creator: Smithgall, Charles A.
Creator: Smithgall, Lessie Bailey (Celestia Bailey)
Inclusive Dates: 1906-2008
Language(s): English
Extent: 20 Linear Feet 15 boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 22 oversize folders
Collection Number: ms4462
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Charles A. Smithgall, Jr. (1910-2002) was a broadcaster, businessman and conservationist. He was a graduate of Georgia Tech in 1933, then began his work in radio as an announcer. He eventually became a radio station executive then ventured into newspapers, founding the Gainesville Daily Times and a publisher of several other local weekly newspapers. He also owned several radio stations throughout north Georgia and Alabama next hit as well as cable television franchises throughout the southeast. As a conservationist, Smithgall donated a large tract of land he had acquired along Dukes Creek in White County to the state, which became the Smithgall Woods State Park.

Celestia "Lessie" Bailey Smithgall (1911-2021) was a writer, editor and philanthropist. She graduated from the University of Georgia's Grady School of Journalism in 1933, and was connected with the creation of the Peabody Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She was the wife of Charles A. Smithgall and their children are Dr. Elizabeth "Bay" Smithgall Watts, Charles A. Smithgall Jr., John F. Smithgall, and James Thurmond Smithgall.

The Smithgalls were supporters and advocates of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Georgia Citizens for the Arts, Atlanta Zoo, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden among many other community groups.

Scope and Content

This collection contains family photographs and correspondence, radio broadcasting scripts and fan mail, family files regarding charitable activities, real estate, and fruit farming. It also includes scrapbooks and school ephemera, plats, plans and topographic maps of various properties and buildings.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Item, box, folder], Smithgall family papers, ms4462, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Businesspeople -- Georgia -- Photographs.
Children -- Photographs.
Families -- Georgia -- Correspondence.
Families -- Georgia -- Photographs.
Family papers.
Farm management -- Georgia.
Georgia -- Radio and television broadcasting.
Journalists -- Georgia -- Correspondence.
Radio broadcasters -- Georgia.
Scrapbooks.

Related Collections in Other Repositories

The audiovisual materials related to this collection are housed in the Walter J. Brown Media Archives.


Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

1. Family files

boxfolder
11Apple growing
12Black raspberries
13Canning and preserving
14Cantalopes
15Catalogues
16Cattle - Beef
17Cattle - Dairy
18Celcure processed lumber
19Cherries
110Clover
111Consolation letters, 1942
112Correspondence - Farm, 1941-1942
113Cotton
114Dairy products
115Deeds, insurance
116Disinfectants
117Dogs
118Ducks
119Extermination - Rats, insects, pests
120Feed, bills
121Fertilizers
122Food
123Figs
124Flowers
125Forestry
126Gardening
127General correspondence - Lessie, 1939-1942
128Grapes - Muscadine
129Government regulation, correspondence, 1939-1942
130Government, state bulletins
131Grafting, budding
132Hay, legumes, cover crops
133Hog raising
134Horses, mules
135Hot houses
136Irrigation
137Kudzu
138Landscaping
139Lespedeza
140Maps
141MGM - Poems
142Miscellaneous
143Mushrooms
144Paints
145Pastures
146Pasture - Grasses, legumes
147Peas
148Peaches
149Pecans
150Pidgeons, squabs
151Pork
152Posts
153Potatoes - Irish
154Potatoes - Sweet
155Poultry Diseases
156Poultry - Eggs
157Poultry - Houses
158Poultry - Raising
159Program ideas
160Program material
161Program material - Used
boxfolder
21Promotion - Radio features
22Promotional material
23Quail
24Receipts
25Rich's
26Seed
27Sheep
28Silos and Silage
29(Special) Stationery
210Soil Conservation
211Soil Treatment
212Soybeans
213Spraying - General
214Terracing and Grading
215Tractors
216Trees and Shrubbery
217Turkeys
218Vegetable diseases and insects
219Vegetable growing
220Veterinary
221Wildlife
222Wine
223WSB - General correspondence, 1938-1940
224Fan mail - WGST, 1935
225Fan mail - WGST, WATL, 1935-1940
226Scrapbook of sayings
227-28Editorial, miscellaneous material, sayings
229Radio scripts, 1938
230Memoirs
231Clippings - Lessie Smithgall writing
232Storer, George B. - Storer Boadcasting Company
233United Press International, Inc.
234Selma Times Journal - Wynns
boxfolder
31Selma Times Journal
32I - Inventory
33K
34L
35M
36N
37O
38-12P
3132E Plaza Towers
314-15Photographs
316-17R
319Republicans - Gingrich, Isakson
boxfolder
41S
42W
43WCNN-WRNG - Tract I (plat)
44WHEL Radio
45Miscellaneous
46Correspondence - Miscellaneous
47Correspondence - Lessie Smithgall, 2002-2006
48B - Miscellaneous
49Blue Hill
410C
411Old Church
412Correspondence
413Ruth Curtis
414D
415E
416F
417G
418Gainesville College
419H
420Hall County Historical Society
421J
422K-L
423Letters
424Yoel Levy
425M
426Billy Moore
427N-O
428P-Q
429Phi Kappa Society
430R
431S
432Samaritan Fund
433Shaw Room
434Lessie and Charlie [Smithgall] bios
435Clippings - Smithgall Woods
436C. Thurmond Memorial
437The Times
438Zoo Atlanta
439Alpha Gamma Delta
boxfolder
51UGA - Lambden Kay Professorship
52Atlanta Botanical Garden
53-41500 Habersham Drive - Garden bed plans
55-61500 Habersham Drive - Landscaping
57-8Lakeview property
59Gilmer County, Georgia - Property
510Etowah Broadcasters - Property
511White County, Georgia - Property
512Plaza Towers
513Lago Mar, Florida - Property
514Tray Mountain - Property
515Tray Mountain - Kimbrell
516Tray Mountain - Neal and Valentine
517Tray Mountain - Phillips
518Plats, etc.
519Gainesville, Georgia - Rate book, 1929
520Gainesville, Georgia - Comprehensive plan, Building Inspection Codes, 1964, 1966
521Gainesville, Georgia - Zoning ordinances, 1963
boxfolder
61-2212 W. Hopkins, Aspen Colorado property
63Old surveys - WAAX
64-5Plats
66-9Brookwood House
610Lessie Bailey - Joe Brown Junior High School, 1926-1929
611Yearbook - Lessie Bailey - Joe Brown Junior High School, 1925
612Lessie Bailey - Girls High School, 1929
613Lessie Bailey - University of Georgia
614Lessie Bailey - University of Georgia sororities
615Lessie Bailey - University of Georgia - Women's Student Government Association
616Lessie Bailey - University of Georgia commencement, 1933
617School ephemera
boxfolder
71Diary - Lessie Bailey, 1925
72Notes - Lessie Bailey
73Writing - Lessie Bailey
74Pins, bridge and dance cards - Lessie Bailey
75Certificates, ephemera - Lessie Bailey
76National Association of Broadcasters Association Convention - Lessie Smithgall, 1939
77Clippings
78Printed material - Broadsides, programs
79Certificates - Lessie, Charles Smithgall Jr.
710School report cards - Lessie Bailey, Charles Smithgall Jr.
711Wedding book - Lessie, Charles Smithgall Jr., 1934
712Wedding cards, notes - Lessie, Charles Smithgall Jr., 1934
713Radio ephemera - Charles Smithgall Jr.
714Ephemera - Charles Smithgall Jr.
715Writing, poetry - Charles T. Bailey
716Charles T. Bailey estate
717Genealogy research
718Certificates - Birth, marriage
719Commencemnt announcements, brochure, 1959-1963
720Angus McDuff - Family dog
721Smithgall Family Heritage book
722Travel notebooks - Lessie Smithgall, 1962-1973
723Travel notebooks - Lessie Smithgall, 1973-1981
boxfolder
81Travel notebooks - Lessie Smithgall, 1982-1988
82Travel notebooks - Lessie Smithgall, 1989-2001
83Awards - Lessie Smithgall
84Georgia Mountains Historical & Cultural Trust - Steering committee, 1983-1984
85-7Georgia Citizens for the Arts - Advocacy, clippings
88Arts controversy
89Newspaper clippings
810-12Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
813Brenau College
814Junior Service League of Gainesville binder, 1973
815Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, 2006
boxfolder
91-2Printed material - Farming
93Scrapbook - Lessie Bailey, 1923-1929
94Loose contents of scrapbook - Lessie Bailey, 1923-1929
oversized_box
1Scrap Heap scrapbook - Bay Smithgall, 1955-1957
boxfolder
95Loose contents of Scrap Heap scrapbook - Bay Smithgall, 1955-1957
96Ephemera
97Junior League of Gainesville - Annual reports, 1951-1959
98Junior League of Gainesville - Annual reports, 1960-1969
99Junior League of Gainesville - Annual reports, 1970-1979
910Junior League of Gainesville - Annual reports, 1981-1984
911Junior League of Gainesville - Annual reports, 1990-1993
box
15Radio station broadcast contours - Gadsden, previous hitAlabama next hit, 1957
includes WGAD, WETO, WCAS comparisons in coverage with 1 kilowatt and 5 kilowatt ranges
15Sudbury Soil Test Kit
oversized_box
2Scrapbook - Charles Smithgall Jr.
2Certificates, awards - Charles Smithgall Jr.
2Resolutions, proclamations - Lessie and Charles Smithgall Jr.
2Caricature drawing of Charles Smithgall Jr.
2Ephemera - Magazine, cartoon, blueprint
oversized_folder
1Proclamation - Lessie and Charles Smithgall Jr., 2001
oversized_folder
2Honorary degree - Brenau University - Lessie Smithgall, 2009
2Senatorial Commission - Charles Smithgall Jr., 1991
 

2. Correspondence

boxfolder
101Lessie Bailey, 1921-1929
102Lessie Bailey, 1930-1931
103Lessie Bailey, 1932-1934
104Lessie Bailey Smithgall, 1934
105Lessie Bailey Smithgall, 1945-1996
106Charles A. Smithgall Jr., 1936-1977
107Invitations, greeting cards - Lessie Smithgall
108Mrs. C. T. Bailey, 1918-1930
109Charles T. Smithgall, 1927
1010Business - C.T. Smithgall, 1906-1930
1011-14Smithgall family, 1959
1015-19Smithgall family, 1960
boxfolder
111-2Smithgall family, 1961
113-6Smithgall family, 1962
117-8Smithgall family, 1963
119-11Smithgall family, 1964
1112-15Smithgall family, 1965
boxfolder
121-3Smithgall family, 1966
124-6Smithgall family, 1967
127-8Smithgall family, 1968
129-10Smithgall family, 1969
1211-14Letters from France - Bay Smithgall, 1961
1215Signed cards - John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Zell Miller
1216Christmas cards with family photos - Sent to the Smithgalls
 

3. Photographs

boxfolder
131Lessie and Charles Smithgall Jr.
132Lessie Bailey Smithgall
133-4Charles Smithgall Jr.
135Charles Smithgall Jr. - Fort Barrancas, 1932
136Charles Smithgall Jr. - Radio, TV - WAGA, WGST, WSB
137Charles Smithgall Jr. - Board of Regents
138Charles Smithgall Jr. and Bay Smithgall
139Elizabeth Bailey "Bay" Smithgall Parrish
1310Charles Smithgall III
1311John F. Smithgall
1312James Thurmond Smithgall
1313Large groups - Schools, military
1314Charles T. Bailey
1315Smithgall family
1316Women
1317Men
1318Children
1319Family groups
1320WSB, WAGA
1321WRNG
1322WCGA
1323WAAX, WCAS
1324WQEN, Q-104 - Gadsden, previous hitAlabama
1325Gwinnett Daily News
1326The Times
which was originally called The Gainesville Daily Times, then The Daily Times
1327Chattanooga Cable TV
1328Rome Cable Company
1329Poultry Times
1330Press tour of Naval Air Station
1331Transmitter and towers
1332News
boxfolder
141Signed
142Outdoor activities
143Miscellaneous - Pets, Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Atlanta
144Travel
145Travel - China
146Photograph album
147Tintypes
148Negatives
1491500 Habersham
1410Dukes Creek
1411Houses, property
oversized_box
2Aerial photographs - WGST, WQXI facilities
 

4. Plans, plats

oversized_folder
1Green Street, Gainesville plats
oversized_folder
3Rome Cable TV - Renovation plans
oversized_folder
4Dukes Creek - Arrow sign, maintenance building, entrance plans, various
oversized_folder
5Dukes Creek - Caretaker's cottage (Rives house) plans
oversized_folder
6Dukes Creek - Harvey Hill, Dogman Hill
oversized_folder
7Uppa Creek - plans
oversized_folder
8The Forks - Preliminary plan
oversized_folder
9Guest houses - plans
oversized_folder
10Whitewater cottage - plans
oversized_folder
11WAAX - plans
oversized_folder
12WCAS - plans
12WGGS - Gainesville plats
oversized_folder
13Log cabin construction plans
oversized_folder
14Dukes Creek topographic maps, Wallis property, Gainesville Stadium
oversized_folder
15Gainesville house - blueprints
oversized_folder
16Gainesville house - construction plans
oversized_folder
17Rives house, Paradise Point plans, White County topographic map
oversized_folder
18Gainesville house - plans
oversized_folder
19Gainesville house - plans
oversized_folder
20Gainesville house - plans
oversized_folder
21Gainesville house - plans
oversized_folder
22Gainesville house - plans