Nov. 23 Community Researcher Workshop in Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive

Dear Ms. Ridley:

I am writing to announce an upcoming Community Researcher Workshop using the Mayor Ivan Allen Digital Archive here at Georgia Tech, in the hopes that you would consider participating or else sharing suggestions of potentially interested individuals or organizations who might like to.

This Community Researcher Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, November 23 on the Georgia Tech campus, and will last from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a one-hour break for complimentary lunch.  Parking passes will also be supplied free of charge, as well as any other necessary materials.  Computer access will be provided, although participants are welcome to bring their own laptops (and in fact should do so if they prefer to use Macs).

We have room for 25 participants; a flyer with signup/application link is attached, or can be visited directly here.  The application deadline is November 1.

As you know, Ivan Allen Jr. was mayor of Atlanta for most of the 1960s, overseeing a host of momentous developments in Civil Rights as well as policies that have shaped the city into what it is today, for example urban renewal.  Our goal in the workshop is to provide individuals interested in local history and this time period with the opportunity to explore Allen’s recently-digitized mayoral papers to arrive at a deeper understanding, and hopefully generate conversations from a broad range of perspectives regarding the particular course the city’s development took under his watch.  Providing the general public with access to such raw historical documents is often challenging, which is why we have high hopes for the potential and uniqueness of this event.

Would you be so kind as to circulate the flyer and/or pass along any suggestions of potentially interested individuals or organizations (and contact info if handy) that we might also invite to apply?  I’m also happy to answer any questions about the event.  We will be publicizing the workshop more heavily in the weeks ahead, including in a blogpost to appear on Atlanta Studies.

Sincerely,