Mission on the Move-Georgia Writers Museum

Ever since Melissa Swindell was selected as the new Executive Director for the Georgia Writers Museum in 2020, expanding the scope of the museum has been one of her goals moving forward. When the museum first opened in 2014, the exhibits mainly focused on the most famous writers of the greater Eatonton area; Flannery O’Connor, Joel Chandler Harris, and Alice Walker. Now the museum is looking to highlight dozens of writers from the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, expanding the museum’s exhibits, and featuring select written works from the museum's featured writers.

“It’s fascinating how many writers are from this region, and as a state museum we represent writers from all across the state,” Swindell said.

With the recent shutdowns from COVID-19, Swindell has looked for new and improved ways to reach audiences across the state. The museum can now host guest speakers from outside the state of Georgia who may have written about hall of fame authors speaking to a virtual audience. “With digital virtual programming that happened over COVID, we were able to reach audiences in North Georgia and even farther,” Swindell said. “We’ve had speakers from outside Georgia who wrote books about hall of fame authors, and now people who have moved away from Georgia can zoom in and check us out.”

As the museum looks forward towards the future, newer exhibits with personal artifacts belonging to writers are being considered and included, such as the Sidney Lanier collection and the typewriter exhibits. The Georgia Writers Museum was and continues to be a local establishment for the city of Eatonton, but thanks to the accessibility of platforms like Zoom, people all across the state can check out the collections.

“We were an Eatonton business with local people coming in, but being able to expand virtually has helped us have a broader region so that we can be the “Georgia” in the Georgia Writers Museum,” Swindell said.

How long has your organization been around and how did

you get started? In 2013 the Briar Patch Arts Council, now known as Lake Country Arts Alliance, was born as a “think tank” to leverage the arts and generate visitors to the Lake Country area (Putnam, Morgan, Greene, Baldwin, and Hancock Counties). With Eatonton famous for native authors Joel Chandler Harris and his Brer Rabbit tales and Alice Walker, the idea of a literary museum was presented to the group. They quickly rallied around the idea and created the Georgia Writers Museum in 2014. Spearheading the group were Jack Shinneman, retired Brigadier General Stewart Rodeheaver, and Lou Benjamin, who successfully put together a group of volunteers to research, plan, construct, and curate. For the past seven years, Georgia Writers Museum was 100% volunteer-led. In 2020, GWM hired its first Executive Director, and is looking toward a continuingly bright future.

Did you know that 9 of the 69 members of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame members lived and wrote within 30 miles of Eatonton? Come by the museum to find out who they are!

What is your company’s mission statement? GWM celebrates the state’s rich literary history, promotes its contemporary writers, educates readers and writers of all ages, and connects people to the literary arts of Georgia.

How has your organization grown over the years? Since 2014, GWM has hosted over 3,000 guests as visitors to the museum and participants in our Meet the Author series. We’ve taught more than 450 budding authors at Writers’ Workshops, and reached over 1,300 young writers for the annual Spooky Story Contest. We purchased our building and an adjacent space to double our footprint. We were one of three sites across the Southeast to be invited to join the Southern Literary Trail in 2020, and we hired a Smithsonian-trained Executive Director to help take GWM to the next level.

What are some goals your organization has in mind looking

towards the future? What’s in store for 2021 and the future? GWM added new exhibits, The Life of Sidney Lanier, and Historic Typewriters, and enhanced past exhibits with new information and graphics. We’ve expanded our Meet the Author series to monthly programs on the first Tuesday of each month, and added quarterly Writers Workshops to our schedule. By the end of summer 2021, we’ll offer a new Children’s Story Time with Georgia authors for the little ones, and we’re launching a Junior Board of Directors for high-school-age students.

If that’s not enough, we’re undertaking major renovations! We’re in the initial phases of planning for renovated community space to continue hosting friends for this year’s Georgia Young Authors Awards, the Mainstreet Board retreat, and Putnam County Charter School System’s scholarship workshops. We’re getting closer to opening a coffee shop on the Square, and working with exhibit design firms to bring you an all-new interactive and familyfriendly museum experience.

What are some of the different ways people can help your

organization aside from donations? Volunteer! With so much going on, we need all the help we can get! GWM is looking for volunteers to fill a variety of roles: Museum Attendants, Flyer Distributors, Marketing / PR / Communications, Customer Relations Management, and Book Club Hosts to name a few! If you don’t have the time to volunteer, donations are always a great way to be a part of the GWM legacy! Online at:https://www.georgiawritersmuseum.org/donate/

What events are planned for your organization for the rest of the year?

MEET THE AUTHOR Aug 3rd (HYBRID) Philip Lee Williams, Far Beyond the Gates Sept. 7th (IN-PERSON) Bill Curry, Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle Oct. 7th (IN-PERSON) Kathryn Smith, Baptists & Bootleggers Nov. 2nd (HYBRID) Peter Selgin, Duplicity Dec. 7th (HYBRID) Janisse Ray, Red Lanterns: Poems

4TH ANNUAL SPOOKY STORY CONTEST September – October, 2021, 3rd – 12th grade students across Georgia GWM is searching for original stories by Georgia’s 3rd – 12th grade students. Submission will be accepted from the middle of September through the middle of October. Each grade level will be judged separately, and winners will be announced on October 29, 2021. For contest rules and to read last year’s winning stories visit: https://www.georgiawritersmuseum.org/spooky-storycontest/.

FALL FUNDRAISER Oct. 23rd (IN-PERSON) Eatonton’s Paranormal Investigation with the Southeastern Institute for Paranormal Research. Event details coming soon… watch GWM’s website at https://www.georgiawritersmuseum.org/ and our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/georgiawritersmuseum for more information.