Uncovering Hidden Talents: Exploring Your Family's Professions Through Genealogy Research

Hello there my genealogy Gems and Junkies. We're snowed in again in Cleveland and as you now know, I spend those days doing personal research on my own family. I can see through the vertical blinds of the patio door that the persistent winter wonderland is raging on. So I have hopped up from the dining room table and started brewing my hot cup of Peach Tea so that I can be comfy while telling you about my new discoveries.

Staying with my mother's paternal side of the tree, I was on a hunt to fill in blanks that are not traditional pieces of information collected for the people I've helped in the past. I like to include photos of where my ancestors lived, where they worked, and what they did for a living. I enjoy Googling old addresses and finding where they are now as many postal codes have changed. I especially like when I find local addresses and realize that I pass where an ancestor used to live and work on my daily commute.

While snooping around through my ancestors that originate in Georgia, I found old telephone book (City Directory) entries from 1923-1945 in Columbus Georgia. They included so much more information than they now do including your occupation and who you were the widow/widower of. While reading it I saw that several of my adult family members not only commonly lived on the same street, but many of them also lived in the same house and worked at the same place. I discovered that several of them even lived in the same home! In itself, that probably doesn't seem very remarkable. However, the name of the school they worked at I found intriguing. Of all my years of doing this I had never heard of Fifth Avenue School. I was on the hunt!

A few key strokes later and a ran across a link that had a catalog information for photos from that school. Of course I couldn't see them, apparently if you go to the Columbus State University Archives, this was merely a list of exactly where to look to find these photos. However, it did have a nice piece of history about the school that reads as follows:

Fifth Avenue School Photograph Collection (MC 309)

Organizational Note

According to the Columbus Public Library's original description of this collection, the Fifth Avenue School opened in 1908 in Columbus, Ga, at 627 5th Avenue. The school was

built to fill the void in local education for non-white students beyond the 6th grade. Mr. William Spencer was the first principal of what is considered the first municipally owned vocational school for the education of the African-American population beyond the 6th grade. The 5th Ave School was one of three schools in Columbus that were open to African-American students until the 1930's. Fifth Avenue was converted to an elementary school once Spencer High School was opened. The school was closed by the Muscogee County School Board in 1978.

Scope and Content

The 5th Avenue School Photograph Collection comprises .20 linear feet of material and contains only photographs, which include PTA meetings, individuals and school events.

How awesome is that? What a substantial honor to be part of a groundbreaking educational program that provided trade skills for Children of Color where there weren't any. As I continued reading I was fascinated and humbled. I was also equally proud of the educators in my family currently carrying on the tradition of educating tomorrows youth. Currently we have at least two teachers doing great work within our educational systems.