In many ways, Travis Hollaway has been working on his history of Augusta’s black community for most of his life.
“I’d heard about Lucy Craft Laney, Silas X. Floyd, C.T. Walker, T.W. Josey and Ursula Collins, but I thought there might be more,” said Hollaway, who plans to release “Down By The River” later this year.
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That thought led him through more than 20 years of research including trips to various places out of the state to find the records needed to accurately depict life in Augusta prior to 1980.
Some of Augusta’s history is documented in a newsletter he’s published since 1999, and it’s on file at the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library. He didn’t get serious about his book until 2014.
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Hollaway calls “Down By the River” a primer of black history in Augusta, and he considers it to be a starting point for others who may be on their own search for history. The first book covers slavery, religion, education and business.
The first section on slavery lists the names of slaveowners as well as how many they owned.
“I wrote this book because of my ignorance on parts of Augusta history,” Hollaway wrote in the beginning of the book. “Not just the well-known information published in History of Augusta, Cashin but all of it. The good, the bad and the ethnic.”
Some documents he couldn’t find in Augusta.
Black Augustans published newspapers, but some of them only exist in other parts of the country locked away in college library collections, he said. His research led to Atlanta, to North Carolina, to Maryland and to many other places where he needed permission to enter special records’ rooms and handle documents with white gloves.
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Other history he found nearby — in places such as Cedar Grove Cemetery and Magnolia Cemetery.
He photographed all the grave markers in Cedar Grove Cemetery prior to 1899.
“It took me a year,” he said.
Some of the information he’s encountered has been fascinating while other pieces he calls downright scary.
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While other Southern cities such as Savannah and Charleston play up their history and use it in their tourism efforts, Hollaway said Augusta is missing out because it has as much to offer history wise as many other cities.
Hollaway said there will be a second book; among the topics it will cover includes entertainment, sports, government, military and journalism.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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