Collection

The Bandy Heritage Center’s holdings represent a growing account of Northwest Georgia’s material and cultural history, governed by standards-based curatorial and preservation practice. Within our seven-county area of collecting focus, our goal is to offer a comprehensive research and teaching resource for Dalton State College faculty and students and our scholarly peers, a heritage-preservation resource for the people of our region, and a secure repository for our community partners. We make our collections accessible for research by appointment through the Center’s reading room on campus at Dalton State, and for exhibition at Dalton’s Historic 1911 Freight Depot and our on-campus gallery.

Materially, our collections take four key forms:

• Audiovisual Media: Photographs, slides, negatives, film, audiovisual recordings on VHS, audio cassette, vinyl records, compact discs, and reel-to-reel, etc.
• Documents and Paper Records: Written primary and secondary records reflecting the lives and activities of Northwest Georgia individuals, families, businesses, and civic & cultural organizations, including published works by and/or about local communities, government & business records, letters & correspondence, diaries, school yearbooks & annuals, periodical publications, newspapers, cookbooks, postcards, etc.
• Artifacts and Objects: Physical objects reflective of significant moments, trends, and stories in regional history, including carpet industry tools, equipment, products, and ephemera; signage, advertising, and promotional material; school and military uniforms and equipment; religious and devotional objects; folk art; chenille bedspreads and soft goods; furniture; etc.
• Oral History Recordings and Transcripts: Documentary records of Northwest Georgians’ memories in their own words, with special emphasis on veterans through our relationship with the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, Latinx and Hispanic communities, and Dalton’s tufted carpet industry.