The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) announced today that the 2023-2024 Georgia History Festival, which culminated on April 27, 2024, with the Trustees Gala, raised a record $2,095,653 to further the institution’s educational and research mission. These funds will support year-round programming and services for students, teachers, and the general public.

“This incredible achievement would not have been possible without the leadership of our Board of Curators and the Georgia History Festival Committee, both of which worked tirelessly to reach this milestone,” said Dr. W. Todd Groce, President and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “It also reflects how important history education and research are to our corporate sponsors and individual donors. Because of their generosity, GHS will continue to bring exceptional educational programming to the people of the state and beyond.”

The funds raised during the Festival go directly toward creating and delivering educational programs that teach history to students across Georgia, teacher training opportunities, research services, publications, and specialized care for the 5 million documents, photographs, rare books, and artifacts that make up the oldest collection of Georgia history archival materials in the nation. Each year the Georgia Historical Society collection is used by more than 60,000 scholars, researchers, and genealogists representing every U.S. state and many countries around the world.

The Georgia History Festival is the signature K-12 educational program of the Georgia Historical Society. During this year’s Festival, GHS reached more than 250,000 K-12 students, 2,700 teachers, and 31,200 members of the general public from across the state through a variety of public programs, exhibits, in-school events, and educational resources, bringing history to life for students of all ages. This year’s in-person events included the inaugural Georgia Day Expo, bringing together thousands of students for the commemoration of Georgia’s founding and a fun day of demonstrations and hands-on activities. Other popular events included the annual Colonial Faire and Muster living-history program held at Wormsloe State Historic Site and Super Museum Sunday, where more than 100 sites across the state opened their doors to the public free of charge.

During this year’s Festival, GHS education staff conducted dozens of in-school programs and professional development training sessions for students and teachers across Georgia focusing on standards-based resources created in support of this year’s educational focus, “Governing Georgia Across Three Centuries.” Supporting GHS’s commemoration of the upcoming U.S. 250 anniversary, resources included new classroom activities based on original archival sources and a new video highlighting the history and legacy of Georgia’s government, the impact of those who have governed, and the people’s power to shape, expand, and strengthen democracy over time.

The Georgia History Festival culminated in April with the Trustees Gala, the Georgia Historical Society’s premier annual event. Each year, this elegant and much-anticipated evening draws top local, state, and national leaders to honor and pay tribute to the best the State of Georgia has produced.

The 2024 Gala featured Governor Brian Kemp’s induction of Dr. Louis Sullivan, 17th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and Founding Dean of the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Ms. Carol Tomé, Chief Executive Officer of United Parcel Service (UPS), as the 2024 Georgia Trustees.

For more information about the Georgia History Festival, please contact Cherie Trice, Senior Development Officer, at (912) 651-2125, ext. 141 or by email at [email protected].