AU re-opens Guard House Museum in Summerville event
Students, faculty, staff and Augusta citizens take a look at the revamped Guard House Museum on the Summerville campus of AU. (photo by Erin Colley)
By Erin Colley | Contributor
Augusta University held the grand re-opening for the Guard House Museum at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Approximately 100 people gathered at the Summerville campus to visit this revamped museum filled with Augusta history.
“Reimagining how this campus can really celebrate its rich history has been a great opportunity,” said Stacey Thompson, director of the Guard House Museum and a museum studies lecturer at AU. “I’m excited that people can come visit and see this as a historic site, even if they don’t go to school here.”
The museum incorporates information and artifacts from its time as the U.S. Arsenal. It informs visitors of the various details from how the Arsenal began and how it aided the United States until operations were ended on March 1, 1955.
Multiple artifacts that were found in the Augusta University campus excavation in 2004 were also on display. Some of these items included a pocket watch, a bone handled toothbrush and a child’s toy gun. The walls were filled with original photographs, some of these being the entrance to the Augusta Arsenal and men assembling weapons. There was also a timeline on the top of the museum walls that pointed to major events that have happened since the beginning of the Augusta Arsenal.
Two rooms led off the main display room. One room displayed an exhibit of the typical workspace for men manufacturing war materials. The other room had a timeline of “The Rise of the Jaguar,” which started in 1828 with the founding of the Medical Academy of Georgia. The timeline followed with the growth of the organization to a college, a university and ending with Augusta University.
“It’s great to see that you can come to Augusta University and there’s a piece of history here on campus with you that you can interact with,” stated archeology student Alexandria Coleman.
Students were also able to learn about Augusta University’s new Museum Club that was launched this semester. It is open to all alumni, students, faculty and staff at Augusta University.
“Our main goal is not only to work alongside professor Thompson and volunteer at her events, but also try to educate students about museums,” said co-president Alexis Kidd. “We can’t wait to take people on field trips and have guest speakers come in.”
In celebration of this new museum, guests gathered with food, refreshments and yard games while getting to see the history that the campus holds. They also had a craft table and a photo booth to remember the event by.
“We’re going to be open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., so people can come by during the school year,” said Thompson, who works in the Department of History, Anthropology and Philosophy at AU.
Pamplin College Dean Kim Davies spoke at the re-opening ceremony.
Contact Erin Colley at @augusta.edu.
Augustus poses at the front of the Guard House Museum, located on the northeast corner of the Summerville campus. The museum is hosting The Rise of the Jaguar special exhibit. (photo by Erin Colley)
