This blog covers research I’ve done ranging from tales of Athens and UGA history to general American and Southern social history to my own experiences and discoveries pursuing French genealogy, posting images of documents and records as needed to demonstrate or enhance the post. Thus, the title of this blog, using the Merriam-Webster definition:
Bordereaux: a detailed note or memorandum of account; especially: one containing an enumeration of documents
After working as a software technical writer, I spent seven years as a reference and research librarian in the Athens-Clarke County Library’s Heritage Room, where I created, researched, wrote, and managed the library’s This Day in Athens blog from 2009-2013. This Day was one of five finalists for the 2011 Salem Press’s “Best Local Library Blog,” and is still available for research purposes (though, alas, the linked PINES catalog resources are no longer valid).
After resigning from the library, I contributed to the 2014 volume The Tangible Past in Athens, Georgia. My association with the book came later in its process, beginning with some research assistance, moving to more comprehensive editing and fact-checking, and later researching and writing sections of the essay “Vanishing Prince Avenue.” Upon publication, I handled social media publicity for the book, primarily through our Facebook page. It sold out (2,000 copies) within a year, and received an Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation (now Historic Athens) 2015 Best Publication Award and a Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council 2015 Award for Excellence in Documenting Georgia History. Now out of print, samples of the book can be read here.
From 2017 to 2019, I edited the book Across the River: The People, Places, and Culture of East Athens, Georgia by Maxine P. Easom and Patsy H. Arnold. Published in summer 2019, the book explores the long, rich history of the the neighborhoods surrounding the factories along the Oconee River where the first settlers of the city established themselves, and where the labor that built the columned, higher-land homes lived and were neglected for decades. Unlike many other histories, this one ventures into the mid 20th century, with first-hand accounts of those who grew up on the “wrong side” of town.
In 2020, the book received an Historic Athens Best Publication Award and the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council Award for Excellence in Documenting Georgia History. The book is available from Athens independent bookseller, Avid Bookshop.
I served on the board of the Athens Historical Society from 2012 to 2016, overseeing their updated website, and managing the page, the correspondence, publicity, and the Facebook page. Starting in 2015, I began coordinating programs for the Society, and served as vice president organizing programs about local artist Mary Jett Franklin at the Georgia Museum of Art and the Georgia Railroad at Russell Special Collections library, the first celebrations of the Augustus Longstreet Hull Award, multiple holiday parties, book signings, and field trip events. We also initiated a product line beyond publications during this time, and worked with other organizations to digitize records relevant to Georgia history.
From 2016 through 2020, I was co-editor of the Athens Historical Society annual journal The Historian, selecting and editing articles for publication, as well as fact-checking and proofreading with two other editors.
Currently, I’m a freelance editor, local history researcher, genealogist, and writer. I have a Masters degree in Information Policy and Management from FSU, BA degrees in history and English from UGA, archival training from the Georgia Archives Institute, as well as direct experience with Parisian and French city and département vital records and archives, and French genealogy resources. I’m currently completing my B2 French instruction.
For rates and availability for freelance editing, research, or writing gigs, please contact me at th.flynn (at) gmail (etc.) with “Bordereaux” included in the subject line.