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News from |
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Michael
D. Chason Director
of Public Relations ABAC 30, 2802 Moore Hwy |
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For IMMEDIATE
Release January 14, 2010
ABAC To Operate State Museum of Agriculture
TIFTON
- At
the request of the Office of Planning and Budget and the Governor’s Office, Dr.
David Bridges, president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, is working
with legislators, local elected officials and members of the Georgia Agrirama
Development Authority to move management and operations of the State’s Museum
of Agriculture (Agrirama) to ABAC.
The museum, which sits on a 95-acre site
on Interstate 75 in Tifton near the ABAC campus, will be operated as a part of
the 102-year-old college’s academic and educational mission. ABAC is a
State College of the University System of Georgia.
Bridges said the addition of the
Agrirama property presents “both challenges and opportunities.
“The Agrirama and ABAC share overlapping
missions with respect to education and preservation,” Bridges said. “The
College is known for its academic programs in agriculture, forestry, wildlife,
natural resources, and family and consumer sciences.
“With the recent introduction of the
Rural Studies program, ABAC is expanding its program offerings in the Rural
Studies area to include the humanities, the social sciences and business and
economic development.”
ABAC initiated a Rural Studies
bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2009. Bridges believes the
museum could figure prominently into the curriculum of that degree.
“The Agrirama might make a perfect
laboratory for a rural history class,” Bridges said.
Bridges added, “We are always looking
for ways to enhance the education of our students, economic development and
support the community in which we serve. I believe ABAC has a lot to
offer the Agrirama. Likewise, this museum has a lot to offer ABAC, the
community and the State of Georgia.”
The Agrirama opened on July 4,
1976. Today it includes a traditional 1870s farm community and an 1890s progressive farmstead. Features include a
sawmill, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, feed and seed store, print shop, drug
store, grist mill, and a turpentine still.
The only steam powered train in regular
operation in Georgia operates on a 1.3 mile railroad system at the
museum. During the fall term, ABAC students helped to renovate the Vulcan
Iron Works steam locomotive, which began its working life in 1917.
“Obviously, much remains to be done,”
Bridges said. “ We’ve just begun to work out the
details.”
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