Tifton Grapevine​         News for Tifton, Georgia

In the late 1960's, Ford Spinks, then state senator of the 9th District, future member of the Public Service Commission, and farm equipment dealer, asked the following question of Dr. Frank King and anyone else who would listen:

 

"Why can't we have an agricultural museum in which we can preserve all the ideas and materials that our agricultural experiment stations have developed to improve the state's economic well-being?"

 

Behind the scenes, Spinks had been in conversations with James Shepherd – the UGA’s College of Agriculture scientist who developed and tested the first peanut combine harvester in 1949 – who was interested in a place to display the prototype of his revolutionary machine. 

 

"And why not preserve this for posterity?",  Spinks argued. 

 

In 1973, negotiations with the lawyers of the landowners began, and on October 9 that year, the first verbal agreement was reached. The idea for a state museum of agriculture continued to grow, nurtured by Spinks, King, and Hugh Inglis of the Ag Alumni Association. A larger group boarded two small twin engine planes on January 29, 1970, heading to the very first museum they visited together for inspiration-the Kansas City Agricultural Hall of Fame. The trip was rough to the point to where the men, initially excited about the fried chicken lunch boxes packed by the Alumni Association, came to regret it (and write about it ) when the two planes flew head-on into a fast-moving cold front at approximately 10,000 feet.

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It was on that trip that the name Agrirama was hatched by Frank King, with Bill McLean suggesting the prefix "Georgia". It was also on that trip that it was decided that the Georgia Agrirama would not just be a museum, but a living farm and rural village. The rest is, 50 years of history. 

 

For the first month of Fiscal Year 74, Dr. Frank King was the only employee of the future museum. He devoted his full time to developing plans for activating the project. Ms. Evelyn Rigdon was the second employee as the administrative secretary, and later that year, Charles Hall and James Lever were employed as Crops Specialist and PR Specialist, respectively. Manson Woody came on board as the Historical Farm Supervisor, and thus the very first Agrirama team was formed. The first major artifacts to be acquired were the gin and the sawmill we still operate today, the Hat buildings, the Gibbs House, and the Clark Cabin following suit. The McCranie brothers in Willacoochee were instrumental in what would later become the Turpentine still exhibit.

 

The Georgia Agrirama opened its doors exactly fifty years ago on July 1, 1976, as a part of America's Bicentennial Celebration. Sixteen years ago, on July 1, 2010, the Agrirama became ABAC's Georgia Museum of Agriculture. 

 

This week, as we celebrate the 250th, come along as we take a look back at the last five decades on this campus. 

The GMA's 50th Retrospective exhibition will open from 4-6 p.m.  July 4 in the GMA Gallery as a part of The Great American Golden Jubilee Celebration. The special exhibit will remain open for the month of July. 

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~Polly Huff

ABAC's Georgia Museum of Agriculture