Professor Beth Pye was recently recognized by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council with an award for Excellence in Local History Advocacy.

Pye, who is an associate professor of library science and the archivist at Gordon State College, won the award for her documentation of Gordon's football program from 1896 to 1971.

Her documentation was recognized not only for its professional quality but also for its significance. Gordon was a private college until 1972 when it became part of the University System of Georgia. Pye's work has helped bridge the two different histories.

She began by going through photographs, school catalogs and annuals. She developed a year-by-year photographic record of the football team's beginning and compiled a list of the football scores.

When scores were not available in the school records she search them out from old editions of the Barnesville Herald Gazette starting with the 1895 edition, reading and scanning relevant articles. Football programs and other paper memorabilia were also scanned into the document.

By the time she completed the project in the spring of 2012, she had eight notebooks of photographs, score compilations, memorabilia and newspaper articles.

Pye was joined at the ceremony by her mother, father, two brothers, sister and a brother-in-law.

Introductory speakers Christopher Davidson, Toby Graham and Tristan Denley all mentioned the significance of the Georgia Archives, of which of GHRAC is a part. Davidson, in particular, praised the awardees for their awareness of "keeping truthful records."

The document is available for viewing at the Hightower Collaborative Learning Center and Library on the campus of Gordon State College in Barnesville.