Adelia Ladson
March 20, 2008 10:39 pm
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Soft-spoken but with an intensity and sincerity that is evident when she speaks about her life’s work, Irene Godwin is the friendly face that can be found in the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library.
“I think of myself as a servant to help others,” she said.
Godwin is a genealogist at the Moultrie-Colquitt County Public Library and has been on staff since March of 1990. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the genealogy library, under the direction of Melody Jenkins, executive director of the public library.
“I have been blessed to do something I love and I have a passion for,” Godwin said.
Godwin was a familiar face at the library well before she was hired as she did her own personal genealogy research there since 1972.
“These books have become like old friends,” she said laughing.
Because she was so familiar with the books through her own research, she said, she’s better able to help the people who come in. She said her desire was to help as many people find their family’s history as she could.
The very beginnings of the genealogy library were some rare books stored in a janitor’s closet at the Carnegie Library, she said. Eventually, the Odom Gift Committee was formed to allocate money from the estate of Ellen Ashby Payne Odom, a trustee of the library. It’s purppose was to help build a genealogy library and purchase the Emmett Lucas collection, which is the “core” of the Odom Library. Godwin said the committee included Van Platter, Eva Rice, Merle Baker, Bert Harsh, Campbell Ansley, James Kirk, Jack Short, Bill McIntosh, Jestina Lewis, and Melody Jenkins.
“It’s not one person that does genealogy,” she said.
She said it takes everybody working together to assist in genealogy research. She emphasized the importance of the records that were kept in courthouses and other institutions. She said she was so grateful to those who have kept the records. She said there were so many people who have supported the library and the genealogy room.
“It makes research so much easier,” she said.
She said she wanted to communicate that it was everybody helping everybody. She said many people have kept family records and have written family histories already that have helped others trace their own heritage. She said people help each other and that’s what genealogy is about — sharing.
“People need to share information. You share a common thread with so many people,” she said.
Godwin, who was born and raised in Moultrie, said her family’s roots were in the Center Hill area, where her grandfather settled in 1889. She said when she was a little girl, she would rather sit and hear the older people tell stories than play with the other children when they went to visit family. She gets her love for genealogy “honest” because she said she came from a line of genealogists. She said her grandmother, aunts, and mother did research on her family history.
“Genealogy is not done in one day. It can be a life-long pursuit,” she said.
Godwin has been able to trace her family back to the time of Charlemagne — about the 1400s.
“For me, it is a passion and a love,” she said.
She said her job as a genealogist is to help people who come in find the facts.
“Your life is based on your family. I have the privilege of dealing with people’s lives,” she said smiling.
She said she was so excited to come into work because it was amazing what she has learned over the years.
“I learn from others. When you see people you learn from their stories. When people come in, they want to learn about themselves. It’s a way of understanding yourself,” she said.
In her job, she said tenderly, she also deals with people’s emotions because she is dealing with their family.
“We are a product of our family’s decisions,” she said.
She said she believed it was good to learn about people’s triumphs and trials and joys.
“Human stories are just so inspiring,” she said.
Godwin also believes that a community is brought closer together when they understand each other. She said she has learned so much about the community through the research she has helped others do. She said the county and community was built on family and that was “the common thread” that everyone shared.
“The family is the most important thing,” she said.
Godwin has five children and nine grandchildren.
“My life has been shaped by my family. My life has been my children,” she said.
“I have nothing to leave my children but their heritage. What better gift than their history? Where they come from,” she said.
She took out pictures of her grandchildren and laid her hand on them.
“This is what I do it for,” she said quietly.
Godwin suggests that anyone who wants to pursue genealogy should start by talking with family members.
“Get busy, folks, and talk to your family. Get those stories down for your kids,” she said emphatically.
She commented that the Internet has been really helpful in getting people in touch with family members. She did caution that as far as research goes, the Internet could be useful but the “facts” found online must be verifiable. She said genealogy was learning about history and doing detective work, too.
“But that’s what genealogy is all about. It’s to help you trace the best that we can with the records that exist,” she said.
In the Odom Library, Godwin said the collection for research is mostly based on the southeastern part of the United States and the migration routes west through the Emmett Lucas collection and they also have an extensive Scottish collection, which contains materials from 120 Scottish clans.
“I am privileged to work in something that spans continents,” she said.
She said the library also preserves local records like copies of The Moultrie Observer and some census records. There are also over 3,000 family histories, land lottery records, estate and will records, tax records, and high school and college yearbooks. There are also lockers available in the genealogy library for patrons to leave their personal belongings while they are there doing research, she said.
She said when someone comes in, she immediately starts thinking about what records she has that can help them. She also said people come in for different things other than genealogy research. They come in with questions about history and to look up obituaries or news articles from the past. She said she just felt privileged to get to know so many people and their stories through working at the library.
“Human experience is fascinating when you care. I care,” she said.
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