The Newberry Foundation

The Newberry Foundation was established to honor the Newberry family’s legacy in middle Georgia, which spans more than two centuries from slavery to the 21^st century. Since 2010, the Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, has worked to preserve the Black history in Hawkinsville, their ancestral home, build community and provide educational opportunities.

The Foundation created and runs Annie Lee’s Porch, an African American Heritage Center, and the adjacent Plough and The Pew Reading Room and Democracy Center, middle Georgia’s largest collection of Black history publications. These resources are located on Commerce Street, which once was the town’s white business epicenter but is now home to many Black-owned businesses. The Foundation also operates a community Garden in Hawkinsville.

The Foundation was created and is led by Julius Johnson, a seventh-generation descendant of the Newberry family who is a historian and served overseas in the U.S. Department of State in war-torn countries to win “hearts and minds.” The Foundation is seeking to partner with like-minded organizations committed to civic engagement and fostering democracy in Middle Georgia.

In addition to its centers and reading room, the Foundation has redeveloped office space that can serve as a regional hub and home for other non-profits and community-building efforts. The Foundation welcomes partners and support to anchor Middle Georgia’s continued growth.

THE PLOUGH & THE PEW READING ROOM AND DEMOCRACY CENTER

The Plough & The Pew reading Room and Democracy Center is adjacent to Annie Lee's Porch. The Reading Room provides a safe space to read and research materials capturing the Black Experience locally and throughout the world. The Reading Room serves as the intellectual Center of Gravity of The Newberry Foundation. It is here where the Foundation sponsors intellectual programming in the areas of history, religion, peace studies, Justice, and education.

The Reading Room has several special collections which include: The complete set of Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s Journal of Negro History; John H. Johnson’s collection of Jet magazines, Opportunity, African Presence, Black Scholar, Crisis magazines, Phylon, Journal of African History, Egyptology, and a complete set of the Official Records of the Civil War (102 leather-bound volumes). In addition, the Reading Room has more than 3000 hardbacks on the Black experience.

The Foundation sponsors a number of educational programs in the Reading Room.

The Reading Room is available for special occasions to community members.

The Newberry Foundation Online Library can be found on the following link:

https://www.librarything.com/profile/newberryfounfation

The following link does not contain the full inventory of our literally holdings.

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The Newberry Foundation

BEGIN TO BE NOW, WHAT YOU WILL BE HEREAFTER.

ANNIE LEE'S PORCH, AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER

THE PLOUGH & THE PEW READING ROOM AND DEMOCRACY CENTER

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PLOUGH AND PEW PACKAGE - $250